I guess I've gotten to the point now, after creating many a recipe (and screwing up a few dishes to boot) where I can take a peak in my fridge, throw together some ingredients and make something good.  Of course, one can never go wrong with bourbon.  It just sounds good.  Even better with a slow southern drawl ... go ahead and try it ... I'll wait ...

buuuuuuh bon.

That's right brath-ah's and sist-ah's ... this is my sweet tooth revival.

This got me thinkin about a good old southern accent.  I used to work with a girl from Alabama that could insult you seven different ways to Sunday, but her tone would have you tricked into thinking she just invited you to her house for coffee.  And then there are guys out there like Matthew Maconahay, that even without his devilish good looks could talk a girl he just met into doin somethin she woudn't wanna write home about.  Just sayin.

Out of sheer curiosity, I Googled "southern drawl" and this is what I found ...

They actually label it "Southern American English" or SAE.  It's characterized by R-dropping, use of the circumfix -in' (as in hootin' and hollerin'), and my favorite ... "yonder."   They also describe gliding vowels as a diphthong.   My thought was, "ah whaaaht?  A dip-a-thong?" I'm just gonna leave that alone.  But we'll make today's post fun by writing in an SAE accent.  It will sound sweeter.  And will probably make you hungry.  Play along with me now y'all and read it aloud.

The weekend of the Kentucky Derby, some friends-o-mine were makin mint juleps an had a gigantic bottle of whiskey on hand.  It was so enormous, that, despite the fact there were at least 10 people at their derby party garage sale coolin off with a mighty minty drink ... I'm sure they'll be plenty left that'll last until next year's derby.  I didn't think they'd mind (or even notice!)  if I stole their normal sized bottle of Jim Beam for some recipe experimentation.

On to the experiment ...

Grab y'all some peaches and a big ole loaf a bread and start layerin it all in a large bakin dish or pie pan. (This reminds me of my former boss and friend that would say "pah" instead of "pie."  She said I pronounced it "pye" instead of the proper "pah."   I do admit though, the way she said "pah" sounded like it had less calories and tasted better than pie.   Potato ... potahto ... )

Then whip togethah about a dozen eggs, a cup of milk, a cap of vanilla, some sug-ah ...

And a splash of bourbon ...

okay ... maybe a little more than a splash ...

Pour the whisked whiskey egg-y mixture over the bread and make sure all the dry ingredients get good and soaked.  You can even make this ahead of time, cover it, and let it sit in the fridge to allow the bread to absorb every last drop of the egg-y mixture.

If you are pressed for time, press the bread down with your finger.  *wink*

Sprinkle with some brown sugar.  Oh, wait ... I meant brown "shug-ah" ...

Bake at 350 for 55 minutes ... let cool ... then serve!

Several friends had texted, Facebooked and tweeted me about entering the Paula Deen recipe contest, and this is one dish that could definitely get better with cream cheese!

See how I made it in the video at the top of the post.

Bourbon Peach Bread Pudding

from Inn The Kitchen

Ingredients

And actually, it's not far off from what was the original recipe for French toast in the 1600's.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary,  back then it was made with day old bread, wine, orange juice and sugar.  Mmm.

So let us begin ...

BAKED CINNAMON FRENCH TOAST

from the Inn at Harbour Ridge, Osage Beach MO

(Serves 6 or more)

12 slices cinnamon swirl or cinnamon raisin bread (Pepperidge Farm)

1/4 cup butter or margarine

9 eggs

1 quart milk, whole milk preferred

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 TBS Grand Marnier or Chambord

Warmed preserves to compliment liquor

1) Grease 13 by 9 by 2 baking dish.  Then add six slices of bread.

2) Butter remaining bread and place with butter side up over bread in pan.

3) In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and add milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla.  Mix well and pour over bread. Let stand overnight.

4) Place the dish of French toast in a larger baking pan to form a water bath. Pour boiling water into larger pan to a depth of 1".  Bake, uncovered at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

5) Serve with preserves, whipped cream and your favorite coffee.

