Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole

This is amazing. I first had it at a baby shower. I asked for the recipe, and I also found it online at http://www.foodnetwork.com/. Then Dave made it for the mother's day brunch at church, and many, many people have asked us for the recipe. You have to make it!

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 (8 to 9) inch round loaf Challah bread (we used Sara Lee Texas Toast bread - it's not quite an inch thick, but close).
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier (we used cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a small heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring until smooth, and pour into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Cut 6 (1-inch) thick slices from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use, and trim crusts. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit. In a bowl whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bring bread mixture to room temperature. Bake uncovered in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

To serve, cut into pieces and put on plate upside down. The original recipe called for whipped cream on top, but we thought it was plenty sweet enough. Yum!

Man-cakes

We were watching Man vs. Food the other day. The third season is on Netflix, if anyone wants to watch it. Adam was in Boulder, Colorado, when he went to this restaurant that served pancakes with bacon and sausage inside and egg on top. My kids all said they wanted to try it. So the following Saturday we made gigantic pancakes (1/2 c. batter instead of the usual 1/4 c.) We cooked up some bacon and sausage, cut them into bite sized pieces and sprinkled them into the cooking pancakes. We made them to order, of course, sausage in one, bacon in another, some wanted both. Then I made some eggs. Aaron and I had over easy, like the restaurant; my brother and kids had scrambled. Then we stacked them all up and poured syrup on top. I was surprised at how good they were. All the kids liked them. My brother declared it the best breakfast ever. The salty from the meat and the eggs was the perfect foil to the sweet syrup. The pancake stack was called something else at the restaurant, saddlebags I think, but I'm calling them man-cakes. Hooray for breakfast!

Pumpkin Delights

When there's a chill in the air, I have a strong desire to make pumpkin recipes. This year I wanted to break away from my usual pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. My search yielded muffins and shakes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a 12-count muffin tin.
2. Put the dry ingredients, from flour to salt, in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar and oil, mixing until combined. Then mix in the pumpkin and water. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients; beat just until moistened. Mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Fill the muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.


A typical can of pumpkin holds about one and a half cups of pumpkin puree. So I found a recipe that uses up the rest of the can of pumpkin. However, it only makes about 2 cups. That was not enough for the whole family. So you can either make this after the kids go to bed, or double the recipe to share with everyone. Of course, it's so yummy that you can double the recipe, pour it in a graham cracker crust, and chill in the freezer for a frozen pumpkin pie. Mmm . . . frozen pumpkin pie.


Pumpkin Pie Shake
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup milk, non-dairy creamer or water
~1/2 cup (or the rest of the can) pureed pumpkin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla
cool whip for garnish (optional)

1. Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend. Add an extra 1/4 cup of milk if needed. Pour into your cup(s) and top with cool whip, if desired.

Experimenting with Muffins

I started with a basic oatmeal muffin recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. It needed a lot of help. I have spent the last couple of years (I don't make muffins every day) experimenting and tweaking the recipe. For instance, I came up with the topping on my own. And I finally arrived at today's success. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Feel free to do your own experiments, and let me know how they turn out.

Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins:
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup oats
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk or non-dairy creamer
1/4 cup oil

Topping:
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon chilled butter
1-2 Tablespoons chopped nuts

1) Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tin or line with baking cups.

2) Whisk together dry ingredients; set aside (whisking helps eliminate lumps). Beat together wet ingredients; add to dry mixture, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle over each muffin.

3) Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving with butter. Makes 12 muffins.