Last Friday my stove decided to have a tantrum and stopped working. Kind of annoying…I had serious cooking plans for a picnic. Instead I just ate wine and half a cupcake. It worked out juuuust fine.

Cut to this week: still no stove…I kinda started hoping it needed to be replaced. How dreamy are those O’Keefe and Merritt stoves?! In pale blue?! Hello cuteness!

Sooo…I dug out my toaster oven and started putting stuff on toast. All sorts of stuff. Possibilities…endless.

And then, as soon as my stove was fixed, I made this poached egg and put it on a piece of bread with some salt, pepper and parmesan. Runny eggs are just swoon-worthy, aren’t they?!

Almond butter and sliced strawberries. Delicious. Sweet. Killer combo.

I’m not even gonna start by telling you that turkey bacon compares to regular bacon. It just doesn’t. It can’t. Impossible. It’s healthier, though, so there’s that.

BACON > TURKEY BACON/EVERYTHING…for life.

But I just bought a few bathing suits this week and have yet to try them on. Ugh.

So here you have it: turkey bacon, a few basil leaves, a swipe of veganaise and a few sliced tomatoes on toast.

P.S. I don’t try bathing suits on in stores anymore. The lighting is heartbreaking. So now I just buy a bunch on a credit card, try them on at my apt, and take the ones that don’t work back to the store. Total game changer. Have you tried this?

Avocado on Toast is an all time fav.  Adding some ricotta to the mix took it to a whole other level of amazingness.

In other news, this weekend I’m gonna celebrate my reunion with my kitchen by making something crazy…can we say doughnuts?! I dunno…they might be in mini form, they might be girly and pink, or they might have sprinkles in them, maybe even some amazing glaze on top. Who knows…the world is my doughnut…or whatever.

It’s summer time!!! Well not technically, but we’re close. Super close. I think we need to do some prep work. Let’s write a list…together. #teamwork

A summer to-do list!! Here are my 10 things:

1. Plant some flowers.

2. Throw an ice cream party. (Vegan coconut ice cream. On the brain.)

3. Watch a movie outside. Watch a ton of movies outside. And drink wine while doing so.

4. Beach. Lots of beach.

5. Adopt a kitten/puppy. (Not a summer thing per se, but it’s happening. I’m determined.)

6. Whale/dolphin watching.

7. Go on a boat. Aaaand maybe wear boat shoes. And maybe a blazer. That’d be cute, right?

8. Run through some sprinklers (sans white shirt).

9. Go down a river in an inner tube. With beer in hand.

10. Drink lots of dranks. Kinda like this not too sweet sangria.

Noooow, your turn?! What’s on your summer to-do list?!

Sangria! It’s the frittata of drinks.

Throw in a variety of mis-matched fruits and it’ll most likely end up being delicious.

In this rendition, I threw in some sliced peaches, strawberries, oranges and limes. I added some strawberry syrup to give it that extra of kick of, well, strawberries. Super simple. Just a little rosemary (gives a slight hint), agave (or sugar), a dash of water and salt, and the strawberries.

The strawberries will start to break down and get all delicious. You might want to eat it or spread it on some toast. Don’t. Strain it through a sieve and add it to the sangria.

Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  All the fruit and flavors will totally make out.

Flavors making out is a good thing, by the way.

And then, grab a glass, throw in some ice cubes and drink; preferably while crossing something off your summer to-do list.

ilovesummer.com

Strawberry Rosemary Sangria

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Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Strawberry Syrup:

1 cup diced strawberries

1 tablespoon agave

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon water

2 twigs of rosemary

Sangria:

1 750-ml bottle dry white wine

1/2 cups sliced strawberries

1/4 cup triple sec

2 peaches, each cut into 12 slices

1 large orange, cut crosswise into 6 slices

1 lime, cut crosswise into 6 slices

For strawberry syrup, dice up strawberries.  In a small saucepan add strawberries, agave, salt, water and rosemary.  Place over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, or until strawberries are totally broken down.  Remove from heat and strain through a sieve, removing rosemary and strawberry chunks. (Note: chunks is a gross word, eh?) You should have about 2 tablespoons of strawberry syrup.

