Baked French Toast with Raspberry Sauce

I absolutely love French toast. Love, love, love it.

Another thing I love are dishes I can make the night before and refrigerate.

So when I saw this recipe in Everyday Food I knew I would love it. It's easy to mix up and makes a great Sunday brunch or holiday breakfast. Or a satisifying dinner (because it's always special to have breakfast food at dinner time)!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 thick slices challah, brioche, or other egg bread (1 inch thick) (I used a large loaf of Italian bread. I had more than 4 slices and the recipe made enough for all slices.)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 bag (10 to 12 ounces) frozen raspberries (or strawberries), thawed

Directions
In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, whisk together eggs, milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt.

Arrange bread in dish in a single layer; let soak 15 minutes. Turn bread over; cover, and refrigerate until most of the liquid is absorbed, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with butter. (I use parchemnt paper.) With a spatula, carefully transfer soaked bread to sheet. Bake until French toast is set in center and lightly browned on the bottom, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine raspberries and remaining 1/4 cup sugar, mashing lightly with a fork.

Remove French toast from baking sheet with a thin metal spatula; serve with raspberry sauce.

You can use so many different berries for the sauce. Experiment and enjoy!

Herbed Chicken in Pastry

There are recipes that I see and think, "Wow, that looks delicious." And my thoughts go no farther than that because the recipe looks too difficult or time consuming.

I'm working on overcoming that because, quite often, my fear is unfounded. Like with this recipe that I found inside my Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. This chicken dish was much more quick and easy than I imagined it would be. Try it... Soon! You'll be hooked!

Thaw Time: 30 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes
Chill Time: 15 minutes


Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp. butter OR margarine
1/2 pkg. Pepperidge Farm® Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1 container (4 oz.) garlic & herb spreadable cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
SEASON chicken with salt and pepper if desired. Melt butter in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned. Remove chicken. Cover and refrigerate 15 min. or up to 24 hours.

THAW pastry sheet at room temperature 30 min. Mix egg and water. Preheat oven to 400°F.

UNFOLD pastry on lightly floured surface. Roll into 14" square and cut into 4 (7") squares. Spread about 2 tbsp. of the cheese spread in center of each square. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. parsley and top with cooled chicken. Brush edges of squares with egg mixture. Fold each corner to center on top of chicken and seal edges. Place seam-side down on baking sheet. Brush with egg mixture.

BAKE 25 min. or until golden.

Award Winning Seafood Recipes and a Chance to WIn a Trip to New Orleans

I enjoy trying new recipes so when the Great American Seafood cook off began I was checking in to see what recipes made the top five.

While I was impressed with all the recipes my choice was different that the choice of the judges. I chose Chef Brian Landry of Louisiana. He created a Shrimp and Andouille Cassoulet - Louisiana Shrimp and Andouille sausage smothered in a white bean casserole.

I’ll be honest about why I chose the recipe – all the ingredients are highly available to me in my landlocked state and shrimp is a domestic and sustainable seafood and is affordable. And it looks really straight-forward; I can probably re-create it with very little hassle. (The recipes had to meet a few standards: First, the dishes had to contain one of two mystery ingredients, either Southwest Airline Peanuts or select brews from Michelob Brewing Co. Next, keeping it healthy and simple, the dish’s ingredients had to represent all five food groups and be a dish that even the most harried home chefs could prepare. To be honest most of the recipes have too many steps for me to consider and I’m not a “harried home chef”.)

If you’re interested in viewing the top recipes visit www.greatamericaseafoodcookoff.com and click the big red “Enter to Win” button. That will take you to a page of delicious viewing. You will see photos of the top five entries and by clicking the photos you can download the recipes.

If you wish you can choose your favorite and vote for it as the “People’s Choice”. By filling out the voting form you are entered to win a trip to New Orleans, arguably one of the best places in the US for fresh seafood.

Sausage Rigatoni

You know those commericals... The ones with the chefs in the Italian restaurants lamenting the fact that their customers are at home eating Bertolli... Granted, Bertolli is a lot less expensive than eating out but it's still pretty spendy- about $9 bag for 2 servings. In my book that's too much.

Especially when you can recreate it yourself - and feed a family of 4 - for less than a bag of the frozen stuff. Instead the chefs will be crying about the fact that you are cooking!

This is a super-easy recipe from Kraft. They call it Sausage and Tomoto Rigatoni but the only tomatoes in it are from paste and dressing, so I dropped the tomatoes from the title.

