One of the things I love the most about the weekend (aside from sleeping in, of course) is that I have time to be leisurely in the morning and make more involved breakfasts. Instead of grabbing the usual Special K bar as I run out the door on weekdays, I can make pancakes, muffins, omelets (or “fancy scrambled eggs,” if the eggs don’t make the flip!), quiches…the list goes on. This past weekend I was craving French toast. I make mine with buttermilk – like buttermilk biscuits, it just seems right. And while French toast is best made with day-old French or Italian bread, you can make it with whatever you have on hand. I used slices of a regular sandwich loaf I needed to finish up before it went bad. You can top your French toast with berries, whipped cream, powdered sugar, or anything your heart desires. I’m a maple syrup girl, myself!

Hope you all have a great Super Bowl weekend…even if you’re not into football, I hope you enjoy all the delicious food!

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As you can probably tell from my last post, right now I’m heavy into foods that take me to a place that’s far away from the cold and snow (seriously, is it spring yet?). I’ve been daydreaming about warm weather, and Southern food naturally fits right into my daydreams of stepping outside into 70 degree weather and enjoying the sunshine. I absolutely loved this dish; it was flavorful and the gravy wasn’t too heavy. Hubby liked it too, although he ate it with spaghetti instead of the grits. Serve it up with some hushpuppies for a perfect Southern feast…it’ll help remind you that warmer days are on their way!

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When I saw that this month’s Flavor of the Month theme was “boozy,” I decided that I wanted to bake something sweet with an addition of rum. My first thought was buttered rum bread, but unfortunately that turned out to be a big fail, both in texture and in taste. So, I started over with a friend’s recommendation, which was tropical cupcakes with rum. The first thing that sprang to my mind was pina colada, so that’s exactly what I made. They were absolutely delicious! I loved the hint of pineapple in the cupcakes, and the rum frosting topped with shredded coconut helped me forget for a while that it’s 10 degrees and snowing outside. If you want to be transported to a tropical place for a while, try these today!

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One of the recipes that’s always been in the back of my mind to try after purchasing my copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and falling in love with the no-knead way of making bread is this one: the roasted red pepper fougasse. However, I’ve always been too busy making regular sandwich loaves or my personal favorite, pepperoni bread, to really experiment with too many other recipes in the book. It wasn’t until this past month that I finally decided to dedicate some of my dough to making this wonderful bread, and I am so glad I did. The savory sweetness of the red peppers paired perfectly with the soft crumb and crispy crust of the artisan bread, and the hint of rosemary sprinkled throughout the dough made it simply divine. And as usual for any bread in the book, it’s so easy to make!

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Almost a month ago now, I had some friends over for an afternoon of baking, movie watching, and chatting. We decided that we would make brunch together and then bake some bread. I really wanted to make quiche, but I didn’t want to make my mom’s quiche recipe since it makes two 9″ quiches, and I think that even one would have been too much for the three of us. So, I decided to change things up a bit.

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