In a pitcher, mix white wine, triple sec, sliced peaches, strawberries, oranges and limes.  Smash the citrus slightly.  Add the strawberry syrup and stir. Let stand at room temperature at least 2 hours or chill up to 4 hours. Serve sangria over ice.

This week I’ve been in NY being a business lady. But before I left town, I made you biscuits!!

Actually, I made them for my friends Tre and Erin.  My friend Tre and I did some apartment swap action. Perfect timing made it possible for me to stay at his cute East Village apartment while he crashed at my place in LA. Kind of amazing how it all worked out.

Since him and Erin were driving in late from San Fran, I figured I could put some near-dying strawberries to good use by throwing them into biscuits. I didn’t think there was anyway this could be a bad combo. 

And then I remembered something even better than plain strawberry biscuits…strawberry black pepper biscuits. I tried them more than a year ago at an On the Lamb strawberry demo at Surfas.

At the end, they handed out pieces of paper with all of the recipes neatly typed up, and of course, I vowed to stow it in a place I deemed important, thus preventing the possibility of losing it. And I failed at this, obvi. Anyway, nothing a little recipe stalking around the internets couldn’t solve. I found the recipe and they were seriously as delicious as I had remembered.

There was buttery, biscuit, flakeyness going on.

Sweetness and tartness (just a hint) from the slightly dehydrated strawberries.

And a small kick from the pepper.

Put some bacon slices in between these biscuits. Or a fried egg.

If you’re feeling really traditional, serve it with butter. But not just unsalted, plain butter, but creamy salted butter. Salted butter and I are having a moment right now. Never really tried it until a few weeks ago and OMG is it good.

Is there any better way to welcome someone home at their home away from home than a plate piled high with biscuits with a side of butter?

Strawberry Black Pepper Biscuits

Recipe from On the Lamb

Yields about 12 round biscuits

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6-7 medium strawberries, hulled & cut into half inch pieces
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder 
¼ teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper 
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup of half & half or heavy cream

On a baking sheet, lay out the sliced strawberries.  Place in oven for an hour and a half at 200F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together  flour, baking powder, salt & black pepper and transfer to refrigerator to chill for 5 minutes.

Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and using a pastry knife, or working quickly with your hands, break up the butter into the flour. Try not to warm the butter too much. Once the butter is in pea or lentil size bits, fold in the strawberries. Pour about ¾ cup of cream into the bowl & incorporate, add more as needed to pull all the ingredients together.  Once everything is just combined, turn the dough onto a floured surface and either roll or pat the dough into a rectangle that is about ¾ inch thick. Cut into a dozen rounds or cut into squares, can render up to 16 square biscuits.

Brush the tops with milk or cream and place on an ungreased baking sheet, bake in the middle rack for about 10-12 minutes in a preheated oven set to 375F, rotate the pan once during baking to ensure even coloration.  When biscuits are lightly brown along the edges and/or the bottoms are a rich even brown, they’re done.

Hi there, friend. Let’s talk. What’d you do this weekend? Did you do yardwork? Any DIY projects you wanna share? I wanna hear it. I wanna hear it all. Annnnnd go!

I’ll wait…

Oh niiiice. That’s cute. All that sounds like fun. Yeah, even the chores and errands on Saturday morning. I kinda secretly enjoy those.

Oh, how was MY weekend?! Awww, that’s sweet of you to ask. WELL…

This weekend was pretty epic; it involved lots of drinks, yeah not too many, though. I went to an amazing restaurant! I made a milkshake that weirded me out (avocado milkshake–recipe to come!) which was fun. I brunched with my gay best friend. Cliche, I know. Sorry.

We rode bikes like a cute couple, and lusted after a fancy bike. I’m determined for it to be my near future impulse purchase. My weekend ended with a huge laugh fest…I went to the theater to see Bridesmaids. If you haven’t seen it, you need to put that on your to-do list. Umm…yay for girls that are smart, funny and pretty.