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 30 min
Makes: 4 servings, about 2 cups each

Ingredients:
4 cups rigatoni pasta (8 oz.), uncooked
1 lb. Italian sausage, cut into chunks
1 red onion, sliced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, brown sausage in large nonstick skillet; drain. Stir in onions and tomato paste; cover. Cook 15 min. or until onions are tender and sausage is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing.

TOSS sausage mixture with pasta. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

If you actually want to add tomatoes to this I highly suggest getting some canned diced Italian style tomatoes. Drain them and add the tomatoes about 10 minutes after adding the tomato paste. They'll get warm but not too mushy.

Crisco Grill A Day Giveaway

Now thru September 26 Crisco is giving away a Coleman Roadtrip LE Grill. All you have to do is visit www.crisco.com/grilling every day to enter.



Even if you don't win a daily prize every entry gets you another chance at the grand prize: a $10,000 backyard makeover and a Coleman Series 8200 Gas Grill.



There is a sign up and you are asked for a UPC code from a Crisco product (even though the entry form says no purchase required). If you don't have a Crisco product in your cupboard use this code: 5150024248.



Good luck!

Add a New Wave to Your Dining

I don’t know about you, but when I prepare a special meal (whether it’s just for Doug and I or for a group) I want my food to be the center of attention. And to make a beautiful meal even more beautiful you need outstanding tableware to really make it memorable—right down to the after dinner coffee.

Now, I’ll admit that most things “modern” really aren’t appealing to me. But the design and style of the NewWave Caffe mugs made me look twice. The design of the handle and the way it sits on the mug just look like it’s made for you to curl up in a chair on a cold day and cuddle the cup between your hands. And the fact that it is dishwasher safe makes it perfect as an “every day” cup and not just a “company” cup.

But if you de decide to use it for company the party plate, with it’s wave design, would make a great conversation piece. A few petite fours + coffee = a great after dinner dessert. (Did I mention that the New Wave line of mugs, plates and accessories are half price during the month of August? I’m going to get a few of the Latte Macciato cups for cocoa.)

If you want to expand on the New Wave Caffee set there are great companion pieces like the Dinnerware Set (I love the pattern on the Acapulco), a serving bowl, a serving tray, a three section dish and cutlery. Or pair them with another great set at the Villeroy & Boch site.

No matter what you choose you’ll get great quality at a substantial savings over MSRP. And for anyone getting married- they have a gift registry. It’s really easy to set up- why not start married life with fabulous plates?

CPB Crunch Bars

Today was "back to school" here in my suburb. Parents either rejoice or panic. Or maybe a bit of both. If you still have a little one at home while the big siblings are off to school or you have kids who like to help in the kitchen I have a recipe for you. I pulled it out of a magazine about 3 years ago and the girls love to help me make it.

Just a warning: it's kind of messy. But that just makes it more fun!

Ingredients:
1 T butter
3 c mini marshmallows
1/2 c peanut butter
4 c Honey Bunches of Oats (or other flake cereal)
4 1-oz squares semi sweet chocolate

Equipment to make the job easier:
8" square pan
cooking spray
large microwavable bowl
pot holders
measuring cups (1 cup and 1/2 cup sizes)
small glass measuring cup
measuring spoon (1 T size)
rubber spatulas or scrapers

Here we go:
Spray bottom and sides of pan with cooking spray.

Put butter and marshmallows in microwaveable bowl.

Microwave on high 45 seconds. The bowl will be hot! Use pot holders! Stir with spatula. Microwave 30 seconds (or until marshmallows are melted).

Measure 1/2 c peanut butter. From that remove 2 T peanut butter and set aside. Stir remaining peanut butter into marshmallows. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

Spray fingers with cooking spray and press mixture into pan.

Place chocolate squares and 2 T peanut butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave 30-45 seconds until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth when stirred.

Pour chocolate over treats; spread with spatula.

Refrigerate 15 minutes.

Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

I can not believe I don't have a picture of this recipe anywhere! It's kind of a joke that I take pictures of all my food, but this one I missed.

Now, the original recipe came from Kraft but you can really do whatever you want with these.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

3 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, drained, rinsed
1 cup Barbecue Sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 slices bacon, chopped

PLACE all ingredients in slow cooker; mix well. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW for 4 to 6 hours (or on HIGH for 3 hours).

Some changes I've made:

• I'm not a ran of fresh onions so I use about 1/4 c onion flakes
• Use 3/4 c BBQ sauce and 1/4 c honey
• Try dark brown sugar for a richer sweetness
• Chop some kielbasa instead of bacon

Really, this is an easy recipe that has as many variations as you can think up. Great for cookouts and backyard BBQs.