###

I have a full list of ingredients and directions at the end of the post ... but the main stars of this event are ripe red raspberries, dark chocolate chips and pink muffin cups to make them cute and girlie.

Sift together your flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Then sift the cocoa.

I should have sifted the sugar in with the flour ... but making these snow topped cocoa mountains was more fun.  I like to play with my food.

Add the brown sugar, then whisk/stir it all together.

Next start adding your wet ingredients.  Whisk your eggs together in a separate bowl.

Milk.

Chocolate chips.

Might I add that I almost had to run out to the store to buy another bag as Jim, the photographer, could not stop eating these.  What makes that even funnier is that he doesn't like sweets!  Liar.  These are bittersweet ... so I give him that credit at least.

My recommendation ... get an extra bag of chocolate and an extra package of raspberries for munching.

Here's a few facts that will take away the guilt ... raspberries are loaded with vitamin C ... chocolate is full of antioxidants and polyphenols ... eggs and milk give you protein and calcium.  Ignore the sugar and flour. They don't exist except to carry this wholesome nutrition into your body.  (wink)

Mix in the chocolate chips before the raspberries.  They're a little tougher, so you can really mix them in well.

Raspberries are fragile, so be careful when folding them in.  These were fresh, but I might even recommend freezing them for an hour so that they hold up better to mixing.

Serve on a platter for breakfast ...

Or as a single tasty treat with coffee or tea ...

Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

(recipe modified from Inn at The Park's Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe Below)

2 Cups all purpose flour
2/3 Cup cocoa
1/3 Cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 Cup milk
1/2 Cup melted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 package of chocolate chips
1 package of fresh raspberries

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin pan or line with paper cups.

2) In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3) Beat eggs in a separate bowl, then add all wet ingredients to flour/cocoa mixture.

4) Fold in chocolate chips. Next add the raspberries and spoon batter into muffin cups.

5) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool then dust with confectioners sugar and serve.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

from the Inn At The Park Bed & Breakfast, Louisville, Kentucky

2 Cups all purpose flour

1/3 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 Cup milk

1/2 Cup melted butter

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 package of chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin pan or line with paper cups.

2) In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3) Beat eggs in a separate bowl, then add all wet ingredients until well blended..

4) Fold in chocolate chips. Next add walnuts and spoon batter into muffin cups.

5) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve.

###

]]> http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2010/01/28/chocolate-raspberry-muffins/feed/ 3 http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2010/01/11/heart-shaped-strawberry-stuffed-french-toast/ http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2010/01/11/heart-shaped-strawberry-stuffed-french-toast/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:20:24 +0000 admin http://innthekitchen.com/wp/?p=1853 French Toast was probably my favorite breakfast growing up and recently I've been receiving lots of different variations of this popular morning food.  Some with different fruits and spices, some stuffed, some layered, the classic single slice and family casserole style.  It made me wonder, why do we call it "French" toast anyway?  I know it's not really French, or is it?

Wikipedia's etymology says the earliest use of the term was in 1660 and was bread fried with wine, orange juice and sugar.  I'll have to give that recipe a try!  After doing a little more digging through Google, I discovered in French it is actually called "pain perdu" which translates into "lost bread."  It was a popular recipe in many countries, not just France, as a way of making stale bread palatable.  The English call it "gyspy bread" and I think I'd like to adopt that term from now on ... sounds like breakfast with an adventurous edge!

While there are many different adaptations, the basics remain the same.  A simple batter of eggs and milk.  And I like to add a dash of vanilla, the way my Mom always made it.

This recipe comes from Diane Kenniston Hill Inn Bed & Breakfast in Maine. She likes to make her French Toast with shell or heart shaped homemade biscuits.  In lieu of biscuits I used some Texas sized bread.

Here's what you'll need:

The basics ... milk, eggs, bread, butter

Add to that a dash of vanilla, some sugar, walnuts, strawberries, and maple syrup.

