Vanilla Cinnamon French Toast

Vanilla Cinnamon French Toast

Vanilla Cinnamon French Toast with Star Fruit

For breakfast me and mom made french toast together.We both made different types of french toast . I made Vanilla Cinnamon french toast. We wanted to do something together so mom went to the store and got the stuff to make it . Mom just HAD to buy me a star fruit. I begged her for about 5 minutes till she said yes. And now star fruit is my new favorite fruit there is!

Here is how I made it:

Milk 1 cup “psst … we used half and half!”

1 egg

1 dash of Vanilla extract

1 pinch of cinnamon (read more)

Caramel Apple has a Sexy Sister!

Caramel Dipped Pear

Caramel Apple has a sexy sister

With the excessive prodding by my youngest daughter Coda to pleeeease make caramel apples, I finally caved. In my mind it was going to be a sticky mess of gooey caramel to clean off of every surface in my kitchen. And since I don’t have a dishwasher (Gasp!) clean up is a consideration always. Coda has a way of linking cooking to quality time with Mom (where did she develop that notion?) so I did agree to give it a go. As usual I was also wanting to get creative and experimental with the traditional recipe. When shopping for all of the ingredients, I came upon these precious tiny pears, and thought they too might make a lovely companion to melted caramel. So begun the creation of caramel apple’s sexy sister! We also had various toppings that we experimented with such as sprinkles, chopped pecans, and to get a little risque, chopped smoked almonds. My good friend Cat has a recipe to make the caramel, but for a weeknight project, we used wrapped candies for these. I will be making her caramel recipe and sharing another treat in a later post. (read more)

Smoked Gouda, Avocado and Tomato Panini

Smoked Gouda, Avocado and Tomato Panini...with a Stella

Smoked Gouda, Avocado and Tomato Panini…with a Stella

This simple meal really hit the spot on a Friday evening after a long work week. The girls were with their Dad, and it was time to unwind and relax. Makayla was the one who originally made this yummy sandwich for her home economics class last year. I happened to have a good crusty loaf of Italian herb bread and the other  ingredients on hand. We have one of those little indoor grills that works great as a panini maker. You could add bacon to this to make it more decadent, or keep it vegetarian, which is what I did. Pair it with a nice cold beer and you have your own little happy hour of peace and quiet…ahhhh… (read more)

Parmesan Cheese Potato Stacks

Parmesan Cheese Potato StacksThese Parmesan Cheese Potato Stacks are delicate and rich at the same time. The addition of fresh thyme gives them an added zing. I used fresh thyme from our garden. Rosemary might be good too. They are not low cal, but with their petite size make them a moderate indulgence if you can limit yourself to just a couple.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and generously grease a muffin tin with butter

4 medium russet potatoes peeled and sliced into approximately 1/8 inch slices

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream (read more)

Kale with Celery, Apple and Carrot

Celery Kale Carrot Apple

With the same bunch of kale I used in the angel hair pasta dish the other night, I was able to make this side dish for our pork chops. With the addition of green apples, it added an unexpected tart sweetness to the dish. The trick is to time when you put the different ingredients into the skillet. Experiment with different combinations of veggies with this. I used what we had on hand, enjoying the crunchiness of this combination.

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced (read more)