Breakfast for Dinner?

Well the weather has turned cool...cooler than it was yesterday anyways and cool enough to snow!  It is also getting dark so darned early that everyone is sleepy and feeling like comfort foods.  By 5:00pm tonight (official sunset was at4:42pm with a sunrise of 7:44am), it was pitch dark outside.  Making the transitions to such short days can be tough but we put on an extra layer of clothes, turn the lights on earlier and tough it out until spring.

Tonight is a great night for breakfast for dinner!  French toast to be exact!  I have been thinking about making french toast for a few days so when I came home to a slow cooker meal that just didn't go as planned, I delighted in making French toast!  Warm, soothing, with a touch of cinnamon...just the thing to warm me up!  Served up with crisp bacon and a maple apple salad, tonight's dinner was not only soul soothing, it warmed the heart as well!

French toast 

Thickly slice 2 loaves of day old bread of your choosing.  Tonight I used a loaf of rye and a loaf of multigrain bread.  Any rustic, unsliced loaf will work well.

Heat a fry pan or griddle to medium heat.


In a casserole dish or other vessel with a flat bottom and high sides mix together:

• 6 eggs, beaten well
• 2 cups 1/2 and 1/2 (or cream or milk. I have also used evaporated milk)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Beat these ingredients together really well.

Melt a pat of butter in the hot fry pan

Dip a piece of bread into the custard (egg) mixture and turn it over so that both sides are will coated.  Allow excess to drip off and place in the hot pan.

 
Fry until golden, flip and fry side number 2 until golden.  Place finished pieces in a pan in a warm oven to keep until serving.

Serve topped with maple syrup, or powdered sugar, or fruit, or whipped cream, or what ever floats your boat!


For the bacony side kick:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Spread bacon out in a single layer on a greased (or sprayed with cooking spray) baking sheet.
Bake until golden delicious.  (about 20 minutes)
Once cooked to your desired doneness, layer between some paper toweling to drain the fat.

Maple apple salad

In a bowl, mix together:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt 
• 2 tbsp real maple syrup
• 2 apples, cored and chopped (I like to leave the skins on)

Top with granola (I didn't have any granola on hand tonight but I did use some Kashi cereal and it tasted great!

This salad also tastes great topped with some crumbled bacon.

Honey Vanilla Yummy Plums

While cleaning up after dinner, I saw my pail of honey sitting on the counter looking sad and lonely.  When I say 'pail of honey', I am referring to the 3kg pail of honey I picked up at the farmers' market last weekend.  I started to rustle through my cupboards to see what I had on hand that I could pair with the honey.  Low and behold I found my vanilla beans!!!  Knowing I had plums in the fridge....I decided to make some honey vanilla plums.  I guess it is really a compote or a plum sauce.  Three simple ingredients!!

• plums, washed, pitted, and chopped (leave that skin on!!! It gives a great colour!)
• honey
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Place the chopped plums in a pot on medium heat.  Add the seeds from the vanilla bean and the pod.  Drizzle on 1 or2 tablespoons of honey.  I used 1/4 cup of honey tonight but this all depends on the ripeness of the plums and your personal tastes.  Let the plums cook down, stirring occasionally.  The plums will break down and become a luscious and yummy sauce.

****One of my favourite uses for honey vanilla plums is to stir them into yogurt!!