French Toast

Ready, Set, Go!!! Before you run and take an insulin shot or grab a cup of coffee, take a moment to just allow the goodness of these pictures sink in! As I have been focusing on not only the actions, but also the aesthetics of cooking recently, I have definitely taken some more time to just let the smells linger before I go right in for the kill. My culinary adventure this evening was no different!

Before vacations completely threw us off, Molly and I decided that Sunday nights would be reserved for making breakfast, a favorite dinner time choice of mine. I would even take a gamble and say that if I could eat breakfast at dinner every night, then I would totally do it. Wouldn't you?

Tonight's menu was focused on the joy of French Toast. I had recently gotten an old copy of the Food Network magazine out from April to look at a Hummingbird Cake recipe that I wanted to try out (there will be a blog post on that after Wednesday) and I found this recipe along with a variation.

Whisk 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of half and half or milk, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon sugar and a pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of butter over med heat in a skillet.

Now the big choice comes of what type of bread you want to use. I personally enjoy using Texas Toast for French Toast, but the recipe suggested Brioche or Challah. I would love to try those, but I was at the Kroger, and they don't have a great bread selection, so I went with old faithful. Dip your bread into the egg mixture and place in the skillet for about 2-3 minutes per side. Allow the bread to brown but don't let it burn. When it has browned nicely, place it on a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes to allow it to puff and cook the rest of the way. I had never seen that done before, but I feel like it made the toast fluffier and definitely gave it a nice done taste. Nothing is worse that french toast that tastes too strongly of egg.

For the variation recipe, I added some cinnamon and ginger to the mixture and then doctored up the bread as well. I bought some Lemon Curd and Blueberries and put some lemon curd on one of the slices and dropped a handful of blueberries on top of it and then put another piece of bread on top and dipped it in the mixture and then placed it in the griddle and cooked it as describe above.

Now the real magic happened for the normal french toast by adding some browned butter on top of it as well as some syrup (good ole Mrs. Butterworth (and no Paul, I am not referring to your mother)). Browning butter is simple. Just put a half of a stick of butter in a warm pan and allow it to melt and then cook down until it browns. It does something magical to the butter by bringing out this fantastic flavor in the butter. I loaded the top of the regular french toast with this butter and the syrup and voila, perfect French Toast. And surprisingly enough, it looked just like the pictures in the magazine. One of the few times that has ever happened for me!

For the Lemon-Blueberry French Toast, the recipe recommended dusting the top with some Powdered Sugar, but to be honest, I didn't really feel like that helped. The french toast was heavenly by itself, and I thought the powdered sugar just made it too sweet. Needless to say, we all cleaned our plates tonight, including Ainsley who asked for more Bacon and more French Toast. She is truly my daughter.

I hate to tease, but this week has some great things ahead. Lettuce wraps tomorrow, a hummingbird cake for Wednesday as well as German Chocolate Cake Balls, and a Butterfly Cake for Saturday! Happy times in the kitchen for me. Oh, and I plan on making some Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream tomorrow as well. YAY!!!

New England Day 1 and 2

Well here I am again on vacation! It seems like I was only home for a couple of days or something....oh wait, I was! Some people made comments about how quickly I was leaving to go on another adventure, and then I reminded myself that once I get back, I only have (cringe) 5 weeks left before I am going back to work! YIKES!!! Oh well, no need to think about that now!

On the docket for this vacation is a slew of locations in New England. We started off on Thursday in Salem, MA, most known for the Salem Witch Trials. Even though we didn't do any of the Witch Museums, we did see our fair share of the sights. Salem is definitely a must see in my opinion. The laid back atmosphere of the city was really impressive and the shops and eateries all seemed fantastic.

We started the culinary adventures at a place called Salem Beer Works, which had been recommended by a friend of mine. She specifically mentioned the Blueberry Ale, so we knew we would have to try that. We started off with a flight of all their Summer Beer specials: Watermelon Ale, Cherry Bomb Ale, Blueberry Ale, and Raspberry Ale. I went with the Blueberry and Molly went with the Raspberry. Ainsley settled for water...I know we are so mean! The beers all had subtle fruit tastes, and were very pleasing! I can imagine on a very hot day, they would be really nice, but it was only 60 degrees in Salem, so the heat was not really a factor in desiring a cold beverage. We even happened on a local farmer's market and bought some strawberries, some cider donuts, and a dress for Ainsley made by a local. I am sure we will post pics of that one soon!

