Monday, May 30, 2011

Raspberry Stuffed French Toast

My mother-in-law has made this Raspberry Stuffed French Toast for family brunches a number of times and everybody thinks it's really delicious.

We ran out of the raspberry sauce, so I served the French toast with fresh berries.

It seems a little bit fussy to make, but it's totally worth the effort! This style of French toast would be great to serve when you want something a little fancy for a special brunch.

My mother-in-law adapted the recipe which comes from a popular restaurant in Lake Worth, Florida called Benny's on the Beach.  The restaurant version calls for the French toast to be dipped in granola, instead of sliced almonds. I love it with the sliced almonds!

Mmmm.... lovely toasted almonds!


To start, you'll need....

2 slices thick bread
about 1/2 cup of sliced almonds
1 tbsp. butter
powdered sugar for sprinkling

Filling Ingredients...

1/3 cup sugar
3 oz plain cream cheese
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together the filling ingredients in a food processor or a bowl until well combined.

Batter Ingredients...

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. honey

Mix together the batter ingredients with a whisk.

Raspberry Sauce...

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup raspberries

Cook the water and sugar in a pan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the raspberries and combine in a food processor.

* I've had this French toast both with and without the raspberry sauce and both ways are delicious, so I think you could skip the sauce if you wanted.

Directions...

Spread the filling between the slices of bread to make a sandwich and press the bread together.

Dip both sides of the sandwich in the egg batter.

Dip both sides of the sandwich into a shallow plate filled with the sliced almonds.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and melt the butter.

Cook the French toast until brown and then flip over and cook the other side.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Drizzle on the raspberry sauce if you decided to make some.


Since everybody cooks a little differently, you may want to play around with the ingredient quantities until you get something you love.

I hope you like it! I ate the leftovers cold!!




 

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Chinese Food and Sushi Cupcakes

We celebrated my daughter's 9th birthday last week. When I say 'last week', I mean it literally; all of 'last week'!

In our home, "birthdays" mean a Friend Party, a Family Party, a Special Dinner and a Cake on Your Actual Birthday, and Treats for Classmates at School. My three kids and my husband all have birthdays within one month of each other.  So, we eat a lot of cake between the middle of May and the middle of June!

This year my daughter asked me to make these adorable little sushi cupcakes to bring to school and share with the kids in her class (she had seen the idea in the Family Fun Crafts for Kids magazine).

 
These little cupcakes are so easy to make and the kids loved them!  You use a cylinder cookie cutter to make the 'sushi' shaped cakes out of pound cake.


Wrap a piece of fruit roll-up around the middle. The fruit roll-up sticks to itself- the same way it does to the grooves in your kids' molars!


Frost with white icing and top with coconut, which looks like white rice.


I diced red jujubes, Swedish fish, gumdrops, and red licorice sliced on the diagonal to resemble real sushi toppings.


A whole class set of sweet sushi cakes fits nicely into a 9x13 pan.  Apparently I have requests to make these again!


That took care of the Treats for Classmates at School portion of the birthday, next came the Friend Party.

This year, my daughter wanted to take five friends out for dinner at her favorite Chinese restaurant, and then enjoy a brownie bar and movie back at our house.  The restaurant she chose is right out of the movie, A Christmas Story (Ralphie... you'll shoot your eye out)!

The Chinese restaurant from the movie A Christmas Story.

The girls had a wonderful time! They had their own table for six, and my husband and I sat close by at our own table. Their conversations were hysterical!

I made loot bags out of Chinese food takeout cartons which I filled with all kinds of goodies for my daughter's friends.



 I stuck hair accessories shaped like chopsticks through the top...


... and then printed takeout menus and taped them to the top of the cartons with a "thanks for coming to my party" message.


Everyone had a fantastic time!

That's the brief version of my nine year old's birthday!

My oldest daughter turns fifteen next week and she's planning a sleepover party with her girlfriends. I'm not sure who's coming, how long they're staying, or how this will impact our neighborhood garage sale in the morning, but I'm sure I'll find out soon.... I hope!


I'm joining Debbie's Newbie Party this week!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Family Room: The Sequel

In movies, it's not often that the sequel is better than the original, but in the case of my family room, I think you'll agree that this post outshines the original.

I surprised myself the other day.  I said something I've never said before, and didn't think I would be able to say for years:

"Wow... I like the family room! I really like it!"

Last month I explained why I've never really liked my family room, and showed some 'before' pictures detailing things I wanted to change. You can read about it here.

Since then, you've seen the family room's new pretty pillows and summer mantel. Here, now, are the rest of the family room updates.

My top priority was to brighten the family room, and, by using a lot of white paint, white accessories and white fabric, I now have a room that looks much more airy and fresh.


The walls have been painted with Benjamin Moore's Ivory White in eggshell. It's a lovely, creamy, warm white.

Mr. StyleBurb and I have long 'debated' the size of the area carpet that used to be in this room. I felt that the carpet was too dark and too small - he thought it was fine....

I removed the carpet when I painted the walls and unfortunately, it is now 'lost' somewhere in the house, so I can't put it back (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).  But look how much larger the room seems without the too small rug- and I didn't spend a penny to make this change!


I'm loving the bare wood floors for the summer. I may put an area carpet back when fall comes, but for now, the floors are carpet-free and the room feels cooler- perfect for our hot, humid summers.

I bought a SureFit slipcover for the navy wing chair.  Before, the navy chair and green sofas looked uncoordinated.  Now, the new white pillows on the sofas and ivory slipcover on the wing chair make the furniture look pulled together.


I think that the slipcovered chair looks casual, relaxed and beachy- a great look for summer!


The single black wall sconce to the left of the sofa irritated me daily because of its anti symmetrical powers...

Here is the wall sconce in my high-tech paint booth.

... but was neutralized with a lick of Heirloom White spray paint.

Painting the wall sconce white makes it blend into the wall, while still providing much needed light.

I placed a framed print and a small table with two white pillar candles and a shell ball underneath the sconce which balances the dresser and lamp on the other end of the sofa. I already owned the shells, pillar candle holders and the framed print- they just needed some spray paint.

Again, I didn't spend a penny!


I lowered the large picture above the sofa by 4 inches so that it doesn't look like it's floating. I also tucked a basket of magazines (a la Pottery Barn) underneath the table.


Continuing with the beachy look, Mr. StyleBurb found a couple of pictures of our kids at the lake last summer. They look wonderful printed in black and white and framed.


The wooden frames are garage sale finds, also painted with Heirloom White spray paint.

To recap, this is what our family room looked like before...





... and after






I've still got my eyes open for a coffee table, but you're probably out of popcorn, so we'll have to wait for the next installment in my Family Room series.

Coming soon to a theater near you...



  I will be joining these link parties this week:

   Transformation Thursday Transformation Thursday