Grilled Cheese with a Twist

Have you ever had a grilled cheese sandwich? Sure, of course you have. If you're anything like me, you had plenty of 'em when you were a kid. I remember my mom making them on our gas stove back in Brooklyn, New York. She had a special sandwich maker she used for such occasions. For some reason, that sandwich maker made the absolute best grilled cheese sandwiches. I'll never get the same results ever again because I haven't had a gas stove in over 20 years. I use my George Foreman Grill now to make most of D's grilled cheese sandwiches or Panini as he sometimes likes to call them. We have found out that grilled cheese sandwiches are not just for kids. He inspired me to try two new twists on this old favorite. I followed the recipe on the first grilled cheese sandwich and used a heavy pan to grill it in. It is called a French Toast Grilled Cheese Sandwich. It combines two of our favorites so I couldn't pass it up. I didn't know anything about "savory" french toast. Apparently, there are many recipes out there for savory french toast that have passed me by. I didn't have Gruyere cheese so I googled it and found out that it is very similar to Swiss Cheese. Sadly, I didn't even have any Swiss Cheese in my refrigerator so I used Monterey Jack. The cheese combination was fine but I definitely want to try this again with the Gruyere cheese. I'm very curious to see if my local grocery store carries sliced Gruyere. I have a feeling that it doesn't but I'm definitely going to have a look. I found the original recipe on http://www.ehow.com/. It was posted by Samantha Molina. She suggests using turkey or ham to change it up and make it extra yummy.



The second sandwich we tried comes from a television commercial. I think it was a Kraft American Cheese commercial. This grilled cheese sandwich is made with raisin bread which is why I was suprised D asked for it. I haven't seen him eat raisin bread, ever. I found out that D will eat raisin bread on occasion. Big surprise to me because I had no idea. I didn't make one of these grilled cheese sandwiches for myself but I took a bite of his and it was really yummy. It is a very different kind of grilled cheese sandwich but in a good way.



French Toasted Grilled Cheese Sandwich

http://www.ehow.com/

by Samantha Molina



4 slices of white bread

4 slices of American cheese

4 slices of Gruyere cheese

two eggs, beaten

1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese

salt and pepper to taste



Steps:



1. In a large frying pan (preferably a heavy cast iron skillet) melt enough butter to coat the bottom of the pan. Keep the heat on low so the butter and the sandwich don't burn.



2. Put the beaten eggs it a shallow, flat bottomed bowl. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the Asiago cheese over the top of the egg mixture. Dip the slice of bread into the egg, just like you would if you were making french toast. Flip the bread to make sure it gets evenly coated with egg. Place the slice of bread, Asiago cheese side down, onto the hot skillet.



3. Place two slices of American cheese onto the bread in the skillet, followed by the Gruyere. Be sure to sprinkle some more Asiago cheese on top of the egg mixture before coating the second slice of bread. The second slice goes, Asiago cheese side up on top of the cheese slices. Grill on both sides until hot and melty, and the bread has the consistency of french toast.



Repeat this process for the second sandwich.



The second recipe isn't even really a recipe. It is more like instructions. Just take two slices of raisin bread and put two slices of Amerian cheese and two slices of Granny Smith Apple between them. Heat up your pan or grill. Butter the outsides of the bread and start grilling. Let the sandwich grill until the bread gets nicely brown and the cheese is melted. Flip the sandwich if you are using a pan, of course.



The Granny Smith Apples give this grilled cheese a nice tangy taste. It sounds odd but it is really tasty.



Enjoy!



The Creative Cook

Books, Books Books

I've already filled you in about my love of books about cooking. No, I don't mean cookbooks -- I mean those awesome and sometimes funny mysteries written by food lovers like myself. I'm especially fond of Diane Mott Davidson and I'm getting ready to read one by Joanne Fluke called The Cherry Cheesecake Murder. Diane Mott Davidson is going on a book tour and the closest she is going to be to me is somewhere in PA. I may try to get my niece to a bookstore she is coming to in Phoenix. If it is close to her house, she may do it for me. You never know.

