Blueberry French Toast with Syrup

This week I decided to do a twist on a traditional French toast thanks to my lovely friend Nicole and her recipe. Choosing to do this meal was different for me because I actually don't like French toast (I think it's something about the eggs), however Nicole said she had a bomb recipe for homemade blueberry French toast and syrup so I said why not, I can make crepes another day. Now for me breakfast is the best meal of the day because it has all of the greatest things to eat: waffles, pancakes, donuts, cereal, smoothies, etc. So of course for my third post since all good things come in threes, breakfast it was. Now like I said before this comes with a twist, a delicious and appetizing twist, so let's beging!

Ingrediants:

Toast:
1 loaf French bread or sourdough cut into large chunks
2 8oz packages of cream cheese
2 cups blueberries
12 eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups milk
1 tbsp cinnamon

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp butter

Directions:

1) Cut half of the bread in to small cubes

2) Arrange the pieces you cut in to a 9x13 inch pan (I suggest against putting foil on the bottom because when you are scraping out the pieces for people to eat, you might pull foil out as well)

3) Cut cream cheese into about one inch cubes and place over the bread chunks

4) Sprinkle the blueberries over the top, cut up the rest of the bread and layer over everything

5) In a large bowl mix: eggs, syrup, milk and cinnamon. Whisk well and be aware that the cinnamon will not dissolve.

6) Once the mixture is ready, pour over the bread and cream cheese

7) Place the pan inside your fridge and let it chill for one hour. While you wait I suggest you do what Nicole and I did and pop open a Mike's and watch an awesome movie like Transformers

8) Once an hour has passed, transfer the pan from the fridge into your oven which should be set at 350 degrees and allow to bake. Go back to your paused movie and continue watching the amazingness that is Bumblebee

9) When you have about 15 minutes until the French toast will be done, begin making your syrup.

10) In a small pot mix your water, sugar, cornstarch and butter over medium-high heat until it has thickened. Once to a syrup-like texture, add the blueberries

11) Stir slowly for about 10 minutes or until the majority of the blueberries have burst, the syrup will become increasingly darker until it almost burgundy.
12) Remove the French toast from the oven

13) While it is still warm, pour the syrup over the toast

13) Cut off squares and enjoy while finishing up the end of your movie :)

Tips and experiences:
* Even if you forget temporarily to add the blueberries while the pan is in the fridge, it's ok, just push them down between the bread
*Be aware that this dish does take time so plan accordingly, like having movies to watch
*ALWAYS use oven mitts or you WILL burn yourself. Even if you do use them, if you're me you will burn yourself regardless.
*The dish is large so invite friends over because otherwise you will have a ton of French toast just chilling in Tupperware.
*Breakfast for dinner is perfectly acceptable

Tripolini alle Dieci Erbe (Tiny Pasta with 10 Herbs)

Whenever couples go out on a date, or a group of friends want to hang out for dinner, almost everyone decides to go out to eat. Instead, I like to go to the store, pick up some ingredients and make a meal. It's homey and not as expensive, plus you don't have to deal with annoying or obnoxious people around you. This year for Valentine's day my boyfriend and I were going to stay at home, make a dinner and just watch movies; however we fell into the suckered idea of going out to eat (though we went on Friday instead). This is the dish I would have made if we had stayed home, instead I cooked for some friends on the actual Valentine's day since some of us were apart from our other half and others did not have one. So, if you want to make an intensely fragrant (in a good way) dish, try this! It is a reasonably simple recipe, even though the title might make you wonder with all of the herbs. Another nice thing about this pasta? It matches great with red wine :) Anyway so here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
3 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped chervil
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 teaspoon chopped marjoram
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/2-3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili pepper flakes
1 pound dried tripolini or other small pasta
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
1) Begin by heating water in a pot since the pasta will take the longest to cook (depending in your brand)

2) If you bought pre-ground herbs (which is the simplest thing yet not the freshest) go ahead and place them together in a bowl and set to the side. If you did buy fresh herbs, chop them on a clean cutting board and set aside. When it comes to things like oregano, parsley and the like, the usually come on a stem as follows

The thing to do is pluck the herb so you have as little stem as possible. It is edible, just stringy and therefor not often liked.

3) To get to the garlic, begin by peeling away the skin. The way I do it is to pinch the clove so it cracks, allowing you to begin the peeling easier.

4) Once the garlic is rid of the skin, chop it as fine as possible

Start by cutting the long way through the clove, then turn it 90 degrees and dice again.
To get it extra-fine, I angle the blade slightly so you are both cutting and crushing the garlic allowing for smaller pieces.

5) Before you begin your sauce, add your pasta to the boiling water with a pinch of salt and set your timer for the required cooking time that the package says. When you have about five minutes left before the pasta is done, begin the sauce.

6) Once all of your herbs and garlic are ready, place them in a low to medium heated saucepan with the olive oil.

remember to keep the heat low since the herbs don't burn. If you are using fresh greens, allow them to simmer until they turn bright. For both dried and fresh, sauce cooking time is between 2-3 minutes.

7) Gently drain your pasta, letting some moisture stay with the noodles. Mix both pasta and sauce in the pot you made your noodles in before transferring to a serving bowl.

8) Serve warm and enjoy!

So notes and experiences from this dinner:
*Make sure you do the pasta water first since it takes to boil (I forgot about that) so you don't have to wait around for the noodles to cook while you hope you haven't burned the herbs.

* When you use dried spices and herbs and they darken while cooking making them look really gross, don't worry because the dish still tastes great.

*When you invite someone over who lives in the same complex as you and they say they cannot come due to homework, be nice and walk over with your friends to bring them some. When they are not home like they said and you have a key to their place, flip their dining room table and chairs upside-down, reset the alarm, lock the door and leave.

*Again I reiterate that this is a perfect meal for either dates or group dinners and two-buck-chuck red wine can actually taste very nice when paired with the pasta and sauce.

Look for next weeks recipe...breakfast!!!

Valentines Cookies!

So to kick off this delicous blog, I decided to make some Chocolate Heart Peanut Butter Cookies in honor of Valentine's Day. I decided to do these cookies since the recipe is it is extremely fast, easy and cheap. However, it is also a really sweet thing to do for your significant other (no pun intended). Baking or creating something for someone is a way to show how much you care without taking the easy way out and buying a Hallmark card and some chocolates in a heart shaped box. Be original! Do something new that you can tailor to fit the tastes of the person you love. I know the arguement is that baking or cooking can take to long and we all have a busy schedule, but this recipe takes with cooking and cooling time, no more than an hour out of your day. Plus if you make extras, you can eat those yourself :) So to start off, here are the needed ingrediants:

One pouch of Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
heart shaped milk chocolate candies

Directions:

1)Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until dough forms

(to mix use a wooden spoon instead of a whisk since the mixture is think and will only clump between the wires)

2)Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls (I use a tablespoon to measure the right amount

3) roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a foil-covered cookie sheet.

4)Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown

5) Once you take the cookies out of the oven, immediantly press chocolate candy into top of each cookie

6) allow about 20 minutes for the cookies to cool and firm up, then enjoy!