Wednesday, June 2, 2010

10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY!

"Well done is better than well said."  Benjamin Franklin

#1  I had a great visit with my sisters, Karyn and Debbie.  We crammed as much as we could into their 36 hour visit.  Cafe' Rio, thrift store shopping, Costco, family BBQ, some craft projects (Thank-you, Hilary and Lindsay), 3 DVDs, pedicures (Thank-you, Leslie), lots of food and visiting.  I had a fun week-end.

#2  It made me happy that Debbie really liked one of our favourite recipes.  It is a make ahead Blueberry French Toast.  I will post the recipe below.  The bad part?  (SO SAD!)  I forgot to put one of the pans on a cookie sheet.  The blueberry topping spilled onto my oven heating element and started a fire.  Now the oven is broken.  Because we have a weird size (27") drop in oven, there is only 1 model, made by one manufacturer.  Cost? $1200.00.  UGH!  And, it looks the same as my 15 year old one I have now.  UGH!

#3  I finished a really enjoyable book last week.  Called, "THE HELP", it is a first book by Kathryn Stockett. .  I really enjoyed it.  I finished it in less than 2 days. It is a fictional story set in the south, about black household help and white women in the early 1960s.  I really enjoyed the book.  I learned about another time and set of circumstances.  There was humour, as well as surprise and sorrow.  I enjoyed the characters and the writing.
Thank-you, Christy for borrowing the book (from Brynn-thank-you) for me.  I did not want to wait 4 months to get to the top of the library hold list. 
The Help
After reading the book, I went to Amazon and read some reviews.  The majority of the readers loved it (like me).  There were some that felt is was too surfacy, poorly written, inaccurately written times and characters, too well wrapped up and were annoyed that only the help used the dialect/accent.  Many of the reviews were readers from the area and/or time.  I read it as historical fiction.  It definitely kept me involved and reading, and made me think.  Let me know what you thought if you read it.

#4  My mom got to go home after being in the hospital, and then a re-hab centre for the past 1 + month.  I am happy she is home.

#5  I got this idea to build a pantry in my old downstairs laundry room.  (It will be tons of work, so the idea and completion will make me much happier than the work.  and work.)

#6  The weather was nice enough and dry enough that we could eat outside.  I LOVE EATING EVERY MEAL OUTSIDE! 

#7  Only 1 more week of morning carpools.

#8  THE POOL IS OPEN!  Thank-you so much, Michael and Kate for your generosity with your pool.  And everything else.

#9  Yes.  My spray ironing recipe makes me happy.  But sometimes you simply must iron.  (I find it relaxing.)  I am very picky about my irons.  I only want to use ROWENTA.  Thank-you very much, Wendy for my new iron (from an estate sale).  It is in brand new condition and better/newer than mine.

#10  Leslie picked up my beach umbrella for me.  ($10.oo at Smith's Marketplace.)  Thank-you, Leslie.

(Here you are, Debbie;)
BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST and SYRUP
from GOURMET magazine June 1999

Step 1
1 day old loaf of unsliced bread-french, baguette
6 large eggs
3 cups milk-I use 1%
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tea. vanilla

Slice bread into 1 in. slices.  Layer in the bottom of a sprayed 9x13 pan.  Mix eggs, milk, brown sugar and vanilla well, and pour over bread..  Cover (I use a cookie sheet.  Then I can stack 3 in the fridge.) and chill for 8-24 hours.  (I have never chilled past 12 hours.)  Turn bread over at the 1/2 way point, or anytime after 4 hours.

Step 2
2 cups blueberries-fresh or frozen
1 cups walnuts or pecans-toasted optional
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

When ready to cook, sprinkle berries and nuts over soaked bread.
Melt butter and brown sugar together until well blended.  Drizzle over bread.
Bake at 400* for 35-40 mins.

BLUEBERRY SYRUP
I love this part of the recipe!

1 cup blueberries - fresh or frozen
1/2 - 1 cup maple syrup

That's all.  Heat over med. heat about 3 mins.  Until syrup is warmed and fresh blueberries have popped a bit.  (I do 1 smash with a potato masher.)  You can use any berries with this simple recipe.  Easy way to dress up pancakes or waffles.

3 comments:

Emily said...

I'm sorry about the oven. That is a huge bummer!!!

Leslie said...

I love all your blueberry breakfast recipes! YUM!

Lindsay Quinney said...

I know you are sad about your oven, but I have to say I think its kind of funny that they only make one kind in that size. Still way sad it broke though!

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