french toast friday!

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french toast friday, back in action!

i'm loving how bright and sunny it is in the morning

i was up by 6am ready to cook up something delicious!

today i made good ol' french toast from my regular recipe

but threw in some of my espresso and served with farmers market cut strawberries

and homemade whipped cream (mmmmm)

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i'm actually excited for "spring forward" tomorrow night

spring is my favorite season and for me, this marks the start of it

there's so much to look forward to in the coming months

grilled cheese festival, taylor's 26th birthday, trip(s) to san francisco and, best of all, longer days!

happy happy friday my dearest friends!

a little breakfast love

good morning!

and happy valentines day to you.

this morning i woke early to cook taylor french toast

as part of his valentines day gift

but not just any french toast - french toast made from fresh, buttery croissants!

i got the idea a week or so ago from one of my favorite food blogs, food coma blog

valentines day is a sweet day; a day to show that special someone just how dear they are

the boy and i like it simple on this day - a sweet note and extra hugs in the morning

are enough to make this gal happy

....and a yummy breakfast!

and okay, a few little gifts don't hurt...

but as long as theyre little...and thoughtful

hope you have a beautiful day!

sugary-cinnamon french toast bites

 rise and shine!!!

happy friday my dear friends

and to a lovely weekend!

this morning taylor and i enjoyed french toast bites

and hands down, these were the best yet!

they tasted similar to churros dipped in warm maple syrup.

it was so good that we kind of felt guilty

so this morning taylor decided to bike all the way to work and i'm going to walk...

 it would be selfish of me not to share this recipe

so here it is:

you will need:

french bread (baguette), cut into 1" cubes

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon butter

instructions:

in a large bowl, mix togeter the sugar and cinnamon then set aside

in a separate, large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla extract and salt.

add the cut up french bred to the wet mix & stir with a large spoon until the bread peices are soaked 

melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the saturated bread cubes

cook until brown and toasty on all sides (about 5 minutes)

remove from heat and add the cooked pieces to the sugar and cinnamon bowl

toss liberally until all the french bread pieces are coated with the mixture

heat up your favorite maple syrup

and dip away!!

taylor got a little carried away and dipped a few french toast bites into nutella

can't hate if for it...

cut i dipped one too! ;)

whole wheat french toast with dried blueberries and yellow peaches

happiest friday to you!

i have been the worst blogger this week... maybe for the past few, actually!

changed routines, new position at work, and planning a trip to europe are to blame

but im here on this beautiful friday to give you french toast!

so i hope all will be forgiven ;)

it is the last day of september...

67° and not a cloud in the sky

what more can i ask for?

this morning taylor and i enjoyed whole wheat french toast

with dried blueberries and yellow peaches

and ooooh-eeee it was yummmmeeee!

maple peach french toast

happiest friday to you

its a gloomy, cloudy one out there

but i love it

makes my morning coffee taste that much better

my bed that much cozier

my sweaters that much warmer

and french toast that much yummier

this morning...

french toast with yellow peaches sauteed in maple syrup

only 5 days until the official start of fall!

i can't wait for pumpkin flavored everything!

pomegranate granola french toast

happy friday

oh, and what a happy friday it is!

today my girlfriends and i are off for our annual trip today

so that means a half day of work!

i hated saying goodbye to taylor and molly this morning

the trio will be apart for a few days, but all is fine

one of taylor's closest friends is in town from san francisco

so in a way, its a guy's weekend for taylor and a girls weekend for me

(those are always so important)

i will miss my b, but sometimes its good to miss your love every once in a while ;)

this morning i made taylor french toast topped with pomegranate granola 

he added the bananas and nutella, of course...

happy weekend my dearest friends

i'll be back on monday with stories to tell and pictures to share

xx

chelsea

candied blueberry and walnut french toast

this morning taylor and i slept in as late as possible

we've been up late almost every night this week

...molly's been on a special allergy medication that makes here very thirsty

which makes her pee more, which means getting up a handful of times in the night to take her out

but she is doing much better so hopefully its all out of her system and we can sleep again!

anyway, on with the french toast!!

from taylor, "you're getting pretty good at this, ya know? i'd say these are the best yet"

so naturally i had to take a bite

...then a second... then a third...

and oh my gosh these were explosive!

(don't you love taylor's "not guilty" t-shirt? seems fitting...)

i saturated two slices of thick egg bread in my french toast concoction for a little extra longer today

making them moist and fluffy and just down right amazing!

i plopped on the two soaked slices of egg bread onto a pre-heated saute pan,

cooking for about 2 minutes on each side

i've come to realize that making french toast is a lot like baking cookies

when baking cookies, you take 'em out before they look ready for a softer cookie, right?

well the same seems to be true for french toast. 

so, i turned off the heat just before they "looked" done and let them cook slowly without heat while i prepared the candied walnuts and blueberries....

i found a simple recipe for candied walnuts this past weekend and i'm obsessed!

bake walnut halves for 5 min at 350 degrees

melt about 1/2 cup of raw, brown sugar

have roasted walnuts at hand

as soon as the sugar starts melting, toss in the walnuts 

remove the heat and stir with a wooden spoon for a minute or so, making sure all the walnuts are coated in the melted sugar

(at this point, i threw in some blueberries and coated them too)

have parchment paper ready and put the walnuts (and blueberries) on to it once coated in sugar

quickly separate with a fork

and voila!

candied blueberry and walnut french toast

french toast friday

 ♪ ♫ french toast friii-day ♪ ♫

thats me saying it in a sing-songy tone.

