Pinterest Project Three

I know. I know. I know. I have been lacking in blog posts lately and this Pinterest Project Three is like two weeks late. I have no good excuses at all and am sorry to report that this project is kind of meh for me. 

There are certainly some more challenging projects that I want to take on, but lately time and energy have both been lacking. I choose this pin because I have been wanting to find a good baked french toast recipe. I loved the idea of individual servings for each person. 

I also have this vision in my head of what I want breakfast to be like at my house, especially on a weekend. I really do see my whole family sitting down at a nicely set table enjoying a wide array of breakfast items, the smell of bacon in the air, a nice hot cup of coffee in my hands, everyone focused on family. 

The reality of course, is far different. Usually we have to open up a few windows after the bacon cooking sets off our incredibly sensitive fire alarms (well the smoke doesn't help), the Ladies are usually fighting over couch space after they have already rifled through the snack drawer and started their day by eating some Pirate's Booty or pretzel rods, or in the case of the Little Lady, a stick of butter. 

There is nothing like popping your head out into the living room after you hear the fridge open and seeing your kid eating a full on stick o' butter. "I'm just eating this mom" she told me as I removed the butter from her hand and tried to stop my gag reflex from kicking in. I love butter too, but even I have a line. 

Anyway, moving on---I usually buy at least one baguette a week. I like to make panini's with it. (Ohhhh maybe I will pin a panini recipe of mine, or in actuality the one I stole from my sister) It is super easy and a quick meal. If I have any left over, I will sometimes use it to make garlic bread for a pasta dish later in the week. Most of the time though, I find myself with leftover bread that I throw in the freezer and then never use again. I figured this french toast bake could help alleviate the unnatural amount of half eaten baguettes that shower down on me every time I open the freezer.

It is a super easy recipe. Click on the link below the picture to get the original recipe. I modified mine a bit because I didn't have the nutmeg or a real vanilla bean and I used Aunt Jemima's syrup because that is what I have in the house. Also, I used milk instead of the half-and-half.

 

Original Pin

Source: annies-eats.com via Aileen on Pinterest

5-6 cups of french bread cut into 1 inch cubes

Mix with 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1tbs vanilla, 1/4 cup maple syrup

Separate into individual bowls (I used two smaller ones for the Ladies), cover and refrigerate overnight.
Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes

The finished product

Viola! French toast bake. The Ladies topped theirs off with a little bit of butter and some syrup.

I wasn't totally in love with the final project. First, I was out of powdered sugar. I think a little sprinkle would have made the final product prettier to eat. Second, it was a little dry. I did like that it wasn't overly sweet, but I will play around with the bread:egg mixture ratio a bit next time. Also, I was kind of jealous of those fancy blue, oven safe bowls--my little white ramekins weren't quite cutting it in the cute culinary container category.

I know that some of you are out there making Pinterest Projects. My cousin texted me a pic of a homemade travel seat she made for her little lady. Perhaps she would be interested in giving us a rundown on how her experience went? 

If anyone out there wants to guest blog their own Pinterest Project, just email me and let me know.

Melt Down

I have been trying to find the time to post a new blog entry. I have two drafts sitting and waiting to go, but haven't had time to finish. I am going to just jump in with this one because I, like my pizza might just melt down.

Here is the run down:

The little Lady has been attached to my boob, every 30 minutes since 3:30 this afternoon and the Lady has been wearing her new Dora nightgown since around the same time when she stripped down and demanded it. At five thirty I thought it might be a good idea to start dinner so that the Lady could be fed. I defrosted pizza dough this afternoon, rolled it out on the silpat baking sheet.

The Lady was running around the kitchen with the flip video camera, asking me to replay the little video we had just made with her sister. I would have posted it here, but in the midst of her pressing any button she could, it got erased.

Anyway, so I am pressing play on the video camera, hoping the little Lady closes her eyes in the swing and dicing and chopping up veggies to add to the pizza as a healthy topping. We split the dough in the house and I make one personal size pizza for me and the Lady and my husband gets the other half. Oh, and I was waiting for my husband to get home, because he has a softball game at 6:15 and I know he has to get changed. Is is just wishful thinking on my part that he would actually get home a little early so I could get a hand, rather than waltzing through the door at five to six, changing his clothes and leaving?

It was after he left that I realized I had added all the toppings on top of the baking sheet and did not transfer it to the foil lined cookie sheet that we usually make the pizza on. The toppings are too heavy for me to lift the uncooked pizza and get it in the oven. Ugh.

The baby started to cry. I started to feed her, while researching online (and typing with one hand) if I can actually put the Silpat baking sheet in the oven. (I saw it done on Top Chef, so I was just looking for confirmation). Apparently they are fine in the oven up to temps of 485 degrees. My stove is set at 425--perfect. The little Lady had fallen asleep and I left her rocking quietly in the swing.

I transferred the pizza on the baking sheet into the oven. The sheet is a little big but it goes in. In the middle of this the Lady has climbed onto the chair and has tried to write with a pen on the computer screen. She is immediately reprimanded and escorted to the naughty stair. We might have dinner tonight--until. . .

The f'ing smoke alarm starts going off. The Lady bolts from the naughty stair and literally jumps into my arms. I have to put her down on the couch, remove the now smoking baking sheet from the oven--open the windows in order to vent the potentially toxic plastic smell coming from my oven and climb a stair or two to reset the alarms.

Ugh. I reassured the Lady that everything was all right. I reheated the mac and cheese she had for lunch and put her in her seat. I made a very futile attempt to remove all the toppings from the pizza and start over, but was left with a tomato stained yeasty mess that is now in my garbage can.

I am eyeing the left over dough I have for my husband, but am resigning myself to yet another dinner of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Oh, did I mention that the little Lady slept through the entire episode? I guess I should be grateful for that!