I'm going off topic with this next one but another one of my favorite authors is a woman by the name of Maureen Meehan Aplin. Maureen is an amazing women. I have never actually met her but she is a friend of my niece. She is a sitting judge in California and she has a family but she has written five absolutely fantastic thrillers. The one I have read and loved was Pandemic Predator. I mailed it to her and she signed it for me and sent it back. She is so nice. I suggested that she have a contest on her website and give away a signed copy of one of her books. She took that idea and ran with it. She is now having a monthly contest where you can enter and win a book of your choice! Her books should be on the best seller list. They are extremely well researched and smartly written. They are not dumbed down which is probably why she isn't more widely known. Check out her website at www.maureenaplin.com and enter the contest that was inspired by me! Maybe if we're lucky she will make a visit to a local bookstore one of these days.

Another one of my favorite authors is Laura Lippman. She is a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun. She has written at least 15 books. Most of her books are based in and around Baltimore which makes it fun for me to read. Her latest book has just come out and she is going to be in my area at a bookstore called A Likely Story on Main Street in Sykesville. I plan to be there and get my copy of her latest signed by her. Her visit to A Likely Story is on Monday, March 30 at 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm depending on whether you believe the newspaper or her website.

Ever since I got B a signed copy of Lisa Gardner's new book at the Carroll Community College Book Fair a few weeks ago I'm getting obsessed with buying signed copies of books. Oh no!

The Creative Cook and Avid Reader

Happy Easter!

I am probably going to take some flack for this, but I'm doing an early Easter post. I got in the Easter mood on Sunday. It was my first day off in a while. I had planned to have D decorate his Easter Bunny Hutch, which he did. I think he did a nice job with it. I let him use the leftover decorators icing from the Blue & Gold cupcakes we made last week. We used that as a base for the green tinted coconut "grass."

I also managed to make colorful 24-karate gold Easter eggs, for my Easter Egg Ferris wheel. D wasn't interested in helping me with these for whatever reason. No matter. Don't you just love my cute little Easter Egg Ferris Wheel!! I bought it last year at either Michael's or Joanne's and it just sat in my basement. I really wanted to use it last year but I never got time to color the eggs. I really loved the 24-karat gold Easter Egg Coloring Kit I got this year. It was so great. My only complaint is that since the metallic gold paint is essentially yellow, you can't get all the colors right. When I added blue food coloring to the metallic paint it turned green and the purple (i.e. mixing red and blue) just became black. I don't know how this could be avoided unless the company just made a clear metallic paint and packaged that along with the faux gold. It really didn't bother me to much but you'll notice I don't have any purple or blue eggs in my Ferris Wheel.

Another thing we did Sunday was make Jello Jiggler Easter Eggs and Jello Jiggler Jelly Beans. It seems to me that for a family that doesn't eat Jello any other time of the year, we get obsessed with Jello at Easter time. In fact, D was thumbing through my old "Magic of Jello" cookbook. I have no idea where I got this Jello cookbook. It might have come from my mom or maybe I bought it on Ebay and blocked it out of my mind. I'm really not sure but sometimes he wants to make a recipe out of it. This time, it was a fairly easy and not too disgusting recipe for something called "Jell-O Refreshers". They were pretty good, actually. I ate one and he ate two (on different nights) which is a rarity for him. Once we have a dinner or dessert rarely does he go back for the leftovers on another night. I, on the other hand, could eat the same thing every night as long as it is something I love. But I digress..... I really wanted to give you this "awesome" (ha ha) recipe for this dessert. It is really easy to make and not bad at all. I'm going to guess that kids would love it since D did.

I'm starting to think that maybe I should have titled this post the Happy Jello post instead of the Happy Easter post because now I'm gonna tell you all a big secret. . . we visited the Jello Museum in LeRoy, New York about 3 or 4 years ago. OMG! Yes, it is true. We were visiting B's family in Rochester so we were only about half an hour away. D couldn't wait to see the Jello Museum, he was so excited. It was interesting and very inexpensive. If you are ever in that area, you should stop in at the Jello Museum and have a look. Just don't tell anyone. . .

