I’m sooo lucky | OUR LIFE IN 3D

27 Nov 2014

Anyone hungry?

Is anyone hungry?

Can you believe the holidays are upon us already?

Everyone raise your hands if you are entertaining for one or more of the holidays?

I enjoy entertaining and putting on a good show and smiles on my guests. Every year we entertain my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas ( can I still say the word Christmas or has the government outlawed it on blogs too?). And, as I was thinking about this weekend coming up, it led me to our grand family traditions over Christmas.

One of our family Christmas traditions is a great egg nog french toast Christmas morning. The left over egg nog from Christmas eve makes thee perfect thick french toast batter. Think about it. Its one of my signature dishes, if I may be so bold, here at hour home Christmas week.

And so I thought, “I wonder if there was a French Toast synonymous with Thanksgiving?”

You know what? There are!

And so as I researched and Googled Thanksgiving French toast. I found they all had something in common.

Guess what it is?

No, its not pumpkin, although that is the norm. It is that all the recipes have you prep the french toast the night before , a la casserole style, then pop the casserole dish in the oven the next morning and let the smell slowly wake everyone up.

It really sounds easy!

Yes you blend all the ingredients the night before. Chop up some hearty bread if you wish or leave it in slices. Then place all the bread in a casserole dish and soak with the french toast batter. Cover and refrigerate!

Sound easy?

The marinating over night allows the french toast goodness to soak through out the bread. Then the next morning turn on the oven, pop in the dish and take your time waking up. Tell everyone else how early you had to get up that morning to make such a sumptuous breakfast!

And for those of you who are slow to wake up (I usually eat a bowl of cereal while I make big breakfasts cause it takes so long) this idea is a lifesaver!

This is one such recipe I saved come from the Minimalist Baker blog for this weekend’s Thanksgiving french toast.

Whaddya think?

Ingredients

5 1/2 – 7 1/2 cups 1-inch bread cubes (depending on type of bread)*
7 large eggs
2 cups milk (any kind)*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup pumpkin BUTTER (or 1/2 cup pumpkin puree)*
3-4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
nuts, like pecan or walnuts (optional ~ hmmm hold that thought!)

Instructions

Cut any kind of bread into 1-inch cubes – I recommend a crusty, whole grain variety, but sandwich bread will work, too. Just use enough slice to fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish quite full.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it’s all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or golden brown and no longer wet.
Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar.

I might add a nice bottle of ‘breakfast wine’ to the list of ingredients. It is a holiday, or the weekend after all.

Now when some of you hear the word ‘casserole’ I know a light kinda goes off. Those with a creative cooking flare might experiment with about anything in a ‘casserole’.

We are not real ‘pumpkin people’ at our house. The truth is only a small percentage of us like pumpkin pie. So we enjoy a pumpkin and an apple pie at our Thanksgiving table.

Hmmm, apple?

So with the above Thanksgiving French toast recipe, I scratched the pumpkin flavoring and decided I would add some diced apples instead. Yes! Think of something like a IHOP Stuffed French Toast. I will let the apples bake on top and in with the french toast cubes. ~ and besides…. where does one find pumpkin butter?

or maybe add Caramel Apples?

But wait! There’s more…

If you order now..

Oh. Sorry…

One of my friends growing up had an old-world Italian mother and she made us breakfast one Saturday. Not only did she warm up the maple syrup on the stove, she added a good chunk of butter to melt in with it too. Result? The best tasting, most memorable syrup, EVER! Have you ever had this? Caramelized maple syrup! OMG!

So every time I entertain with my french toast I make a nice helping of warm buttery syrup with it. Yum! Sometimes I’ll add some blueberries.

But not this time!

We have a yummy bag of fresh pecans at our house right now, since its fall. Why not, chop up some pecans and let them marinate in the warm buttery syrup and serve a top the french toast? Apple stuffed french toast with butter pecan syrup and whipped creme on top! Welcome to my B&B!

Does that sound as good to you as it does to me?

Leave the turkey leftovers… save room for breakfast!

And its so simple to make. Plus you can make most of it the night before.

Are you hungry yet?

I hope everyone reading this has a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American family and friends!