You can do this same recipe with whole slices of bread instead of heart shapes.  Or, if you're like me, next time you walk through the baking section of your store and see all the cookie molds you'll dream of French Toast in the shape of flowers, butterflies, kittens, birds, musical notes and the State of California.  (That last one was random, I know)

If' you're going to make it into a shape, cut your bread first ...

Then add the milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla to a large bowl and mix well.

Pour mixed batter into a shallow bowl for dipping.

Then start layering into a 13x9 inch baking dish.

Slice your strawberries and layer on top of the bread.  Isn't this starting to look like a lovely Valentine's Day breakfast?

Next, put a layer of bread on top of the strawberries, sort of like a sandwich.

I poured the extra batter over top to fully soak them in eggy goodness.

Sprinkle with walnuts and add a dab of butter to the top of each toast.

Bake at 325 for about half an hour.

And you'll have plenty of left over crust to make bread pudding ... or feed the ducks.

When they're finished, slice around the edge of the hearts with a knife and serve individually with strawberries and maple syrup.

Doesn't it look like it's sticking it's tongue out?

That is, if French Toast could sass back and actually had a  tongue.

Mmm.  Delish.

Heart Shaped Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

]]> http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2010/01/11/heart-shaped-strawberry-stuffed-french-toast/feed/ 7 http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/31/ricotta-raspberry-stuffed-french-toast/ http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/31/ricotta-raspberry-stuffed-french-toast/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:23:33 +0000 admin http://innthekitchen.com/wp/?p=1763 This is the "2nd" course of the all-day-long breakfast we enjoyed recently with Jaden & her family at the Mount Dora Historic Inn.  The main dish was the Italian Strata, but after looking at these photos I'm not sure how I even had the room in my tummy to move on to a 3rd course!  (But I did finish the plate ... every last tasty morsel.  Then I ran 17 miles that evening so I could keep my girlish figure.)

Now, when Chef Jim said he was making "stuffed" French Toast, I imagined two thick slices of some soft bread sandwiched around ricotta and raspberry.  But he goes extreme.

Gigantic.

HUMONGOUS.

COLOSSAL!

One slice of bread ... that is literally ... the size of a whole loaf. Whoa.

And he says he made this bread from scratch too ... but I have to see that live and in person to gather photographic evidence to believe it.  It's just too perfect.  Gives me a baking complex.

My next question to him was, "how in the heck do you get it to cook all the way through?"  To which is reply is, "watch and learn young grasshoppah ..."

Try out his recipe and drool over the photos Jaden took of the whole process.  And yes, it tastes just as good as it looks.

Ricotta and Raspberry Stuffed-French Toast

INGREDIENTS

Photos by Jaden Hair

2, Loaves Italian Sandwich Bread (not too crusty, more doughy)

Filling
6, Ounces of  Whole Milk—Ricotta Cheese
4, Ounces of Red Raspberry preserves

Cream (French Toast) Mix
8, large eggs
2 to 2 ½ cups of ½ and ½
2, teaspoons vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1) Blend Ricotta and Raspberry preserves in a large bowl

2) Slice loaves on a 2 inch bias (slanted), about 20 degrees or to preference, and

save end pieces for a Strata—another breakfast fave!

3) Cut a slit length wise across the top of each piece of bread (corner to corner), and place on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil for easy clean up

4) Spoon mixture into bread pockets and set on cookie sheet so opening is facing up—this helps to keep filling from oozing out

5) Make cream mixture by whisking together the eggs, cream, and Vanilla extract—use a large bowl for this

6) Roll each, stuffed piece of bread in the cream mixture until just wet—do not over saturate, then place pieces on a cookie sheet (slit up), and drizzle remaining cream on top

7) Cover with saran wrap and allow to sit overnight—this allows the bread to surrender to the cream.

