Baked French Toast

     I love the idea of baked french toast. All warm and yummy and EASY! Just pop that bad boy in the fridge, crawl back into bed for an hour or so and, wham. Delicious homemade breakfast right there. However, my experiences with baked french toast have not been such a fairytale as that. Every time I've made them they have come out mushy, eggy and flavorless. That is until now, enter in the most delectable baked french toast to have ever passed my lips….

     I got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman's new cook book (you can buy it here, and I HIGHLY recommend that you do. There's some good stuff in there, yo.) The recipe was super easy. It only took me about 20 minutes to whip up before I went to bed, put it in the fridge, and then through it in the oven in the morning. The hardest part was waiting an hour to devour this plate of deliciousness.  

I halved the recipe and it was more than enough for my little family. So without further ado, here you are…

 Pioneer Woman's Baked French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf crusty artisan bread or sourdough bread. (I used a crusty french baguette because it was small enough to equal half of a regular loaf of artisan or sourdough bread)
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Topping:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 stick cold butter cut into pieces (I always use salted, gives everything a better flavor and balance)

1. Grease baking pan thoroughly with butter, or use butter spray (that's what I did, worked like a charm)
2. Tear bread into pieces into baking dish
3. Whisk together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla and pour over bread
4. For the topping mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a separate bowl, then cut into cold butter pieces until mix resembles coarse sand. 
5. Sprinkle topping over french toast, cover tightly and store in fridge for several hours, preferably overnight. 
6. When ready to bake put in oven preheated to 350 degrees F, bake for 1 hour
7. Serve with butter and warm syrup. 
8. DEVOUR! 

You can find Ree's post of the recipe here.

Catch the Moment 365

This year I am going to take part in the "Catch the Moment 365" Challenge hosted by Sarah at Nurse Loves Farmer, and a couple other ladies I'm excited to get to know through this adventure! 

 My wonderful husband got me a FANTASTIC camera for Christmas….

Check out that beaut 

This camera far surpasses the quality of any camera I have ever owned. A fact that both thrills and terrifies me. I know this camera has so many features that are just waiting to be discovered. And when I read about The 365 challenge I knew this was the perfect way for me to almost be forced to use, use, use and use this beauty. The idea of this challenge is to take one picture everyday for the entire year. Each week I will be posting my pictures from that week. I am going to try to mainly use my DSLR, but know a few iPhone pics will make there way in there because hey, let's be honest, sometimes instagram turns out some fantastic shots. 

The other reason I love this challenge is because it will offer a serious glimpse into our lives this year. Ever since my mom got sick I really have been challenged with the idea of taking more pictures and putting myself in more pictures even if I don't want to. That way when the time comes that memories fade, there will still be reminders left for myself and others to enjoy. 

Here's a few pics from the last couple days :)

Now that I see these images nice and big on my screen I'm even MORE excited about this challenge because I can see how incredibly far I have to go lol!