Remember how I went on and on about Marion Cunningham's Breakfast book? Well, well, well....it just so happens that I had a recipe of my own creation that, in my humble opinion, would be good enough to grace the pages of her book....or any breakfast book for that matter...yes, I'm that sure of myself on this one! I was digging through my stack of recipes - and came across my pathetic handwriting on a scrap of paper....and slowly it all came back to me....cream cheese oozing out the sides, strawberries dripping off my chin and the hint of cinnamon from the toasted raisin bread....ah shucks, no need to applaud...it was just something I concocted for some recipe contest...that I didn't win...but that's neither here nor there...this French toast is worth writing home about - and definitely worth what little time it takes to make.
First, let me show you what I spent three hours of my life on yesterday afternoon....another contest entry...another flawed attempt at the holy grail - which for me means winning anything MORE than a blender...
Sweet Potato Cups - they were a complete disaster - they stuck to the pan, the crust was soggy, and the "cup" fell completely apart on the plate - it tasted okay...but so do dog biscuits...and that's not going to win a prize! So for $20 and 3 hours I entertained myself, made a huge mess in my kitchen and learned a valuable lesson...oh, you didn't think I was going to share that, did you? For that you need to pay....I've got to recoup my $$$ somehow!
This is a simple recipe - raisin bread, strawberry jam and cream cheese - dipped in an egg and milk mixture and fried - but it doesn't taste simple - it tastes like it took hours... I like it right out of the pan but I also like it with maple syrup, too.
Strawberry Cream Cheese French Toast - Pots and Pins
2 eggs
1/3 cup light cream or heavy cream
pinch of salt
6 slices raisin bread
2 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons or so of strawberry jam
6 tablespoons or so of softened cream cheese
maple syrup for serving, optional
Stir the eggs, cream and salt together in a bowl with a fork until well blended. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a shallow bowl so you can easily dip the bread. Spread about 1 tablespoon or so of the strawberry jam on each of three slices of raisin bread. Spread about 1 tablespoon or so of the cream cheese on each of the remaining slices of raisin bread. Put one slice of strawberry jam covered raisin bread together with a slice of cream cheese covered raisin bread, making a sandwich. Dip into egg mixture, turn and do the other side. Set on plate while you dip the remaining 2 sandwiches.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet big enough to hold 3 slices of bread at once. Fry all three sandwiches at the same time, over medium high heat, until browned. Turn all three and fry until other side is browned. Serve immediately, with or without maple syrup.
Serves 3. 
Note to self: Saw the foot doctor - got a cortizone shot in my ankle - now my foot feels like lead and sitting at my computer was "doctor ordered"....he told me to stay off my foot so that's pretty much the same as a prescription to blog...so the mister can't complain that nothing was done today because of blogging...The Girl finished reading her baby book today - apparently she is sufficiently educated about babies...can't wait to see how the little one reacts when he's told about his pre-planned schedule! The mister came home from work early - which always makes me nervous...my first thought was that he'd been fired but since he owns the place I immediately ruled that out and then concluded that he had some terminal illness - but he's not that lucky - I mean, I'm not that lucky....kidding...he just wanted to play hooky which is totally out of character for him so I'll have to do some investigative work to get to the bottom of this...in the meantime we saw Run Fatboy Run, and while the critics pretty much panned this I thought it was charming and sweet and totally worth the $$$.
One last thing....I saw this on the wall of our local Borders Bookstore...it occurred to me that I do just the opposite - perhaps that's the reason why I'm "fluffy"....