COOKING PROCESS

1) The following morning carefully unwrap your uncooked French toast and roll the tops in the remaining cream to wet—set aside

2) Preheat for 10 minutes an electric griddle (275 degrees) —very important to use an electric griddle—they cost about $30.00 and they are fantastic for Pancakes, French toast, Blintzes, etc.

3) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

4) After the griddle is preheated, coat with cooking spray

5) Brown French toast (about 3 minutes for the first side and 4 minutes for the second side—check by tilting the French toast with spatula every minute or two to ensure they do not burn

6) Place on a (Baker’s Secret) cookie sheet covered with tinfoil and bake in oven (400 degrees) for 5 to 6 minutes per side.  These double-layered cookie sheets (Baker’s Secret)—are readily available at your local grocer—prevent the bottom of your toast from burning

7) Powder sugar on each plate and then on French Toast

8) For presentation, you can slice extra strawberries on either side of plate; personally though, I like to plate the French Toast with bacon or kielbasa (Mmm…

healthy).

9) Serve with your   favorite syrup and butter

Note: As this dish is finishedin the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes, the outer surfaces of the French toast should be pastry-like (crispy, not burned) to the touch.  If not, than it should be baked a bit longer.  If you do not have a double-layered cookie sheet, use two cookie sheets (nested—one on top of the other), this is not the best method; however, it will help.

###

]]> http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/31/ricotta-raspberry-stuffed-french-toast/feed/ 1 http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/21/italian-breakfast-strata/ http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/21/italian-breakfast-strata/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:14:10 +0000 admin http://innthekitchen.com/wp/?p=1697 We recently had my friend Jaden and her family up visiting our home town of Mount Dora for some holiday fun.  A little holiday shopping, a little man-made snow sledding in the park ... a lot of good food!

Ordinarily I'd happily invite friends over to stay at our home, but we've got a little 1920's  two bedroom cottage.  Hardly big enough for two families ... although, I could pitch a tent in the basement and we could make it fun like a good old fashioned grade school sleep over.  Hmm ... naaaah.

Instead, our friends Jim & Ana at the Mount Dora Historic Inn graciously hosted them at their Conch House Cottages so they could have their own home away from home.  It's literally just a few steps away from our front door.  The only condition ... we all had to do breakfast together.  Wonder what happens when you get a group of people together in the morning that love food?

Breakfast lasts aaaaall daaaaaaay!

That's my kind of morning.

We had much to celebrate after she and her son, Nathan, and I survived crossing 4 lanes of traffic led by a kamikaze pedicab driver across NYC's 5th Ave.  You can see some Flip cam action of that ride here ...

Notice that we're laughing hysterically.  Lesson learned, when in the face of death ... smile.

The photos in this post are from SteamyKitchen's talented eye and quick triggered shutter finger.  One cup of strong coffee and she's whippin around the kitchen with her 5 lb lens totally workin the food.

In the recipe below, I kept Chef Jim's instructions just as he gave them to me.  For one, I didn't remake this one in my kitchen yet, so I have no comments other than Mmm and Yum.  But you'll notice a few of his notes will make you scratch your head and say, "really?"  Yeah, he's a joker.  He had me once asking our local grocery manager what the difference was between "hens" eggs and "chicken" eggs.  There is none.  Ha ha.

First ... a little food porn ... some drooling ... and then ... the recipe .

I have no words.  No commentary.   Just pure silence awe.

Okay.  One small teeny little comment.  Notice the purple mug in the right hand corner.  Yeah, the one that is the size of a coffee pot.  Jim said his doctor told him he could only drink one cup of coffee ... so he just upgraded his mug.  For all the coffee lovers out there ... that's not lying, right?  It is one cup of coffee, it's just 20 ounces.  LOL!

And one final note ... this was our 3rd course that day.  Good thing I started running as a hobby!

Enjoy!