After visitng the House of the Seven Gables, we went to a little ice cream shop up the street called Captain Dusty's. I have always loved ice cream, and one of my favorite things to do on vacation is visit as many local ice cream places as I possibly can. California had some amazing places, so I had set the bar pretty high for this vacation, and so far I haven't been disappointed. Capt. Dusty's had all homemade ice cream and had a great variety. Molly got Gone Bananas (Banana ice cream with Peanut Butter cups) and Dog-n-Pony (Peanut Butter icecream with Oreos). I got Witches Brew (Milk Chocolate icecream with choc chips, almonds, reeses cup,, twix and espresso beans) and Watermelon Sherbet. I can tell you that while the taste combination of mine was strange, the ice cream itself was phenomenal! After having the ice cream here, it made me want to go home and look into starting my own ice cream shoppe on Southern Pkwy. We need one in the southend right? I could do a bakery/ice cream shoppe that way I could stay open year round. Use local fruits, etc for my ingredients...wouldn't that be awesome!! Hmm...thinking, thinking....

We headed out of Salem and spent the evening in Woburn, MA in preparation for our day in Boston on Friday. Having never been to Boston, I was not really sure what to expect from the city as a whole. I knew of important landmarks (Old North Church, Harvard, MIT, etc) but nothing else. Let me say that I was very impressed with the city! Great public transportation and great people!

Of course, having not been to the city, we did the major touristy things by getting a pass on the Olde Town Trolley Tours. It was nice to have someone tell us some of the things that were around the place! We stopped at the original Cheers Bar, Fenway Park, Harvard, etc. If you travel to Boston, make sure you do the Olde Town Trolley Tours. They are worth it! But I digress, back to the food right?

For lunch we stopped at a Taqueria close to Fenway called La Verdad. We saw it while riding the trolley and decided to stop in. To start off Molly and I both ordered margaritas (I mean its a Mexican restaraunt, isn't that a requirement?). I ordered a Watermelon one and Molly ordered a Passion Fruit. Ainsley got Watermelon juice. All the drinks were phenomenal! If I could purchase watermelon juice just to have in the house, I WOULD TOTALLY DO IT. Mildly addictive? Yes. Fantastic? YES! Refreshing? ABSOLUTELY! The guacamole was also exceptional, and I think that Ainsley would have eaten here weight in it if we would have allowed her to. Molly had the Chicken taco plate and I had the Chile Relleno taco plate. We all walked out of there stuffed, and ready to walk out the food!

For dinner, we had lots of restaraunts suggested, but chose to go to one with an intriguing name. It's the No Name Restaraunt on the River. Our tour guides had mentioned it as the oldest restaraunt in the country. We had the fried shrimp plate and a bowl of Seafood Chowder. Ainsley has enjoyed the chowder both times I have gotten it and shrimp is always a good choice. The food was fantastic and the views of the water were amazing!

We left the restaraunt and headed back into town and into the North End of town, AKA the Italian end of town. We were in hot pursuit of some dessert and a pastry place had been recommended by our tour guides and by LocalEats: Mike's Pastry. It was nestled into a row of Italian eateries on a busy street with tons of night life. It is an unassuming shop thast delivers in a big way. While Molly ordered some gelato (Cantaloupe and Watermelon), I ordered the cannolis! We got Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Cream, as well as a Boston Cream Puff (all pictured below). So far we have tried all but the Peanut Butter, and we are thoroughly impressed!!

Chocolate Chip

Chocolate Cream

Boston Cream Puff

Peanut Butter

Now off to the Cape tomorrow with a little Outlet Mall shopping and a stop in the Plymouth along the way. In a side note, I think the whole dropped R thing here might kill me soon: Hahvahd, yahd, pahk, cah, etc. Where did those Rs go? Have they ended up in the South where we warsh our dishes and go to Warshington, DC as a consolation prize for losing the Civil War (or should I say Civil Wah?)? Could the South kindly return the Rs ASAP?

A Sinful Dessert! And a confession...

Stop drooling first. Pick yourself up off the table, take an insulin shot (or two) and get ready for this sucker! For the last two years, I have made Lindy this cake for her birthday! She is a huge fan of anything related to the Chocolate and Peanut Butter variety when it comes to desserts, and who can blame her. They really are the perfect compliment to each other. Reese's Cups, Reese's Pieces, whatever it is, I'm good with it!