i am so happy its friday, you have no idea

work has been a little ridiculous this week and i'm so happy its coming to an end

and the icing on the [french toast]? a paycheck!

this morning i made taylor french toast bites 

cooked with rolled oats, cut up organic red apple, craisins, and crushed walnuts

topped off with maple syrup, of course

i dont know what to call it.

oatmeal, fruit and nut french toast?

yes, i like it

happy friday folks

razzamatazz and french my friday!

ahh its friday and what good news that is!

this morning taylor actually made his own french toast with my assistance.

it didn't look as pretty as i make it, but he assured me it was deeelish!

and i can't lie, it sure smelled like it too

i supplied the "razzamatazz" and he did the french toast squares with chocolate chips

i had fun playin around with photoshop this morning.

i accidentally blew out one of my pictures (the middle one) wayyy too much

and then i "accidentally" did it to the other ones too

but i liked the effect so it stays

happy friday

go out and enjoy this so-cal weather

...and if you're not in  sunny so-cal

enjoy the weather wherever you are, whatever it may be because its a free gift from You Know Who

as a hobo on the muni bus in san francisco reminded me

"the best things in life are free, my friend. the best things in life are free..."

life is beautiful

cheers!

xx + oo

fabulous food friday

so its friday, which means french toast, and its here, but i couldn't not post about the burgers taylor and i made last night too

so to start, get ready for mouth-watering yumminess

brace yourselves... they're enticing!

last night tay and i made b.b.q., blue cheese burgers with arugula, sliced tomato, and grilled onions

along with...

[our favourite] sweet potato french fries

 

and now what you've all been waiting for...

french toast fridays!

since last week i made little squares of french toast, i decided to mix it up this week and try for triangle-shaped "frenchies". so, i made traditional french toast with framer's market organic strawberries, bananas and sliced almonds topped with whipped cream and hot maple syrup (which tasted much like hot caramel)

i'm sure you can imagine how delightful it was.

we'll be off to san francisco for the fourth of july weekend

i hope you all have a safe and happy one

happy birthday u.s.a.!

xx and oo's (but more x's than o's)

ta-ta

apple cinnamon french toast

work has been keeping me real busy this week; its been hard to find time to post

but i can always find time for a french toast friday post!

this morning i made taylor 

bite-sized french toast with cinnamon apple with chopped walnuts

 what you will need for french toast and topping:

half apple thinly sliced

two loaves bread, cut into fours

cinnamon

two tablespoons milk

two eggs

a pinch all-purpose flour

two pinches brown sugar

one teaspoon vanilla extract

tablespoon butter

half cup water

handful chopped walnuts.

instructions:

let me start by saying i don't have exact measurements of any of the ingredients. a pinch here, a pinch there... i kind of eyeball everything so be ware when following this recipe.

french toast:

1.) chop each loaf of bread into quarters

2.) mix together, cinnamon, all-purpose flour, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and brown sugar.

3.) dip each bread square into the mixture and saturate each side for at least one minute.

4.) add soaked bread to a greased saute pan at medium heat.

5.) flip bread pieces every so often until both sides are golden brown

6.) remove from heat.

apple topping:

1.) melt butter into small pan over medium heat

2.) add thinly sliced apple pieces, dash of cinnamon, water, dash of brown sugar

3.) heat for about 5-7minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.) remove from heat

5.) plate the french toast and pour apple topping over the top, including all the juices (makes for a great syrup!)

lastly, add chopped walnuts and whipped cream

...and viola!

happy friday

enjoy the beautiful weekend to come!

Pardon my French...

it's friday, and you all know what that means...

FRENCH TOAST!

this morning's menu: pineapple and strawberry french toast.

"the origin of french toast"

the question is, were the french really the first to dip and fry their bread? 

the exact origin of french toast is undetermined, however the popular history suggests that it started with medieval european cooks who need to use every bit of food they could find to feed their families. quite like today, cooks would add eggs and milk to revive old, stale bread.

another theory suggests that this simple concoction was always called "german toast" until world war I, when the name was changed for patriotic reasons... although it is generally agreed upon that this tale of "toast-renaming" is apocryphal.

but no matter the origin, its safe to say that french toast is delightfully enjoyed by taylor and i as a yummy breakfast treat!

happy friday, friends

i will be off to cambria for the weekend but i will be back monday!

history sources: here and here

french toast fridays!

it was french toast friday at the pearsall-donsker residence this morning

today's menu: 

banana and strawberry creme french toast

it sure was a hit!

here is my recipe:

what you'll need:

(Serves 2 pieces)

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup milk

1 pinch salt

an egg

pinch (or two) cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 tablespoon brown sugar

2 loaves thick challah bread

french toast instructions:

1. mix together all the ingredients

2.heat a lightly oiled (or buttered )griddle or frying pan over medium heat

3. soak bread pieces in mixture until saturated

4. cook bread on each side until golden brown.

5. add toppings (fruit, whipped cream, nutella, etc)and serve hot!

taylor is the best. he always cleans when i cook. 

we have a rule... if one cooks, the other cleans! 

best rule in the house.

happy weekend!

hues of blue.

a blue morning it is...

every friday morning, i make taylor french toast

french toast fridays!

this morning i made it with blueberry jam from the farmers market with fresh blueberries.

(taylor snuck in some nutella on the top when i wasn't looking...)

we didn't plan for the day to be so blue.

but as we were getting ready to walk out the door, we realized we matched...

in blue!!

happy happy HAPPY friday, my dear friends!