Merry Christmas!

Baked French Toast

Baked French Toast Casserole

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces) 

8 large eggs

2 cups half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dash salt

Praline Topping

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, melted

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cube bread. I buy day old bread. You can get creative and try the cinnamon bread or the challah bread, croissants, etc. 

Mix eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt in blender. Toss with bread cubes in large bowl. Transfer to a greased baking pan, I like to use a half sheet pan which is larger than a 9x13 so it does not bake over the sides. It will fit in a 9x13 just be sure to bake it with something under it to catch any goo that bakes over. 

Melt butter and mix in the rest of the ingredients for the praline topping. For my family I add 3/4 cup of coconut. You can skip the pecans if you don't like them. Pour over the bread mixture. 

At this point you can slide it into the refrigerator and bake it the next morning or cover it with foil and freeze it. I get a total kick out of popping a frozen pan of this stuff in the oven before I go to bed and setting time bake and waking up to breakfast ready to go. 

Bake @ 350 for 45 min to an hour. It is nice to give it some time to set before eating it. 

Serve with fresh fruit of your choice and whipped cream. 

Maybe I can get a picture of the finished product one day. It would be pretty to bake individual portions in ramekins. 

It looks a lot like this.

December

I was sneaking away to the office to do some crafting. Using what I have. Old pillowcase, stray board. 

The electrician fixing his own service. Thanks to the dog. 

Early in the morning on the same day that the dog ripped the Internet/ phone line off the house, the electrician was caught rubbing said dog behind her ears. He later said many unkind things about her. 

Happy. Applesauce is made. 

Run to the store and gather the ingredients to make Beef Bourguignon. It might change your life. If you serve it with mashed potatoes make sure that you cook your potatoes long enough before you try to mash them, especially if your mother in law is coming for Sunday dinner.

Bless the person who sent that copper mug to goodwill. Do you ever wonder how stuff ends up there? Most homedecor  stores have mugs like this on their shelves right now... So?

Stuart got his very first professional haircut. He was not thrilled but I think he will go back without a fight. 

14 years

My Mom is always knocking it out of the park with her decorations at the Harrisburg Christmas show. 

Stuart's 6th Birthday

Pennants and Engineer Prints

 

I've been crazy about the pennants on Three Potato Four.  Bought some felt and went for it.
It was weird how much joy this project brought me. Probably because I was not following any directions, just winging it. Maybe it was the freestyle foot on the sewing machine that I finally had a reason to use. 

Put a new Engineer print from Staples in this poster frame. $3.81

Finally filled this large frame I got at a thrift store. Fame with glass was $10. The print had to be the next size up at Staples so that cost $7.73. For some reason I could not commit to just one picture so I just did a quick grid of photos which was fun because I could use some poorer quality pictures like from my phone.

In case you are not familiar with Staples Engineer Prints:

Upload Photo on Staples Website:

Shop by Category/ Copy and Print/ Engineering prints/upload

Use a good quality black and white photo.

Pinterest. I love how this print looks. In case you have some tobacco lath lying around.

 One long drive this fall, we took our portable sound system along. I'm not sure the kids could hear in the back but it saved our sanity on the way home when the two youngest were bawling.

 We tried to get family pictures.

Nate's dad loading their wagon for a camping trip in the late early 90's?