Jell-O Refreshers

Prep time: 5 minutes

Chill time: 3 hours

1 pkg (4 serving size) Jello Gelatin Dessert, any flavor (we used black cherry)

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold carbonated beverage (we used cola)

(1) Dissolve the Jello in boiling water. Cool to room temperature

(2) Add carbonated beverage and chill in dessert dishes (we used wine glasses) until set, about 3 hours.

Makes 4 servings

SUGGESTED COMBINATIONS:

- Lime Jello with ginger ale

- Orange Jello with root beer

- Cherry Jello with cola

TIP: Cool down the gelatin mixture to room temperature before adding the carbonated beverage if you want to maintain the carbonation.

The Creative Cook

Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tart

I attended a neighborhood womens' wine tasting event last night. The theme was France. Therefore, I felt compelled to make a French dessert. I found a recipe by Paul Grimes that was in Gourmet Magazine. It looked awesome. It tasted really good, too. My friend V told me that it was really rich and chocolaty but not too sweet. That was her take on it. I agree. A few of the elements of this recipe did not work for me. I would make it again with some changes. First of all, I don't own a 9-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and probably never will. I do own a ceramic 9-inch round fluted tart pan so I opted to use that. It was heavy to tote around to the event but it didn't change the taste of the tart in any way. The next thing I want to mention is the crust. I think it needed several more than the 9 chocolate graham crackers that the recipe calls for. Next time I am going to use 12 chocolate grahams and another tablespoon or two of the melted butter. I had read in the comments of the recipe that the crust "fell short" so I guess this is what they meant. It just didn't fill the pie pan to make a real crust around the sides. I don't think it mattered much except for the "look" of the tart. Then when I started making the glaze, I realized it wasn't thin enough. It didn't really spread well. Again, next time I would definitely make the glaze thinner with more cream and corn syrup. It tasted fine though. It was not a difficult dessert to make. I made it when I got home from a day at work. Fortunately for me the event didn't start until 8:00 pm so I had some time to let the tart sit. I think everyone at the event was on a diet so there was a lot left of the tart. I sent some home with V for her husband and daughter. I was even able to take a piece home for B and D to taste. It is something like a brownie or a flourless chocolate cake with a rich dark chocolaty taste. Give this recipe a try when you have a "yen" for chocolate. I guarantee it will hit the spot.

CHOCOLATE-GLAZED CHOCOLATE TART
Serves 8 to 10
Active Time: 30 Minutes
Start to Finish: 2-3/4 hours (includes cooling)

FOR CRUST:

9 (5- by 2-1/4-inch) chocolate graham crackers (not chocolate-covered), finely ground (1 cup)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

FOR FILLING:

1-1/4 cups heavy cream
9 oz bittersweet chocolate (not more than 65% cocoa if marked), chopped
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

FOR GLAZE:
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1-3/4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon warm water

EQUIPMENT: a 9-inch found fluted tart pan (1 inch deep) with removable bottom

MAKE CRUST:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle.

Stir together all ingredients and press evenly into bottom and 3/4 inch up the side of tart pan. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack 15 to 20 minutes.

MAKE FILLING:

Bring cream to a boil, then pour over chocolate in a bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Gently stir until smooth. Whisk together eggs, vanilla, and salt in another bowl, then stir into melted chocolate.

Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake until filling is set about 3 inches from edge but center is still wobbly, 20 to 25 minutes. (Center will continue to set as tart cools.) Cool completely in pan on rack, about 1 hour.

MAKE GLAZE:

Bring cream to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in corn syrup, then warm water.

Pour glaze onto tart, then tilt and rotate tart so glaze coats top so glaze coats top evenly. Let stand until glaze is set, about 1 hour.