Italian Breakfast Strata

from the Mount Dora Historic Inn

Ingredients

Egg mixture
12, large eggs
1, tsp dry mustard
4, dashes of your favorite hot sauce
Black pepper to your liking
8, ounce sour cream
½ cup whole Milk
4 oz hand-grated Cheddar
4 oz hand-grated Muenster

Ingredients for Layers
Day old Italian sandwich bread—hand-pulled into ½ inch pieces—about a 1 ½
¼ each green, red and yellow peppers—cored and diced
¼ medium onion—peeled and diced
½ lb of boiled ham—hand-pulled into small pieces
4 oz hand-grated Cheddar
4 oz hand-grated Muenster

Method for Eggs

Whip together eggs, sour cream, and milk—then add spices and blend well—electric blender works best—set aside

Architecture of the layers

1) Grease well a standard pie-dish
2) Layer enough day old bread to cover the bottom of the dish
3) Sautee your onions and peppers in little olive oil—cool—then evenly layer over the bread
4) Then spread ham over the veggies and, finally, spread both cheese over the top
5) Pour ½ of the egg mixture over the layers and let sit for 5 minutes—this allows the bread some time to soak up the egg mixture
6) Add the rest of mixture reserving 1/3 inch of space from the top of the pie dish
7) Place in pre-heated oven ... Then pour remaining mixture just to the top-edge of the pie dish—this prevents spilling of egg mixture—on your floor, in the oven and on your shoes.
8) Bake for 60 to 65 minutes at 350 degrees or check with an instant read thermometer to 180 degrees internal temperature –Allow to temper and set for 6 minutes before slicing.

Note: The Strata will get puffy on the sides first and then the middle will puff during the final minutes of cooking.  If the middle does not puff—it is not done!

###

I had a hankerin this week to try out some holiday pancakes, and I have some great pancake recipes from innkeepers, but I really wanted to try a gingerbread pancake.  I've even been on the hunt for a gingerbread man pancake mold ... but I've only found cookie cutters. Thanks to the Google Gods I did find eons of gingerbread pancake recipes.  So many I didn't know which one to try.  Some with raisins, some with currants, some with cocoa.  I just wanted a basic gingerbread pancake, is that too much to ask!

I just eenie-meenie-minnie-mowed and clicked through on one of the first listings that came up.  I found one on CDKitchen.com and gave it a whirl (with a couple of modifications/additions later ... please take note).

Here's what you'll need!  I have the full list of ingredients at the bottom of the post.  I later added an additional cup of flour, teaspoon of ginger and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Start with adding your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.

Next, add your wet ingredients to another bowl and whisk together.

During one of my health nut kicks a couple of years ago I had a nasty introduction to molasses.  You see, I thought it was syrup.  I was going to be healthy and low cal by adding that to my pancakes.  And I drenched my sweet little pancakes in the black, rust-flavored tar.  Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh.

My boyfriend was a champ.  He didn't complain. Ate them all.  Me ... I made some toast instead.

Molasses on milk.

My new art project.

Blend together.  Starting to look like chocolate milk, huh?   Don't drink it though.

Pour wet batter into your large  dry ingredients bowl with the flour, spices, etc.

You may have to scrape the bottom of the bowl a bit.  Molasses doesn't play nice with others.

Blend.

Well bah-humbug.  The batter was runny.  I dipped my finger in and took a taste. This was a no make-up-work-in-my-pajamas day, so I have no photographic evidence of the finger-licking.  But I'll tell you that it tasted like molasses.  Ugh. Now I'm feelin a bit scroogey.

I followed the recipe EXACTLY!   To a T!    (indecently, where does the phrase "to a T" actually come from?)

Anyway, it was a runny, molasses flavored mess.

So, I added a little more love that it needed.

An extra cup of flour.  That helped with the consistency.

Now to put molasses in its place and tweak the flavor.  I added an additional tsp of ginger and a 1/4 cup of sugar.

Mmm.  That helped a whole lot!  Dipped my finger again and now the flavor is more like a gingerbread cookie.  It's ready to go be made into round cake perfection.

A little butter.

A little batter.

A little bubbly.

Flip.

