Buttermilk French toast

When I make something with buttermilk, I'm often left with an amount I can't find a use for, so it almost *always* goes to waste.  Tired of the waste, I decided to try a traditional dish with a twist; buttermilk French toast.

I really wasn't sure if it would be a hit or a miss, but my desire to use up the buttermilk outweighed my concern about any result I might achieve.  The gamble paid off.  It was delicious!  If you ever find yourself with that leftover buttermilk, and don't have a use for it, I encourage you to give this dish a try.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)

1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 - 1" slices of bread (try something like challah, sourdough or brioche, though anything would work)

Butter

Maple syrup

Directions:

In a shallow pie pan, combine buttermilk, cream, sugar and eggs, and whisk well.  Add bread slices (as many as will fit at one time), and soak on both sides until egg mixture penetrates the bread (about 1 minute/side).

To a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter (refresh butter, as needed, as you cook each batch of bread slices), and heat over medium until butter is no longer frothy, and starts to brown just slightly (but isn't burning or smoking).

Add soaked bread slices to the heated skillet, and cook until a deep char forms on each side.  Remove from pan, and serve with butter and maple syrup.

This recipe is enough for two adult servings.

It's a 'best day'...

...when the heart candies come out of the box like this, especially because we are breeding our beloved Kindle this week.  Ty has been very present here this morning, as well.

Happy 'best day' friends.  Here's hoping there's 'puppy love' on your horizon!

Just because...

Last weekend, sunrise, out by the airport...it was so pretty.

Hilppa's scones with a flavor twist

This morning I made Hilppa's scones again, this time with dried cherries and orange zest vs. raisins.  I did not have buttermilk, so I used just whole milk, and I think the milk hurt the creaminess of the dough - it just wasn't quite up to par with the buttermilk version.  The flavor combination of the cherries and orange zest was superb, however.

The only way to eat these, is fresh from the oven, in my opinion.  Super warm, fragrant and immensely flavorful.  There is just no limit to the flavor combinations that can be made.  Sweet, savory...anything.  Next up, a rosemary and white cheddar version.

Give these scones a try.  You will not be disappointed...but make sure you use buttermilk for an ultimate scone experience.  And do not over bake them.  They can become dry, I have learned, if baked too long.

Happy scone-ing, friends, and happy Monday!