COOK'S NOTE: Tart is the best the day it is made but can be made, without glaze, 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature before glazing.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

GOOSEBERRIES

I now know more than I ever thought I would ever know about gooseberries. I learned from my mother that they can be purchased at our local grocery store. I still don't know when they are in season but I'm sure she will tell me! My sister sent me the following information:

"The gooseberry is a small round fruit that comes in hundreds of varieties. Most plant experts suggest the earliest cultivators of gooseberry plants were in Northern Africa. However, the gooseberry is now grown widely throughout Northern Europe and in North America.

The fruit itself is usually comparable in size to blueberries. Gooseberries can be round, oblong or teardrop shaped depending upon their variety. They also come in a delightful color range, from green to red to purple. The interior flesh of the berry will match the color of the skin, but has a slightly translucent appearance.

Most liken the unripe gooseberry in taste to a sour grape. The ripened gooseberry is harder to find, but is often compared to the Muscat grape in flavor. Since it is difficult to obtain riper gooseberries, the fruit is often used with sugar in dessert recipes.

The gooseberry definitely responds well to baking and sugaring. Gooseberry tarts and pies are common. Similarly gooseberries may be added to the many baked puddings in place of raisins or currants. They also can be stewed, or used in crunches or cobblers. If one can obtain ripe gooseberries, many prefer simply eating them raw, or adding them to fruit salads. They also provide interesting texture and taste in green salads."

I am definitely going to have to look for them at the grocery store. I may not buy them but I'm going to have a good look at them so I can't say I never saw a gooseberry! Now I even know a recipe to use them in, if I want to. The name just sounds a bit weird to me. I am not sure I could eat a berry called a "gooseberry". It sounds a little like goose poop. But maybe that is just me.

I guess I should try to "think outside the box" -- the blueberry/raspberry/strawberry box that is!


Enjoy!



The Creative Cook

Irish Desserts

My sister kindly sent me about a dozen recipes for Irish desserts that don't contain alcohol. Some of them sound a bit odd. I am putting them on here in the hopes that someone will try one of these recipes. The first one sounds dangerous. I would use the dulche de leche instead of trying to boil the condensed milk but then I don't like to live dangerously, if possible. I have a bunch more that I will post next year. Maybe I'll try one of the recipes before then. The crumble sounds interesting but I don't know where you get gooseberries or even what they are. Please explain if you know about these. Thanks!

BANOFFEE PIE (Irish)

12 ounces uncooked shortcrust pastry
1.5 tins condensed milk (13.5 ounces each)
1.5 pounds firm bananas
375 ml of double cream
1/2 teaspoon powdered instant coffee
1 dessert spoon caster sugar
a little freshly ground coffee

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (400F).

Lightly grease a 10in x 1.5in flan tin. Line this with the pastry thinly rolled out. Prick the base all over with a fork and bake blind until crisp. Allow to cool.

The secret of this delicious pudding lies in the condensed milk. Immerse the cans unopened in a deep pan of boiling water. Cover and boil for 5 hours making sure that the pan does not boil dry* (see CAUTION).

Remove the tin from the water and allow to cool completely before opening. Inside you will find the soft toffee filling (or use dulce de leche)

Method: Whip the cream with the instant coffee and sugar until thick and smooth. Now spread the toffee over the base of the flan. Peel and halve the bananas lengthwise and lay them on the toffee. Finally spoon or pipe on the cream and lightly sprinkle over the freshly ground coffee.


*CAUTION: It is absolutely vital to top up the pan of boiling water frequently during the cooking of the cans. 5 hours is a long time and if they are allowed to boil dry the cans will explode causing a grave risk to life, limb and kitchen ceilings. Serves 8-10. (cooks.com)




IRISH POTATO CUSTARD PIE

1 med.-sized potato
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. sugar
2 egg yolks, beaten
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Pie pastry

Peel the potato, cut into small cubes and cook until done. Take the potato out of the water it was cooked in and mash fine. Add the butter and sugar and stir to a creamy consistency. Let the mixture cool. Then add the beaten egg yolks and milk. Mix together well. Then fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into pie pan lined with pastry and bake in a hot oven (400 degrees) about 25 minutes. (cooks.com)




Gooseberry Crumble


This dish is an easily prepared and economical dessert, especially at the time of year when gooseberries are plentiful. The basic method can be used for other fillings, such as rhubarb, apple or apple and blackberry.

