Baked French Toast Casserole

This recipe is DEADLY and DELICIOUS! It's a Paula Deen dish... so eaters beware! I've tried making this with 1/2 the eggs, milk, and half-n-half. It's good that way, too -- a little less bread pudding, a little more french toast. I also HIGHLY recommend adding a huge dollop of fresh whipped cream on top with maple syrup. Delicious!

Casserole:

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the casserole and bake for 40-60 minutes (it turns out differently every time for me -- just watch it), until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping: 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1 cup chopped pecans 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Use entire mixture to cover french toast casserole.

Sweet Sushi

Something's fishy about this sushi -- maybe because the only fish in it comes from the candy aisle!

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Pound cake, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
White frosting
Fruit leather (we used FruitaBü Organic Smoooshed Grape Fruit Twirls)
Flaked coconut
An assortment of candies and jellies for sweet toppings and sushi sides

1. Sushi bases: For rolls, use a knife to cut 1 1/2-inch circles from a slice of cake. Frost the tops of the circles, then wrap a 6-inch strip of fruit leather seaweed around each one, using a dab of frosting to secure it. Press coconut rice into the frosting. For individual sushi, cut a cake slice into rectangles and round the edges, as shown. Frost the top and sides of each oval, then roll it in coconut.

2. Sweet toppings: From left to right, starting with the top row, we used orange nonpareils, apricot preserves, and pieces of Twizzlers Rainbow Twists. In the middle row, we used a green gumdrop slice, diced Swedish Fish, and gumdrop wedges. On the bottom row, we topped the sushi base with a Swedish Fish, then wrapped it with a strip of fruit leather.

3. Sushi sides: To make wasabi, warm a green Starburst candy in the microwave for 10 seconds, then use your hands to work it into a mound. For pickled ginger, microwave and flatten an orange Starburst candy, then bunch it up into a pile, as shown.

Recipe from Family Fun.

Yummy Tea Party Scones

These are the best scones for Tea parties that I have found!! And so EASY!! ~Mindy

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
Course sugar for top of scones
In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened.
Separate dough into 12 circles and coat with course sugar.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.

Orange and Arugula Salad with Marmalade Dressing

Mindy Powell
Adapted from Rachael Ray show

1 tablespoon orange marmalade
1 lemon (juice and zest)
3 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 oranges, skin and white outer pith removed, then sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
5 cups arugula (or mixed fancy greens)
Whisk together the marmalade, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, and EVOO. I let people make their own salad by arrange arugula and orange discs on plate and drizzle with dressing.

Broccoli & Cheese Quiche

Mindy Powell

1 pie crust (frozen or refrigerated)
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped broccoli thawed (I freeze my own or you can use frozen from store)
4 eggs
1 cup cream
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 t Italian Seasoning or 1 T fresh herbs
Preheat oven to 400°F. Let frozen pie crust thaw while preheating oven and then cook for ten minutes. Remove from oven and turn oven to 375°F. Sprinkle half of the cheese evenly onto bottom of crust and top with broccoli. Beat eggs, cream, milk and seasonings until well blended; pour over ingredients in crust. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 45 minutes and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Cauliflower Pasta

Mindy Powell
Adapted from Rachael Ray

8 T butter
1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
1 pound linguine
10 fresh sage leaves or ½ teaspoon dried sage
2 T fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 T minced garlic
¾ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

½ cup breadcrumbs & more Parmesan to serve at the table

Boil large pot of water for pasta. In a large skillet, melt 2 T butter over medium-low heat. Add cauliflower florets and 1/4 teaspoon salt and sauté for 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water; cook until cauliflower is tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 5 minutes. Cook linguine in salted boiling water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.
In pasta pot, melt remaining 6 T butter over medium heat. Stir in sage, thyme, and garlic; cook until butter is golden brown, 3 minutes. Add pasta, cauliflower, parsley, and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and add reserved cooking water if pasta seems dry. To serve, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and more Parmesan.

Spring & Summer Ziti

Mindy Powell Family
Adapted from Rachael Ray

2 T EVOO
1 T onion flakes
3 large garlic cloves minced
2 14 oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 T Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
10-12 leaves fresh basil, thinly sliced
1 pound ziti with lines
1 pound thin asparagus (trimmed and chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces on an angle)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano cheese
½ pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil to cook the pasta. While the water is coming to a boil, sauté the onion flakes and garlic with 2 T EVOO over medium heat. Stir in tomatoes and crush them with a potato masher. Season the sauce with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to your taste. Cook five minutes more then stir in basil and turn off heat.
While sauce is simmering, add salt to boiling water and cook the pasta to just under al dente – it should have a nice bite left to it. After the pasta has been cooking for 5 minutes, add in the asparagus. Add frozen peas a minute before draining. Drain pasta and veggies, reserve ½ cup of the starchy pasta water. Add ricotta and half the Parmigiano cheese to the hot pasta pot. Add the hot pasta and veggies back to the pot and stir to coat evenly. Add the pasta water.
Pour half the sauce into a large baking dish. Add all of the ziti to the dish and top with remaining sauce. Dot the top of the ziti with mozzarella and remaining Parmigiano. Place in oven until top is brown and bubbly, about 12 minutes.