Second thing you need to write on your to-do list for the week? Roasted strawberries.

Whoa…good segue, right?

I bought Heidi’s book right when it came out, but hadn’t really cracked it open until a few days ago. Holy geez! The recipes are so beautiful. The ingredient combinations are smart and inventive.

And I know this might make me a weirdo, but all of the instructions for her recipes are so well written. You will never sit there wondering if you’re doing something wrong; everything is crystal clear. I love that!

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty…

You’ll need strawberries. Duh. Lots of them. Double duh.

You’ll need to wash ‘em and hull ‘em. If you’re too lazy to hull (please hull), you can always lop off the tops. I’m not judging. I’D NEVER DO THAT! 

Throw them in a bowl.

Mix together all the ingredients. I kinda messed up the original recipe, sooo now it’s a tweaked adaptation. This happens often in my kitchen, by the way. Sometimes with good results, other times with not so great results. This mess-up was a keeper. I love when that happens.

Then just pour the liquid over the strawberries and mix gently.

Spread the pretty strawberries out evenly on to a baking sheet. And place them in your pre-heated oven. That’s it!

In 15 minutes, you’ll be sitting at your computer, doing the dishes or blow-drying your hair, and then it’ll hit you–the smell of delicious strawberries roasting.

The smell took over my apartment.  I love when that happens. That’s when my little apartment feels like a home.

They’ll look like this when you take them out. I left them in there a little longer than I should’ve. No biggie.

And then the next thing you need to figure out is a vehicle to get these things in your face. I chose a piece of bread with goat cheese spread all over it.

Can we please pause and take note of those butter knife strokes?! I mean…I did that for you, so you know. #skillz

Other options that would be equally delicious roasted strawberry vehicles: ice cream, your morning yogurt, toast drenched in butter…or just a plain ol’ spoon.

Roasted Strawberries On Toast

Recipe tweaked from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day

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8 ounces/225 g small to medium strawberries, hulled

2 tablespoons agave (or Maple Syrup)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C with a rack in the middle of the oven.

It is important to use a rimmed baking sheet or large baking dish for this recipe–you don’t want the juices running off the sheet onto the floor of your oven.  If you are using a baking sheet, line it with parchment paper.

Cut each strawberry in half.  If your strawberries are on the large side, cut them into quarters or sixths.  Add the berries to a mixing bowl.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the agave, olive oil, salt and pepper and balsamic vinegar (I misread the recipe but it was a lovely mistake!).  Pour this over the strawberries and very gently toss to coat the berries.  Arrange the strawberries in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.

Roast for about 40 minutes, just long enough for the berry juices to thicken, but not long enough for the juices to burn.  Watch the edges of the pan in particular.

While still warm, scrape the berries and juices from the pan into a small bowl. Toast bread of choice and spread room-temperature goat cheese on. If not using immediately, let cool and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Happy Friday, cute people!

I bet I know what you’re doing right now…my best guess is that you’re on your computer/couch watching replays and clips of the royal wedding, right? Yeah I got it right. Don’t worry, we’re all doing it.

Take a break, make some ice cream. Or make some ice cream so you have something fun to eat while judging Kate’s flower arrangement choices.

Look at these eggs below.

You won’t need them to make this ice cream. Make an omelet instead.

Today we’re making no-cook strawberry ice cream. No sitting over the stove heating up milk, separating egg yolks, or tempering and getting all nervous.  We’ll do that some other time.

Today we’re trying to get ice cream as fast as we can in our faces; sound good?

Let’s go!

Take some strawberries. Duh. Hull them, or lop off the tops.

Put ‘em in a food processor or blender and turn it on. This recipe uses a blender and a food processor. Next time I’ll just use the blender–less clean-up. We all like that.

It’ll turn into this:

Then it’s time for sugar, lemon zest and salt. My strawberries and your strawberries might vary in sweetness, that’s why I recommend adding the sugar to taste. I did this and ended up using 3/4 of what the recipe called for.

This part is kinda fun. Seeing the heavy cream swirl in the strawberry mixture is so pretty. I bet you wish you could see that.