Now that's a leave-for-santa worthy pancake.  I could eat it like a cookie.  But instead of eating with my fingers I'll fancy it up with a bit of butter, maple syrup and festive star fruit.  And of course, a fork and knife.  Still in my pajamas though.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Pancakes

Ingredients

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg, beaten

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1) Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  (Flour, spices, sugar, baking soda and powder)

2) In a separate bowl, beat the egg  then add and mix together the milk, molasses and oil.

3) Add wet mixture to dry mixture and blend until combined.  Using a ladle or measuring cup, scoop 1/4 cup of batter onto  a hot greased griddle or skillet. You can use non-stick spray or butter. (I prefer butter for flavor)

4) Turn when bubbles form on the surface and the edges are golden brown.

5) Serve with butter, syrup and festive starfruit.

###

]]> http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/21/gingerbread-pancakes/feed/ 4 http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/21/cinnamon-rolls/ http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/12/21/cinnamon-rolls/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:42:54 +0000 admin http://innthekitchen.com/wp/?p=1631 Flour ... Butter ... Eggs ... Milk ... Sugar ... Oh, how I love thee.  Let me count the ways ...

It never ceases to amaze me how many different things can be baked from just tweaking a combination of the above ingredients.  I'll have to have a marathon-list-making post of all the different creations.

For this morning, I'm going to make a traditional chilly-morning-gooey-cozy-comfort-food favorite ... cinnamon rolls.  I have to confess, I usually make these by popping open a cylinder can with a certain giggly dough boy gracing the label.  The orange icing was my favorite.  Artificial ... yes, I know.  But quick and easy.

This recipe is not a quick one.  But it is easy.  Nothing artificial here.  And they taste soooo much better with the added ingredients of time and love.

There are a lot of different variations of recipes for cinnamon rolls, but this one in particular comes from Anchor Inn on the Lake in Branson.

Here's what you'll need ...

The magnificent 5 ... flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs ... with cinnamon, brown sugar and yeast.  I know, yeast is the only one that doesn't sound yummy.  It makes them big and soft and gooey though.

Add the yeast to a mixing bowl with just a little bit of water, about a 1/2 cup.  As the yeast dissolved into the water, you may need to mix it up just a bit to make sure there are no big clumps of yeast.

Scald the mild and melt the butter into it.  Do NOT boil.  This is on low to medium heat.

Break the egg into a separate bowl and beat with a whisk.  Sounds a little like punishment for the egg, doesn't it?

My friend Jim gave me another reason/need to break the egg into a separate dish ... it is so that you don't ruin your whole recipe in case the egg is bad.  Luckily I've never encountered a bad egg.

Add the eggs to the milk/butter mixture and mix.  Then add the milk/butter/egg mixture to the yeast absorbed in water and mix.  Then add the flour and white sugar to the wet mixture and lightly mix with a spoon, just so that all the flour/sugar is wet.  Cover with a towel and put it in a warm place (I place it on top of my heating oven) to let the dough rise for an hour.

In the recipe, Dee suggests turning the dough out onto a floured surface and kneading for 5 minutes, THEN setting it aside to rise.  I followed this instruction making my first batch of cinnamon rolls, and the dough never rose.  But I'm pretty sure that had a lot to do with the fact that it was a hot humid sticky sauna outside that day.  Even in my second batch, it did rise, but it didn't double in size.  As much satisfaction as I would have received from punching down the dough, I didn't want to fight mother nature.

Plop the dough out onto a floured surface.  (I probably have a little too much flour there!) Also flour your hands up pretty good, work into a ball and then roll it into a rectangular shape.

Spread on melted butter ... about  3/4 of a stick, and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll into a tight roll and pinch the edge together at the end.  Some cinnamon sugar gooeyness might ooze out.  That's okay.

Then slice into 1 inch think rolls and place onto a greased/floured cookie sheet or baking dish.

