Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Category: Food & Recipes

yum yum!

pecans & butter: overnight french toast

spiceopolis' pecan over-night french toast The second I saw this picture (via caitlin’s pin), I knew it had to be made as soon as possible. I’ve never tried an overnight French toast, though I had been able to hear a chorus of angels in my head singing its praises from afar for quite some time. French toast has always been my favorite “special” breakfast… I never make it too sweet, & I always favor yogurt or applesauce over syrup. It leaves you feeling less weighed down than pancakes or waffles, and it’s so simple to whip up.

Spiceopolis’s recipe, Pecan Over-Night French Toast, called for ingredients that are all already in most cupboards. Add that to the fact that you can do all the hard parts of this breakfast the night before, and we’re all set. I used a hodge-podge of different breads… a wholesome wheat bread, a few Italian heels, even a chopped up sub roll. That’s another attribute of French toast that makes it even easier to love.

Granted, my whole “not sweet” tendency was quickly overridden by the heaps of brown sugar and dollops of Karo syrup called for in the recipe. But sometimes dessert breakfasts are a good thing. :)

pecan overnight french toast

My picture isn’t nearly as pretty as hers, but I think you can still tell… this stuff is amazing. I have a good feeling about this weekend, and the chorus of angels in my head is now very loudly proclaiming the glory of overnight French toast. We’re off to a good start.

happy happenings

rainbow plaid pj shorts

I made rainbow plaid pj shorts in less than two hours today… there’s nothing quite like homemade pajama bottoms. They take no time or effort, they fit no matter how they come out, and they always feel so much comfier than anything storebought. Such instant gratification!

rainbow plaid shorts with hanging loop

Since I can never tell front from back when I’m slipping on my homemade pjs, I added this nifty ribbon loop. Not only will I never put them on backwards, but I can hang them up! I’m very excited about this.

blackberry tartlets

On Thursday evening I picked the first full batch of blackberries this season. They’re so perfect when they come right in from the backyard, mmm. After a few nibbles it was blackberry baking time!

blackberry tartlets

These are mini blackberry custard tartlets, based loosely off a lemon curd tartlet recipe. It starts with a simple pie crust, rolled out and cut into circles then pressed into a muffin tin. The custard called for “farmer’s cheese”, a European thing… I used cottage cheese then blended the whole thing when I was done. Since I had neither lemon curd nor real lemons on hand, I poured a bit of lemon juice into the custard to make it taste less like, well, nothing. The lemon flavor wasn’t noticeable in the finished product, but I’m convinced it added something.

What made these super awesome was my blackberry treatment beforehand. Prior to starting any of the mixing, I tossed my blackberries in a bowl with some lemon juice and a decent sprinkling of sugar and let them sit as I worked. The soaked-in sweetness is an obvious plus to the finished dessert. I’m definitely going to be making these again!

beautiful back to school shoes

And yesterday I bought these beautiful shoes for back to school. I’m not going to wear them until I get to Cleveland, so they’ll stay white for the rest of the summer (and get dirty instantly come August 15). It’s been a bright and happy weekend!

grapefruit marmalade: a delicious success

grapefruit marmalade toast

Tart, tangy, a little bit sour with a little bit sweet… and the texture’s just right, too. The grapefruit marmalade has fulfilled all requirements of its name! I’m just thrilled I didn’t spend my two hours of grapefruit-watching for nothing. Now I’ve got 6 and a half cans of the stuff… all of which should last for at least a year! Hurray, canning!

grapefruit marmalade jars

Once again, I’ll link to the recipe. I also used this canning guide along with this orange marmalade recipe to figure out all the preservation business.

My advice? Buy jar tongs (like these) because they look like they’d make life a lot simpler around all that boiling water. And expect plenty of cleanup time… by the time my jars were out and cooling, the entire kitchen was covered in sticky grapefruit. Oh, and instead of chopping up all of the steaming hot grapefruit by hand, I sliced it then gave it a few pulses in the blender. (make sure it cools down first, though! hot things + blender = bad news!) That was way easier than slicing squishy grapefruit, especially since I didn’t want big chunks of peel floating in my jam.

I still can’t believe I made something that tastes like real marmalade. That was fun.