This would’ve been a great opportunity for me to take a picture. But I didn’t because I was busy ooohhhing and ahhhing.

This recipe is allll about pouring, I realized. Pour the heavy cream into the strawberry mixture.

Pulse until it’s all combined and light pink.

Pour it into that bowl you used earlier.

Stick it in the fridge for a few hours until it gets really cold.

Then pour it into the ice cream maker.  When it’s done churning, transfer it to a tupperware, and place a plastic wrap on its surface. Almost what you do with pudding. This way ice crystals won’t form on the surface.

I ate my ice cream in between two biscuits, but seriously, a little whipped cream in a bowl will do just fine.

Isn’t watching Kate become a REAL LIFE princess so much better now?!

No-Cook Ice Cream

Recipe adapted from Gourmet

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1 pound strawberries, trimmed, halved if large

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy cream

Place strawberries in a blender or food processor and pulse until puree is smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add salt, lemon juice, sugar and mix. (Note: I ended up using 1/2 cup of sugar.)

Transfer the strawberry mixture to a blender and purée with cream until smooth. Return strawberry cream to bowl and chill, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 to 6 hours. (Note: you could halve this time if you placed it in the freezer for an hour, stirring it every 15-20 minutes.)

Freeze mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container, place a plastic wrap on the surface, cover and put in freezer to firm up.

Is anyone else having as busy of a holiday season as I am? I’ve traveled from coast to coast, been all over the state of North Carolina and have seen more family and friends than I did at my wedding. I’m hitting that point where all I want to do is relax and enjoy the remainder of my vacation with a tasty cocktail in my hand. Preferably a cocktail that’s easy to make. If it comes in a pitcher that would be pretty cool too. Sangria, anyone?

Sangria is really, really easy to make. It’s also really fun to play around with. If you have some leftover fruit you need to use, or a couple cups of fruit juice you want out of the fridge, or your friends gave you 2 bottles of cabernet when you only drink pinot noir, sangria is the answer.

First, you start off with two bottles of wine. Some people will tell you to use  something sweet like a moscato or something light and fruity like a pinot noir. I disagree completely. I like a more full bodied wine such as a cabernet or shiraz. If I’m using white I tend to lean toward chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc. My theory is that the purpose of the wine is to add flavor, so use something that will come through all the other fruits. Otherwise this is just alcoholic fruit juice, although even I’ll admit that’s not necessarily a bad thing. if you want to sweeten sangria, just use some old-fashioned sugar.

You’re gonna need a whole mess of fruit. In the South “a whole mess” is a very technical term, although, I’m not entirely confident I can translate it. What you see here in this photo is roughly what you want for one batch of sangria. You also need fruit juice – about 1 cup of juice for 2 bottles of wine. I used apple juice for this recipe, but this is where the fun comes in. Try playing around with stuff like peach nectar, pomegranate or pineapple juice.

Now it’s time to add in your fruit. Here’s another place to get creative., but you need to take into account the color of your wine here. For red wine, you can almost add anything, but I like to throw in some berries and oranges since those flavors really compliment red wines. Keep in mind that if you add berries to white wine it might muddle the color of the sangria. Things like apples, grapes, peaches or kiwi tend to go better with the white wine and come out with a prettier presentation.

Lemons and limes are nearly mandatory regardless of what type of wine you use. You’ll see a lot of recipes that call for lemon lime soda. I guess in a pinch this will work fine, although I will argue until I’m blue in the face that real fruit will taste better. Just trust me on this one.

I also like to add a liquer to sangria just to give a little kick. Although I’m using a pretty basic triple sec in this recipe, I strongly recommend going with a Cointreau or some other higher-quality fruity liquer for flavor. The above photo is the result of cooking away from home and on a bank account that has been drained from Christmas shopping- it still turned out quite delicious anyway.

If you’re making a red sangria, you must, must, must, MUST add cinnamon sticks. I also added cloves cause I had some on hand, but really all you need are cinnamon sticks. If you can, add these to the serving glasses when you’re done. “Too much cinnamon” is a phrase I have NEVER heard when someone is drinking red sangria. If I had heard it I probably would have started to ignore the person immediately since I don’t associate with crazy people.