Mm

Next batch, I think I'm going to try adding the orange glaze from The Old Hen  Bed & Breakfast.  Then I'll have the full homemade version of my dough boy childhood favorite.

Try leaving a batch of these for Santa instead of cookies ... I'm sure he/she will be pleased!

Cinnamon Rolls

from Anchor Inn on the Lake

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Water

1 tbsp Active Dry Yeast

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Butter

1 tsp Salt

1 Egg

4 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Sugar

Filling

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Cinnamon

2 tbsp Butter

Directions

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 Cup warm water in a large mixing bowl.

Scald mild and melt butter in it.  Add sugar and salt to milk mixture.  Let cool to 120 degrees and add beaten egg to milk mixture.

Add mild mixture to yeast and mix well, then add flour.  Let dough rise until double.

Punch down dough and roll out into 9x13 rectangle

Spread butter or margarine across rolled out dough

Cover with brown sugar and cinnamon

Roll up dough lengthwise into tight roll.

Slice dough into 1 inch slices

Place slices cut side up on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

###

Perfect for filling up before skiing or any other outdoor fall and winter activities where you have a houseful of cold and hungry folks to feed.

This oatmeal with a twist comes to us via Lois with the Horse & Chase Inn, located in Venice, FL. Normally you wouldn't associate Venice, FL with skiing or winter activities, but the weekend we were there, Florida was experiencing some chilly 36 degree weather and rain. We bundled up, adorned ourselves with rain gear and still went to the beach to hunt for sharks teeth. Venice is known for being the Shark's tooth capital of the world and we were not going to let a little weather spoil our fun. That afternoon, Lois warmed us up with conversation and her southern hospitality and while I didn't get a chance to try her version of the recipe, she gave me all the instructions to make it at home.

I know you might be thinking ...

oatmeal = boring

This one is anything BUT boring.  Lois calls it "Michigan Oatmeal" because of the cherries.  And they definitely are a nice change from the standard raisins and cinnamon that are usually mixed into oatmeal.  They're bigger and slightly tart.

The ingredients are simple and the recipe is quick.  Here's what you'll need ...

Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees and then wash and grate your apple. You could also substitute the apple with 1 cup of cinnamon apple sauce. However, the grated apple adds a little more texture.

All the steps following are uber easy. Simply layer all the ingredients in a greased glass casserole dish.

The oatmeal ...

The milk ...
(Side note here, I used almond milk because I prefer it to regular milk.

Also, I would stir the almond extract into the milk to provide more even flavoring.)

The cherries ...
(The tartness of the cherries really balances out the sweet brown sugar)

The grated apple ...

The almonds ...

The brown sugar ...

(Do I hear the Rolling Stones in the background here?)

Next, CAREFULLY add the casserole to the oven. It will be a little liquidy until the oatmeal soaks up the milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Let cool for about 10 minutes, scoop and serve!

If you're like me, you sometimes like to have "breakfast" during other parts of the day other than just the morning. So it's good to note that this Michigan Oatmeal Bake also makes a terrific dessert. We had some left over that I refrigerated and re-heated the next day for an afternoon treat. Since the oatmeal had overnight to soak up all the almond milk, extract and moisture from the cherries, the consistency more of a bread pudding. Delish.

--Rachelle

Cherry Almond Oatmeal Bake

from the Horse & Chaise Inn

1) Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees and then wash and grate your apple. You could also substitute the apple with 1 cup of cinnamon apple sauce. However, the grated apple adds a little more texture.

2) Mix the almond extract with your milk.  Then sprinkle the oatmeal in a greased glass casserole dish and pour the milk on top.  Next, layer the remaining ingredients on top of the oatmeal.

3) Next, CAREFULLY add the casserole to the oven. It will be a little liquidy until the oatmeal soaks up the milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

4) Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, scoop and serve!