8oz/ 250g/ 2 cups self-raising flour

4oz/ 125g/ 1/2 cup soft brown sugar

4oz/ 125g/ 1/2 cup butter

2lb/ 1kg/ 10 cups gooseberries

6oz/ 200g/ 1 cup caster sugar


Using your fingertips, rub butter lightly into the flour in a large bowl. When the texture resembles fine breadcrumbs, mix in the brown sugar. Top and tail the berries and cover with the crumble mixture in an oven-proof dish, pressing the surface down lightly. Bake for 45 minutes in the centre of a pre-heated oven at gas mark 4/ 180°C/ 350°F. Serve hot with cream.

From the Appletree Press title: A Little Irish Cookbook.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It is St. Patrick's Day again -- already! Well, the corned beef is in the crock pot and the pseudo Irish Soda Bread is in the oven so I guess I'm ready. We used the same corned beef recipe that I posted last year on St. Patrick's Day because we all loved it. When I get home, I'll put the vegetables on to cook and the corned beef into the oven with the glaze and I should be done. I still haven't found any type of Irish dessert that would be appropriate or fairly quick. Most of the desserts that I found on the Internet involved alcohol so I just thought I would skip them. Maybe next year I'll make shortbread. I don't know if that is Irish but I really like shortbread and it would be yummy dipped in chocolate. If you have any other ideas for an Irish dessert that doesn't involve alcohol, please email me or send it to me in a comment.

Last year, we weren't crazy about the Irish Soda Bread recipe that I used. Actually, I should rephrase that. Last year, I wasn't crazy about the Irish Soda Bread recipe that I used. The boys did like it. I am trying a different recipe this year which I will post for you. It is another easy recipe. I would have made it later tonight but the recipe says it is much better if it you wrap it in foil and let it sit for several hours or overnight. I was not in the mood to start baking bread last night so that wasn't going to work for me. While I was googling for Irish Soda Bread recipes, I came up on a post at http://www.msn.com/ discussing whether Irish Soda Bread is really Irish or an American creation. One thing they stated emphatically was that butter should not be put into the bread but slathered on it. Oh well, there is butter in this recipe. It is probably just like pizza and chop suey in that it was created here in the U.S. and now we all believe these are foreign foods. It doesn't really matter to me whether or not they eat Soda Bread in Ireland. I just wanted to make a nice St. Patrick's Day Dinner.

This recipe is called Irresistible Irish Soda Bread and the recipe is from http://www.allrecipes.com/. It looks good in the oven. It was very easy to make. I realize that the raisins are left out of the recipe but the original author did that, not me. I don't like raisins in my bread and neither does D so I didn't add any. You can add them or not as you choose.

IRRESISTIBLE IRISH SODA BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Creative Cook

Blue & Gold Cake Auction - Crazy Cakes

As promised, here are the rest of the cakes from the cake auction yesterday at the Blue & Gold dinner. Some people went all out! There were 2 camping cakes, a scouting cake, a train cake, another Blue & Gold cake and a shall we say a "potty" cake. I could not have bought the potty cake because there was no way I could ever eat that thing. What was inside the toilet looked all to real for me. The bakers told us that they used 4 cake mixes to make it. It was a real project. I dare anyone to eat that cake without upchucking. Could you do it? Well, maybe I could have eaten the plunger -- it was made out of pure chocolate!