Once you’ve combined everything in a big pitcher it’s time to stir in some sugar. Here’s the thing – you can always add more sugar later, so start slow. I would start off with half the amount of sugar the recipe calls for, let it sit for 2 hours, stir, and then taste. If you want more, add it. If you’re like me and don’t like super-sweet sangria, you might be okay right where it is.

The other key to sangria is to let it marinate a while. Eight hours is good, overnight is even better. This is one reason why I think sangria is an awesome party drink – you can make it the day before and then have it chilled and waiting in the fridge when people come over. Also, I think people assume there’s some sort of magic involved with making good sangria, when it couldn’t be easier.

Trust me, although there are certain ingredients I prefer over others, it is going to be really hard to use these guidelines and end up with a bad sangria.

It might even be impossible.

If you tell me you managed to make a bad sangria, I probably won’t believe you, FYI.

Basic Red Sangria

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2 750ml bottles red wine
1 cup apple juice
2 oranges, each cut into 8 wedges
2 cups chopped strawberries
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
2/3 cup triple sec or orange-flavored liquer
½ cup sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves

Combine all of the ingredients together in a large pitcher. Allow to chill for 8 hours or overnight. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks (you can put the cinnamon sticks in serving glasses if you want). Serve over ice and enjoy!

Growing up, I was a total tomboy who had to be bribed with candy to wear dresses, or fancy shoes, or anything remotely girly. And even now, I wouldn’t consider myself a super girly-girl. But every now and then, I totally give in and embrace it.  Case in point: Thursday night a friend scored tickets to the Twilight premiere, and yes I’m going. I have this weird love/hate thing with the Twilight series and am sort of excited to laugh my way through the movie.  I’ll be doing what any normal person would do at the premiere:  tweeting pictures, of course.  So if I end up getting tackled by some security dude, I’ll just blame it on all of you…

Back to cupcakes…these things taste down-right pretty;  they’re baby pink, paired with cream cheese frosting, and topped with shredded coconut. Try them. Embrace your girliness for gosh sakes, even if you’re a dude. Trust me–they’re worth it.

Here are a few other girly things I’m loving right now…

 

{Some of the season’s last peonies.}

 

{My favorite lace skirt.}

{My new pair of shoes.}

{A baby pink, gingham hair ribbon.}

{Berry baskets from the Farmer’s market. They’re so pretty and country-like.}

{…And the best tasting, most pretty batter in the world.}

Pink Lady Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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Yields two dozen cupcakes

CUPCAKES

2 1/4 cake flour (*see below for instructions on how to make cake flour)

1 1/2 cup sugar

6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp of salt

3/4 cup pureed strawberries

4 egg whites

1/3 cup milk

1 drop red food dye

CREAM CHEESE ICING

4 ounces (1/2 package) cream cheese, softened

3 ounces unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350»F. Place liners in a standard muffin/cupcake tin.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point. (Adrianna note: In the original recipe, Deb warned to not try the batter, and of course, I did.  And it was incredible. Since then, I’ve been tempted to skip the baking part and just eat a cup of batter. Gross.)

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and red food dye, if using, to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter amongst the muffin cups 3/4 of the way full.

Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes inside the muffin tins and then transfer to wire racks until throughly cooled.

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, ice each cupcake and top with shredded coconut, if desired.

*Let’s make cake flour! Grab a bowl and measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and sift twice.  Then measure out whatever flour you need from there.

For this recipe I needed 2 1/4 cake flour.  I measured out two cups of all-purpose and added to a bowl.  I then added 4 tablespoons of corn starch and sifted it twice.  I then measured out 2 1/4 cups of the cake flour mixture from the bowl and I only had a smidgen left over.  If I botched the explanation, click for Deb’s explanation.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Enough with the strawberries, right? Sorry folks, it has been a truly outrageous season for strawberries, and I can’t help but buy a full crate of them every week. I’ve debated as to whether it’s possible for me to be sick of strawberries, and the definite answer is that no, it isn’t. I can eat them every day, with every meal.