Despite the look of the cake, it is in fact a very simple cake to make. The best part of it is that is is covered with so much stuff, that the icing job doesn't need to be perfect, which is always great for me, because despite how many cakes I have made in my life, I just can't seem to get the icing to look like a perfect sheet. I know some would just recommend using fondant to remedy that problem, but I just can't bring myself to use fondant on a cake. It is odd to work with and it doesn't really taste all that good. How many people have you ever known who take a bite of fondant and say outloud, "Man, that tasted good! I think I want more of that stuff!" I would take a wild guess that you probably have never heard that. For those of you blissfully unaware of what fondant is, thank your lucky stars, because maybe you haven't run into it at a wedding reception. It's simply a decorator's tool that creates a solid sheet of white (or color if you choose) over the top of your cake. It is moldable and pliable and can be smooth to make the cake look pristine. If you ask some cake decorator's (like Duff Goldman from Ace of Cakes in fact) he will say that the intention is to peel the fondant off, but how is one supposed to know that if they don't know what fondant is. Should one post a sign at a wedding that says "Hey, if you are wondering why the cake kind of has a plastic taste to it, just take the top layer of gummy stuff off!" In my humble opinion, if you are supposed to take something off the cake, why put it ALL OVER the cake in the first place? I can understand, and have been known to do this, using fondant or modeling chocolate as a decorative element, but not to cover the entire surface of your cake.

But I digress! In order to give you the full reciple for the chocolate cake, you would have to look at the ingredient list from a Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. (GASP!) Yes I use boxed cake mixes. I mean, who doesn't some times. Well I don't just use them sometimes, I use them almost all of the time. When you have a good thing going on, and I'll admit that some cake mixes don't, why mess up a good thing? If you can make a good moist cake with a box mix, SO BE IT!! I am not ashamed to say that I use them, and neither should you. People don't make their own ketchup or mustard do they? Nope they buy it premade! So raspberries to all you who would judge me.

Now this cake was in a 10" cake pan and there are 1 and a half box mixes in each pan. They took about 45 minutes total to bake, but as you hopefully know, baking times vary across ovens. Be sure to let the suckers cool! And if you don't have a nifty levelling device, just take a serrated knife across the top of the cake while it is still in the pan to make sure that you can have an even surface to work with once you stack them.

Now for the icing! I modified a recipe that was for some cupcakes I found on Food Network's website. All you need is 1 lb of softened salted butter, about 4 cups of peanut butter, a 2 lb bag of powdered sugar and about 2-3 Tablespoons of whole milk. First mix the butter and peanut butter until it is smooth and then add the powdered sugar and blend well. Add the milk to get the icing to a nice smooth spreading textutre. You may need to add more or less powdered sugar to yours, just watch as you are making it. If it doesn't look like it could be spread, then it probably can't be. This should be enough to ice the entire cake!

When you are stacking the cakes, put a layer of the icing on the top of the first layer. Then unwrap some Reese's cups and place them on top of the peanut butter. I covered the top of the icing with them and then put a little more icing on the top of the cups to make sure they wouldn't move. Next place the other layer on top and start icing the cake.

For the bottom of the sides of the cake, I crumbled up some chilled Reeses in the food processor and used a spoon to push the pieces against the cake. Next I halved some other Reeses and placed them on the top of the cake.

For the chocolate drizzle, I took a small ramekin and filled it with chocolate pieces and added a small amount of vegetable oil. Microwave that for 1 minute and stir to melt it all. Spoon it onto the top and sides of the cake and voila...you have a cake.

Now I used Dark and Milk Chocolate Reeses for this, but you could use all of one type. Or even go for the white chocolate ones, and instead of making chocolate cake, make a french vanilla or white cake. That sounds fantastic actually.

Be sure to enjoy this one with a nice tall glass of milk, because the cake it VERY rich! And don't expect it to stay around for long...

California - Day 5

CHOCOLATE!! What more can I say? Since yesterday was about the joys of cheese, I guess today's theme would be chocolate, or just candy in general!

We started off the day by leaving Sonoma and heading towards Fairfield, Ca where the main factory for Jelly Belly jelly beans is located. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I ended up having a great time on the tour. The fact that it can take some jelly beans at least 21 days to make was pretty amazing considering they are consumed so quickly. And while I knew Reagan loved Jelly Bellys, I did not realize that it was partially due to him that the company took off when he became president. The tour centered on the overall production aspect and was really interesting. They were making Tangerine Jelly Bellys while we were there so the smell of the factory was intoxicating.