The Creative Cook

Blue & Gold - Cake Auction

This is the year that D is a Webelo II in Cub Scouts so the boys are supposed to make a cake for the Father/Son Blue & Gold Cake Auction. Since B was away all last week in Utah, Arizona and California, I had to step in and help D make his cake for the auction. We had talked about what they wanted to do and they both agreed to disagree. B wanted to do a bunch of cupcakes on a cupcake tree and D wanted to do a cake. I decided to do both. I made the big cupcake that I posted on this blog almost a year ago with the Double Chocolate Pound cake Recipe I got off the Wilton website with the exception of the espresso. I didn't want to sell a cake with espresso in it to a family with kids. I also made Oreo Cookies & Cream Cupcakes and bought an inexpensive cookie tree on Ebay. It was supposed to be disposable but I think it could be used many times by the new owners. Both the cookie tree and the big cupcake went over very well at the Blue & Gold today. They got numerous bids. My work was well received, thankfully. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think. I made two batches of the Oreo cupcakes so we had a chance to sample them. They were yumm-O! I used the store bought Wilton Decorating Frosting but I'm including a great looking recipe for butter cream frosting.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of some of the other cakes that were auctioned off. They were all really awesome.

Oreo Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

(24 cupcakes)

2-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 ounces (2 sticks/16 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

1 -1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (8 fl oz) whole milk, at room temperature

1-1/2 cups coarsely crushed Oreo cookies

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line 24 standard sized (3.5-4 oz) cupcake wells with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Fold in the crushed Oreo cookies. Divide the batter evenly among the 24 cupcake wells. Bake at 350F until cupcakes are golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan for 5 minutes then gently remove from pan to cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Butter cream Frosting

(enough to lightly frost 24 cupcakes)

4 ounces (1 stick / 8tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temp

2 to 2.5 cups confectioners' sugar

3 to 4 tablespoons whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 30 seconds.

Sift in 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla.

Beat on low speed until sugar is incorporated.

Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy.

Adjust the frosting consistency and sweetness with the remaining 1 tablespoon milk and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.

Frost your cupcakes.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Oven Baked French Toast

I found this recipe in the newspaper. Our local paper has recipes in the "lifestyle" section about once or twice a week. This particular week I found a bunch of recipes that I'll be making over the course of time. This one attracted my attention right away when it said "easy and inexpensive". That is right up my alley. Also, you may know that my family loves french toast. This recipe was definitely one of the easiest to make. It requires little to no preparation. It can be made ahead so you can just pop it in the oven when you are ready to bake it. My only complaint was that the sugar I sprinkled on top did not melt as promised. I think it would have worked better if I had dotted the top of the french toast with some butter and then sprinkled on the sugar. I'll try that next time. If you are worried about cholesterol, you can use Just Whites or some other egg substitute.

I'm planning to make this for the upcoming teacher appreciation week breakfast for D's school. That is coming up during the first week of May. Actually, I think that is a country-wide Teacher Appreciation week so if you want to say "thank you" to your kids teachers, please remember to do it during the first week of May. They deserve it.

Oven Baked French Toast
with Mixed Berry Sauce

For the French Toast:

16 to 20 ounce loaf sliced white bread, ends discarded (I used Arnold Brick Oven)
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups low-fat milk

For the Berry Sauce:

1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Arrange enough whole bread slices in a single layer to cover the bottom of the dish. Cut the remaining slices in half on the diagonal and arrange them in overlapping rows on top. You should have 3 rows of bread triangles. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and nutmeg. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until well blended. Gradually whisk in the milk.

Slowly and evenly pour the egg mixture over the bread slices and let soak for 5 minutes. Use a fork or spatula to gently press down on the bread to ensure it is evenly soaked.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the french toast is puffed. sprinkle the top of the french toast with sugar, then set the oven to broil. Broil the french toast until the sugar is melted and the bread is lightly browned.

While the french toast bakes, in a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the berries, sugar water and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and stir in lemon juice mixture. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes more. Let cool.

When the french toast is done baking, serve immediately topped with mixed berry sauce.

Serves 8.

Start to finish: 1 hour (25 minutes active)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!

Today is my one year anniversary doing this blog. I am saying Happy Blog-a-versary to myself. I really didn't think I would keep doing this for a whole year. I hope I can continue and do even better in the future. I have tons of recipes just waiting for me to try out and blog about. I have been SO busy between tax season, my husband's travels, car breaking down, heat pumps getting replaced, running D back and forth to sports and so on!

I'll be back as soon as I can with more awesome food. Stay tuned!