However, I can only cook so many recipes at a time before I start to lose my steam. My original plan with this week’s crop of berries was to bake up a strawberry pie. However, when I started thinking about making the piecrust and the pie filling on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I lost momentum. So I made a crostata. A crostata is kind of like a lazy person’s pie, so we got along really well. It’s a simple dough that doesn’t require much kneading or shaping, and the filling is just berries tossed in a sugar and topped with a jam glaze. Seriously easy. And the best part? I prepped and baked this whole thing up in just under 2 hours and still had the rest of my Saturday afternoon to lay by the pool.

Saturday + Sunshine + Pool + Strawberries = one awesome weekend.

Strawberry Crostata

Dough Recipe adapted by Giada De Laurentiis

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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
10 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
1 ½ cups chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 cup strawberry jam
1 tablespoon orange flavored liquer (optional)

For the dough: Mix the flour, sugar, and lemon zest, and salt in a food processor. Next add the cubed butter, a few pieces at a time. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, then pulse in the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Once the dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator and roll out until it reaches roughly 1 foot across. Important note – the dough does not need to look perfect! If it isn’t a full circle or is cracking in places, don’t sweat it. Using a rolling pan, transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a small saucepan, heat the jam and orange liquer until it is runny and easy to spread. In the center of the crostata dough, arrange the strawberries, leaving a 2 inche border. Gently fold the dough over the berries, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough. (as you can see by my photo it will still turn out fine if you miss a crack) Spread the jam mixture over the exposed berries and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Serve with fresh whipped cream, or all by itself. It tastes amazing either way.

The first thing I ever learned how to cook was French toast.  If I remember clearly, I learned how to make this when I was jumping on my parents bed…as they were sleeping.  And in an attempt to get just 15 more minutes of shut-eye, my dad suggested that I make French toast.  I stopped jumping.  He explained.  I listened.  And then ran to the kitchen.

I imagine I was probably wearing my huuuge Tasmanian Devil t-shirt I always slept in. And I probably pulled one of those country-style chairs we had in the dining room, and positioned it up against the counter so I could reach. I’m also gonna assume that I made a gigantic mess.  I think I was pretty good at that back then.  And I’m positive that when I was all done and my parents ate it, they smiled and said it was good because they sorta had to.  You don’t really tell your eight-year-old kid their French toast is gross.

This recipe is waaay different.  I’ve grown up…not sure if you’ve noticed.

For one, my eight-year-old version of French toast had egg shells in it.  I’ll bet on that. I wasn’t a good egg cracker.  And I’m also guessing it had waaaay too much cinnamon and vanilla extract.  I didn’t understand moderation. More was better. And it was on typical, wheat sandwich bread. This one, however, is on beautiful brioche. And instead of a typical egg/milk mixture, I’ve made a little custard, creme brulee style, to dip the Brioche in prior to frying.  I’ve also topped it with mascerated strawberries–I’ll explain later…

This is what I like to call my redemption French toast.

What was the first thing you learned how to cook?

{Let’s talk macerated strawberries! I was just gonna call them strawberries in the title because I think “mascerated” is a super scary word, but it wouldn’t have been accurate.  All “mascerated” means is strawberries soaked in a little sugar and lemon (or booze) for 2 hrs.  I soaked mine for a little less, and they turned out great.  They’re super juicy, a little syrupy, and the kick of lemon makes them even more awesome. I love them.  I’m kinda dreaming of putting them on top of ice cream with a good balsamic vinegar.}

Custard French Toast with Macerated Strawberries

French Toast recipe tweaked from Craft of Baking

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If you’re feeling really fancy, I suggest taking a half of a vanilla bean and soaking it in the milk/cream mixture as it warms up.  I bet the infusion would be amazing.  If any of you decide to try it, please let me know how it turns out.  Also, I opted to go with no maple syrup or powdered sugar.  If you can’t eat French toast without maple syrup, then I’d suggest maybe skipping the strawberries.