After the tour, we went into the gift shop and purchased some jelly beans. I got Red Apple, Pomegranate, Sour Grape, Sour Apple, Watermelon, Strawberry Jam, and some Grape Soda. Ainsley enjoyed the jelly beans, and even got a little pail to carry hers around in, even though she wasn't happy that she wouldn't have unfettered access to them.

After leaving, we headed toward San Francisco again and ended up at Ghirardelli Square. They don't in fact make the chocolate here anymore, but they do make fantastic ice cream treats. Above was my choice. The Very Berry Sundae. Strawberry cheescake ice cream with blueberries and strawberries. Ainsley and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

We then walked around the pier and ended up at Musee Mechanique where they have tons of old arcade games from all different eras. Ainsley played some skee ball and just kept throwing the ball up and down the game screaming WHEE!!!

I am looking forward to a trip to Union Square tomorrow and some cable car riding! More to come!

California - Day 4

Ahhh....cheese! What could be better than some good cheese? Not much in my opinion. Now I have never, until recently been a cheese fan in the purest sense. I liked cheese on dishes and I liked it on sandwiches, but never by itself. Apparently, I just wasn't eating the right cheese. Today my little brother and I set out to walk through downtown Sonoma and do a little shopping. Stopped in a little cooking store and found some small things I was interested in and drooled over the Le Creuset stuff that was on sale. I would have purchased the entire inventory, but how would I have gotten it home?

We then found a deli where we eventually came back to to purchase our stuff for the picnic. If I could just take that little deli home with me, that would be heaven. I would even think about quitting my job and working in it! Homemade Cheese, desserts, gelato, sandwiches, you name it they had it. And FUDGE! Don't forget about the fudge! Of course, I bought a little bit of all of it. My mom later asked how much all of it cost and I was mildly embarassed to tell her what I had spent on a picnic lunch, but then I didn't feel bad because we had leftovers!

My sandwich of choice was the Special of the Day: Turkey, Brie and Bacon. Now I have never eaten Brie (scoff if you must) and I can safely say that I am not sure I will come back to it so often. It had an interesting flavor, but overall I felt like it was just a little too woody for me.

We also got 3 different types of cheeses. Jack Cheese, Garlic Jack and Pesto Cheese. We didn't open the Pesto Cheese, but the other two cheeses were phenomenal! I think I could have possibly eaten my weight in it, and if you look at the picture above, I think Ainsley could have as well! She kept stealing my parents cheese and eating it herself, but I think they were fine with that.

And now to the Wine. While we picnicked at the Gundlack Bundschu winery we also visited Chateau St. Jean Winery. Both of them were very good and had breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. At both places I did a tasting of 5-6 wines. I have always been a white wine kind of person, and both tastings confirmed that. For some reason, I just don't like the heavy taste of a red wine, and oftentimes, red wines are also never sweet enough for me. I tried a Gewurztraminer wine. Both were fantastic, but I would have to say that the Chateau St. Jean (CSJ) was the best. I also tasted the Riesling at CSJ and HAD to buy a bottle. I ended up going to the UPS Store and shipping the wine home, just because it was going to be easier than putting them in my luggage.

In a side note, I am trying to embrace the idea that I am a foodie. A couple of my friends have used the term to describe me, but I am unsure if it applies to me. Guess I need to look into that one. I mean I love food, I love talking about food, I love trying new foods. Work with me as I embrace that!

California - Day 3

You know how that day always comes in a vacation where you just need to have some down time? Today was that day for this trip. It was Sunday which made the decision to have a down day even easier. We started the day by heading to the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. We have always loved the Peanuts cartoons, so this was a really cool experience. Not only did we get to see some of the original illustrations, but we also got to see his Studio where he created all those cartoons!

We then headed to an outlet mall of no real consequence. I say this even though I still bought stuff! After the outlet mall, we headed into the city of Petaluma and had dinner at McNear's Pub. Walking around Petaluma was really nice and we stopped in a local ice cream store (Lala's) for dessert. Now I have always been a dessert person, especially when ice cream is involved! It is even more pronounced when the ice cream is Peanut Butter and Jelly flavor! I don't know that I have ever had ice cream this good in my life. Makes me want to go home and use the strawberry jam that we just made that didn't set up to make some of this stuff. I wonder if it would turn out that good. Only one way to find out, right? Once I start doing some playing around, I'll post some recipes!

