Cinnamon French Toast

from thepioneerwoman.com

I shouldn't have.  But I had to try it.  It was too enticing.  Plus I was trying to use up all my ingredients I had brought with me this weekend, so in a way I had to.  And I am really glad I did.  The homemade cinnamon bread made the most amazing French toast I've ever eaten.  If you don't believe me, try it!

I N G R E D I E N T S

--4 whole eggs

--1 cup 2% milk (or whole, if you have it)

--1/4 cup heavy cream (side note = if you don't have heavy cream, like me, create it with 1 tbsp melted butter and 1 cup milk)

--1/2 cup sugar

--1 tsp. cinnamon

--1 tbsp. vanilla

--Take about six good slices from your cinnamon bread loaf (or any type you find appealing) and place them on a baking sheet with sides.

--In a bowl, whisk together four eggs,

--the milk, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla.

--Sprinkle in the cinnamon and give it a good mix.

--Then pour the mixture evenly over all the slices, soaking the bread as much as possible.  Once it has sat for about a minute, flip the pieces over and let the other side soak up some of the mixture.

--Meanwhile, heat the grill to about 350-375 degrees and let it get nice and hot.  Grease it with some butter and let it melt.

--Place the slices of bread onto the grill and let it cook for about 3 minutes, or until desired color.

--I prefer my French toast to have a good crust on both sides, so I think these sat for about 5 minutes.

--Flip them over, and admire your work thus far.  They're a beautiful sight.

--Then take them off the grill, stack 'em high and drizzle syrup over it and (really though) INDULGE.

Ruth's Chris Dinner at home

recipes from thepioneerwoman.com

Huge steak fans, raise your hand!  Okay but seriously, this dinner was soooo good and it all took less then thirty minutes to put together!  Thanks to Pioneer Woman's recipe for "hotel butter", this dinner tasted like a meal at a high-end steakhouse.  Here's how it went down...

HOTEL BUTTER

 --What you need for the butter is softened butter (her recipe calls for 4 sticks, i used 2), a handful of parsley, and a lemon.

 --First, chop the parsley up really finely.

--Next, zest your one lemon.

 --Throw your butter into a bowl of an electric mixer.

 --and toss in your zest and parsley.  (If it looks like it's a lot of parsley, that means you put in a good amount!)

 --Turn the mixer on and mix everything together until it's all incorporated.

 --Now, slice that lemon in half and squeeze in the juice into the mixer.

 --Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

 --Spread out a long piece of aluminum foil with plastic wrap on top.  Form the butter into a straight line down the middle of the foil.

 --Bring the foil ends together,

 --Making a cylinder, and roll it as tight as you can, twisting the ends and forcing the butter to become a tight long log.

 --Have it look like this!  Store it in the fridge and allow it to harden for a few hours before you use it.

--Because once it's chilled, all you'll have to do is slice it up and serve it with your favorite meat!

 --For our dinner, instead of spending hours boiling and mixing potatoes, I went with this instead.

 --Why?  Well, because all I had to do was place it in an oven-safe container and cook it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

--During the cooking process, I placed a tbsp. of butter split into pieces on top of the potatoes.  The steakhouse I love has very good buttery mashed potatoes.  So I went for it.

 --These here are filets.  I cut one in half because it felt too big.  Now they'll look like petite filets.

 --Generously salt and pepper both sides of the steaks.

 --Make sure it's very well coated.

 --Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and heat an oven-safe pan or skillet (skillet is preferable) over medium heat with 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter.  Once it's melted, crank the heat up.

 --Place the filets in the skillet and listen to the beautiful sound of it searing, which should take about a minute and a half.

 --Flip the filets over, sear for another minute and a half, and then place the skillet or pan in the oven and let it cook for about six minutes.  Take them out, and place them on a plate to rest for 5 minutes.

 --Here's the fun part.  Get your hotel butter out of the fridge and slice some good-sized pieces of butter for your meat.  And take some oven-safe plates and place them in the hot 450 degree oven for about five minutes.  Take them out, and don't forget you're dealing with hot plates!  It would be awful to pick up a 450 degree plate.

 --Place the hotel butter on the steak and watch it begin to melt and look beautiful.

--Please serve with your delicious (and simple) mashed potatoes.  And try not to steal bites of steak from your significant other's plate once you've finished yours before him.  Enjoy!

 --p.s. I made peanut butter chocolate soufflés for dessert to top off the night.  I've made them before, but realized I never posted the recipe!  It's from Michelle Huxtable's cookbook The Gathering of Friends, Vol. 5.  I forgot to take pictures for this recipe, but it's super easy and this recipe will make about 8 servings.  To make enough for two, I would 1/4 the recipe.

I N G R E D I E N T S

--1/2 cup butter, +4 tsp. for greasing

--1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

--2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

--8 eggs

--2/3 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup flour

D I R E C T I O N S

--Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Rub 8 small (3/4 cup size) ramekins with 1/2 tsp. butter each and dust with some cocoa powder and set aside.

--Place chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butter in a glass bowl and microwave it for 20 seconds; store well and repeat until melted and completely smooth.  Let cool 3 to 5 minutes.

--In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, peanut butter and salt.  Stir in the chocolate mixture, then add the flour and blend well.  

--Place ramekins on a baking sheet and pour batter into each ramekin, filling about 3/4 full.  

--Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until desired molten center (for a good runny center, I think 17 minutes is just right).

--Serve in ramekins or invert individual cakes onto plates, and serve warm with ice cream.

Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

from halfbakedharvest.com

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it was the cutest idea.  Cookies for breakfast!  I did not have any whole wheat flour, however, so I decided to use buckwheat instead.  

Because of that, the cookies did not turn out as pretty as they would with whole wheat, but it did not take away from them tasting good.  They were so delicious, and if anything they just looked more chocolate-y!  So just make them and hide the flour and tell everyone they're Paradise chippers.  Yay!

I N G R E D I E N T S

--1/2 cup coconut oil, NOT melted

--2 tbsp. sugar

--1/4 cup brown sugar

--1 tsp. vanilla

--1 large egg

--1 1/4 cup buckwheat flour (or whole wheat flour)

--3/4 cup old fashion oatmeal

--1/4 tsp. salt

--1/2 tsp. baking soda

--3/4 cup MINI semi-sweet chocolate chips

D I R E C T I O N S

--Combine the flour, oatmeal, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

--Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the coconut oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. 

--Add in the egg and beat well.

--Gradually beat in the flour/oatmeal mixture, and then the chocolate chips.

--Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and start dropping dough down the middle of it, trying to make it small in diameter.  I divided the dough into two plastic wrap pieces because I wanted to make the dough into small pieces later.  

--Wrap the plastic wrap over and make a cylinder, rolling the dough into a tight long stick.

--Place it in the freezer to chill for only about 15-20 minutes.  This will make the dough easier to work with.

--Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the dough and, using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/2 inch pieces.  If you prefer flatten cookies, place them right onto the cookie sheet.  Or, if you want them to be round, take the piece of dough and make a ball before placing it onto the sheet.

--Once those are all taken care of, bake them for about 5 minutes.  Allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.  After that, feel free to dump them in a bowl with milk, or simply eat them by the handful!