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After driving through the valley, the town of St. Helena was a sweet surprise.  It was green.  The town was reminiscent of a movie set ... only more real and organic.  And the road to Glass Mountain Inn was uphill, winding, and every turn had another view of a sparkly vineyard.  Yay!  And I do mean "sparkly" in the literal sense of the word.  The vines have little metallic tags that I suppose are there to scare away birds.  But I like to think of them as vine bling.  After all, something as magnificent as a pinot noir should come from something that sparkles.

So what's with all this wine talk on a breakfast blog?  I digress.  To find out how the Glass Mountain Inn got it's name and take a look at the Man Cave that gave Brian Pinot envy watch the fun little video we made. (Click here) And for a sample of our our San Francisco weekend  itinerary click here.

Alrighty.  On to the good stuff!  How about a little Grand Marnier with your breakfast?

What I love about this recipe is how easy it is to make ... but it tastes oh-so-good and is easy to fancy schmancy it up.  I've already made it now half a dozen times this month when we had friends or guests over for breakfast (or dessert!)  The ingredients are simple and easy to remember if you're running quickly through the grocery story to pick up a handful of things.   All you need is some croissants, sugar, milk, eggs, Grand Marnier, and berries and powdered sugar for garnish.

Spray your ramekins with some non-stick spray and tear your croissants into bite sized pieces, filling each ramekin as you go.  Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet or some other edged pan to catch anything that spills.

Next, mix your other ingredients in a large bowl (excluding berries and powdered sugar)

The Grand Marnier has an interesting effect to the milk.  Start bubbling and making all sorts of fun swirls.  This sparked my curiosity to find out what in the heck was the cause of this little chemistry experiment. I Googled it and found 3 possible answers.

1) "I'd say that when you add the milk-coffee mix to alcohol the concentrated alcohol must be able to denature the milk proteins initially (similar to acid in cheese making but a different mechanism - hydrophobicity), alcohol added to coffee/milk must not ever be concentrated enough to do this." Uh-oh!

2) Then someone said it was "curdling" ... but then wouldn't we have a bunch of cheesey White Russians served in bars?  Baileys and milk don't seem to have the same effect.

3) Then I found this random strange video "milk to alcohol" where someone turned milk into alcohol.  It's really bizarre.  With a train going by several times in the background sound, someone adds sugar, yeast and milk together in a cup and pours it from one cup to another. After awhile it turns orange and then a cat comes up to drink the milk.  WEIRD!

I'm totally off subject now.  Damn internet and it's endless supply of useless trivia.  Back to the recipe ...

Whisk everything together ...

And pour on top of croissants.  Soak em good.

Let them ist for at least 15 minutes so the bread can soak up all the liquidy egg mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Mine took just a tad longer since I put them on a baking stone.  That think absorbs heat like nobody's business.

After they've cooled for about 5 minutes, take a knife around the edge to loosen them up and then turn over onto a plate.

Mmm.

Garnish with raspberries and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Take a bite.  Pause.  Make Mmm noises.  Enjoy!

Whole recipe from Julie at Glass Mountain Inn is listed below.

Julie's Croissant Bread Pudding

Glass Mountain Inn

St. Helena, CA

(yields 8 servings)

Ingredients

8 store bought croissants, torn into medium-sized pieces

8 whole large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

2 Tbsp Grand Marnier liquor

1 Tbsp superfine sugar

Powdered sugar and fresh raspberries, blueberries and/or blackberries for garnish

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Generously spray 8 ramekins with vegetable oil.  Add one torn croissant to each ramekin.

2) Whisk eggs, milk, sugar and liquor in a bowl.  Pour egg mixture into each ramekin, making sure there is enough liquid to soak bread.  Let ramekins sit for 15 to 20 minutes to allow bread to soak up egg mixture.  Place ramekins on parchment covered baking sheet, preferably a jelly roll pan with sides to avoid sliding.

3) Place ramekins in preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden and puffed.  Using an offset spatula, gently turn out each bread pudding on a serving plate.  Top with powdered sugar and fresh berries.  Chicken-apple sausage or bacon is a perfect accompaniment to this dish.

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