We are staying the night in Sonoma and are going to spend the day in the surrounding wineries and shops. I even type this with a glass of wine sitting next to me! Oh the life....

California Day 2

I am sitting here writing this after a day of meandering through California towards Wine Country. We left San Francisco this morning around 9 and headed north to take Hwy 1 up the Coast line and see what it had to offer. Now obviously we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge during this endeavor, but to be honest I wouldn't really have known unless their had been signs posted, since we could see none of the bridge while crossing it due to the fog. Hopefully when we head back we will get a better glimpse. This was the best view I got. Actually we were stopping for gas, and I happened to get out of the car and stand in the middle of the street for this picture!

After getting over the foggy bridge, we made our way to Hwy 1 and through possibly the curviest road I have ever been on. Thankfully I didn't throw up, although there were times when it seemed imminent! We stopped a couple places along the way to take pictures. The first are from the Muir Overlook. Although it was still really foggy in this area, it was still breathtaking! The cliffs and the coast line below were beautiful and I was more than pleased to just be able to see the fog rolling in off of the ocean.

After the Muir Overlook we came around some hills, and low and behold, the fog lifted and we saw the coastline. It was STUNNING! Some of the most amazing rock formations and hills that I have ever seen! We made our way along the road, stopping a couple of times for pictures of course, and then made it to Stinson Beach. Ainsley has been to the beach before, but for some reason, she decided that this time she wanted nothing to do with it! I had to hold her most of the time and any time I put her close to the ground she simply held her feet up! She is definitely more like me in that respect because I could take or leave the sand part of the beach, I just want to see and hear the water!

After the beach we drove towards Occidental, CA and had dinner. Hops and Barley was the name of the Pub...I think! I had an amazing Bavarian plate, complete with Red cabbage and sausages!! Ainsley liked the red cabbage for awhile, and then decided their must be something better out there. Considering my German heritage, you would think I would cook more German foods, but I haven't been that adventurous. Except for a Sauerbraten recipe I made once that was phenomenal. New resolution: Cook more German food!

Now we are in Santa Rosa, CA. Tomorrow we head to the Charles Schulz Museum and also to an outlet mall, and hopefully some wine along the way! I know I need some! Here's to another day in California!!

California Vacay Day 1

While I am on vacation I am going to try to blog as often as I can about some of the food/sights I am enjoying while away from the kitchen.

After a grueling flight experience yesterday on the way here, Ainsley and I settled in early Friday morning with my parents who have been in Cali for the last 4 days. We woke up on Friday morning ready to go and headed into downtown San Francisco to tour Alcatraz and just kind of go with the flow. Because I broke one of my cardinal rules at breakfast by eating at McDonalds (the rule being that when on vacation, I don't eat anything that I could otherwise eat at home) I knew I couldn't repeat that for lunch. We ended up in this really nice restaraunt on the Pier adjacent to the Alcatraz tours called Butterfly. I had the Duo of Manhattan and New England Chowders and man were they fantastic. I had tasted New England Chowder before but had never tasted the Manhattan. They were both fantastic in their own right! The broth for the Manhattan had some amazing fresh tomatoes and basil in it and the perfect almost "Loaded Baked Potato" broth for the New England Chowder, made me almost want to bathe in the stuff. I'm looking forward to being in the Northeast in a couple weeks to have some close to home New England Chowder!

We finished off the evening by heading to Pier 39 and the shops that surround it. The first thing that really caught my eye was these strawberries!

I also include the picture of me holding one just to give you an idea of the largeness of these berries. Ainsley, of course, could not get enough of them, and had I not stopped her, probably would have eaten the leaves and stems of the strawberries I gave her. Just having this fruit market in the center of this shopping area, was enough to solidify the greatness of the place, but the dinner at Bourdin's and the Banana and Strawberry with Nutella Crepe to close it all out definitely sealed the deal. My mom made the comment at one point that there were far too many temptations in this area and I agreed. Chocolate Heaven provided more than enough places for me to spend my money. I resisted buying one of everything, but did leave with two truffles (Luscious Lemon and Coconut Creme Pie) and some Chocolate Pasta for me to make when I get home. I also purchased a Sweet Saucer Peach, which I have never heard of. It isn't as tart as some peaches, but still has a great flavor!

Tomorrow, I am pretty sure we are headed towards Wine Country with a pit stop at the Charles Schulz museum and an eventual stop at the Jelly Belly factory!