FRENCH TOAST

1 Brioche loaf (6 slices cut in 1 1/2-2-inch-thick slices) (OR! you can use challah if you like)

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

dash of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter

MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

1/2 pint of strawberries, hulled and quartered

the juice of one lemon (some people use booze)

2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

In a small bowl, add strawberries, lemon juice and sugar.  Let sit for up to 2 hrs…or longer if you like.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and yolks.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, dash of cinnamon, and salt over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.  Remove the mixture from the heat, and whisking constantly, pour about one quarter of it into the egg mixture.  (Note: This step is kinda important.  If you do add too much warm milk to the eggs, you’ll make scrambled eggs.) Add the remaining milk mixture and whisk to combine.  Use immediately, or chill the custard for up to 2 days until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 200˚F.

In a large heavy skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking.  Take your brioche slices and dip them into the egg/milk mixture, coating them on both sides.  I didn’t leave the slices in there too long because I don’t like a gooey French toast.  If that’s your thing, then I’d suggest leaving them in there for 2-3 minutes.  I did a quick dip.

Add 2 or 3 slices of brioche (or as many that can fit in your pan) and cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until puffed and golden brown.  Transfer the French toast to a baking sheet and keep it warm in the oven.  Repeat with the remaining butter and bread slices.

Top with the macerated strawberries…or maple syrup…or powdered sugar.

A few months ago Adrianna and I attended a picnic hosted by fellow LA food blogger Joy the Baker. There were a hay bales on a rooftop. There were cupcakes. There were other fun food bloggers. There was Joy in an adorable pink dress. Overall, it was a good time.

So, when Adrianna and I heard that Joy was now part of On The Lamb, and would be popping up all over LA with more fun events, we got a little excited. When we heard the three lovely ladies would be at the fabulous Surfas, cooking up some strawberry recipes, we were salivating. Strawberries? Surfas? Free Samples? Where do we sign up?

I wish I had some photos of the demo to show you, but to be honest, we were a little too engrossed in what they were cooking to think of anything else, including taking photos. That, and we were a bit distracted by the woman next to us who thought it appropriate to talk on her cell phone during the demo. To the woman next to us – you were very nice, but please don’t distract me from the culinary goodness going on next time, okay? It might get ugly.

Despite unavoidable distractions, we still took a lot away from this demo. First off, I learned how to properly remove the top of a strawberry. See, you use a paring knife to simply cut out the white part, leaving all of the juicy red berry behind. I know, right? Simple things just seem like magic to me.

I learned how to make basil syrup. If you never try this drink, you should still make this syrup. It rocks my socks like no other. I put this stuff in my strawberry cocktails, my green iced tea, and in this really cute jar. All of these events brought me immense joy.

And of course, I learned how to make this drink. It’s refreshing, fruity and just barely sweet. Since the event was family friendly the version that we sampled was made with sparkling water, but I swapped that out for Prosecco and oh my lord, is this stuff good. Truly, I have no words. Except, thank you. Thanks On The Lamb, I’m definitely a big fan.

Strawberry Balsamic Basil Cocktail

Adapted from recipe by Whitney Adams of On The Lamb

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This recipe is very easy to customize based on your taste. If you prefer a stronger flavor of strawberry, basil or balsamic vinegar, feel free to play around with the amounts that you use. Also, the original recipe used Agave syrup, and I substituted sugar, so feel free to go either way. I promise, it will still taste good.

1 – 1 ½ cups chopped strawberries
1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
750 ml Prosecco sparkling wine or 3 cups sparkling water

Basil Syrup
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
4-5 basil stems
½ cup minced basil

To make the syrup, combine the sugar, water and basil stems in a small saucepan. Stirring frequently, bring the mixture to a simmer for about a minute, and then remove from heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then remove stems and add minced basil. Place in a jar or other airtight container and allow to cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours (overnight is best).

In a food processor combine the strawberries and balsamic vinegar and blend into a puree. In pitcher, combine chilled basil syrup and balsamic puree. Add in Prosecco and stir well before pouring into glasses. Serve over ice (preferably crushed).