French Toast

We have had a really busy summer so far! We vacationed in Estes Park, Colorado in early June and since then I've been trying to spend more time on the house than on the computer... so, not much for posting on here! We've hand textured the finished side of the kitchen and painted it. My mom came for a few days and helped me make a bi-fold door for my laundry closet, out of pallets. She's so good at making things!
I haven't really been working on many recipes, and the ones I have been working on still need some tweeking. Brian has been working on a cookbook though, it looks really pretty. I still haven't looked into printing/publishing. Anyone know anything about that or have tips?

Anyway- moving on to the recipe... I love French Toast! This is not the healthiest, just because I like using plain old white bread. I have used homemade whole wheat bread, and it's good, but I just like the texture when it's made with white bread.


French Toast
In mixing/measuring bowl beat:
5 eggs
1 TB vanilla
then pour in milk so it reaches the 4 cup mark and mix together.
2 loaves regular white bread
Quickly dip one slice of bread at a time, making sure to coat both sides. Fry on hot griddle 3-5 per side. Serve- YUMMY!

This uses about 36 slices of bread (1 1/2 20 oz. loaves) It's enough for our 6 big eaters (and Naomi is a big eater- she will eat 3 or 4 slices!) and 2 others- so 8 big eaters total.

Brian likes his with Cinnamon, so after I make a couple griddles of this type I sprinkle cinnamon into the milk mixture.

Tarter Sauce

Every now and then I get a hankering (yes, that's what it is- a "hankering"!) for fish sticks. I found some natural ones at Costco, which I was really happy to find! I love tarter sauce with it- so here's what I do:


Tarter Sauce
1 c. Mayonnaise
1 large dill pickle, finely diced
1 tsp. lemon juice
sprinkle of garlic
Mix thoroughly and serve.

I tend to play a little with the lemon juice and garlic till I get the flavor I want- sometimes I add some pickle juice as well.

New Poll

My wonderful graphic designer husband has been arranging my blog recipes into cookbook pages. So I have set up a poll here to see if there would be any interest in a printed cookbook- please let me know your thoughts! If you have any comments about it- please feel free to leave them.

Thanks!

The Perfect Sugar Cookie

It just is! These are my absolute favorite sugar cookies- none other compare. My friend Suzanne is an excellent cookie chef and at least half of my cookie recipes come from her- including this one.
The last couple days I've been working on these cookies- Saturday, made the dough, Sunday, rolled, cut and baked them and then this morning I frosted them. They were for a bridal shower- they decided to do something different than cake. And after making them, I thought it was a great idea- they were so pretty!



The Perfect Sugar Cookie

1 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
cream and add one at a time:
3 eggs
Stir together and add to creamed mixture:
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Chill dough 3-4 hours. Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll out to 1/4". Cut and bake at 350˚ for about 12 minutes. On cold stones I baked them for 14 minutes.
I don't like these cookies to brown at all- so just take them out. If they brown they get a little crunchy, but otherwise they are very soft and oh so yummy!

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Stephen's Birthday Cake

So... I realize just how little amount of brain I had last year- being pregnant. I found this draft when I was looking through my blog posts... I have forgotten what type of cake we made. I remember it being too dense, so I was probably wondering if I should share it anyway... but I really don't remember. Anyway, Stephen helped make it and he wanted to decorate it. He had me help by putting a few leaves in, as his birthday is in the fall and he really enjoys making his cakes fit the season.

Chicken Mac & Cheese

Creative name, isn't it? Let me know if you have a better one. Ok- 2 out of 4 kids didn't like this. It's because they don't like homemade mac & cheese- specifically: melted cheese. But the rest of us thought it was wonderful! I've been fasinated with homemade mac & cheese for the last few months. I made it once several years ago, following a recipe online (because I had never had it before- ever, only the boxed junk), it called for a sauce to be made, poured over the pasta and baked. It was gross- the sauce clumped up and didn't taste good either. So when Titus was born, I knew my midwife could make Mac & Cheese- so I asked her to make it while she was here. It was delicious. But this was her husbands preferred recipe, so she told me how she likes- basically, there are a bunch of different ways.

I started watching the food network when I nurse Titus... and they were making mac & cheese- everyone had their own twist, so I started experimenting. I haven't made a bad one yet! Ok, I'll admit that Jesse and Stephen haven't enjoyed my experiments- but Luke has been loving it. Guess it's payback for all the rice dishes I make that they love and Luke despises. So here's my latest and honestly, I think it's my best!

Chicken Mac & Cheese
16 oz pasta, cooked in salted water to al dente, drained (I used Cappelletti this time)
1/3 c. sundried tomatoes, diced (in olive oil- I have the julienne ones, so I had to chop them up some more)
~
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes and cooked in frying pan, until done.
~
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 c. shredded cheddar (sharp is good for this, but Med. or Mild is fine too)
~
3 slices white bread
2 TB parsley flakes
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 TB butter*

Toss pasta and sundried tomatoes, then mix in cheese and chicken. Pour into 9"x13" baking dish.
In food processor:
Tear up bread and put in, add the parsley and parmesan- blend until fine.
Sprinkle bread crumbs over the pasta, dot with butter*, bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes. Broil for a couple minutes at the end- just to brown the top.
*ok, this time I dotted the top with butter- but next time, I'm going to freeze the butter, after I cut it into a couple smaller pieces and then mix it in the food processor with the bread crumbs. The purpose of the butter is to help the bread crumbs brown pretty.

Meal Cost
Pasta; $1.33
Chicken: $1.88
Mozzarella Cheese: $.82
Cheddar Cheese: $1.00
Parmesan Cheese: $.40
Sundried Tomatoes: $.66
Meal total: $6.09
We had enough for 5 big eaters, Naomi and 2 leftover servings: $.87/serving.

I did buy my cheese, Sundried tomato, and Pasta at Costco, which cuts the cost of this dish.