Praline French Toast Casserole and Cheesy Southern Quiche with Country Ham

The Hubs and I decided that these two items would be perfect to serve for a birthday breakfast that we were having for my much older friend turning 35. We wanted to make something that we were sure that kids would like (since we have 7 between the two of us) and you just can't go wrong with a cheesy quiche and french toast, any style.

The verdict:

Wow. Wow. Did I say WOW!?


Y'all this French Toast Casserole was pure bliss. I can't even describe to you how wonderful it was. But I am gonna try.

First of all Let me just tell you the ingredients do not dissapoint, half and half, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, pecans, and two sticks of butter - just to name a few.

You start by making a divine custard mixture and then pour it over torn pieces of french bread. You let that bad baby set in the fridge overnight. Pretty typical of a baked bread casserole like this.

BUT WAIT...

There is more!

This is where it gets GOOD, real good.

There is this praline topping that you make out of the butter and brown sugar and and cinnamon and nutmeg. You spread (think: smear on like frosting) on top of the casserole and then bake until the most wonderful, deliciousness emerges from the oven.

Y'all it was a little crispy on the outside from the sugar caramelizing on the top, but then the bread had soaked up the custard mixture and made it moist and perfectly puffy on the inside. It had the perfect combination of flavor from the cinnamon, and nutmeg and the praline topping.


It was AMAZING!

As far as the quiche goes, it is definitely a great basic quiche recipe. I traveled to France as a nanny for several summers I have acquired a love of all things french. So I have made my fair share of quiche. I typically like to add fresh herbs, and combinations of cheeses and make them a little nontraditional. But this is a great recipe if you are looking for a no fail combination of flavor and texture. My friends kids love eggs and they could not get enough of this quiche. It definitely got the kid seal of approval.

And quiche is SO easy to make. You just have to keep a frozen pie crust on hand and some eggs. The rest of the ingredients you can experiment with. Bacon, spinach, ham, tomatoes, onion, sausage, all sorts of cheeses. Imagine the line up at a brunch omelet station - all of those ingredients are fabulous in a quiche. You really should try it.

I didn't make the homemade pie crust - gonna hold out on that
one for the sweet pies in this book.

torn bread in a buttered casserole begging for the custard to be poured on top

fresh grated nutmeg - do y'all have a "nut house"?

That little nutmeg grater is what I refer to as the "nut house". It stores the nutmeg on top and is one of my favorite kitchen tools. Probably has nothing to do with me feeling like I live in a nut house on some days, I am sure it is because it is just such a nifty tool!


Remember when I said - smear like frosting? Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about!

Beautiful! and oh so yummy.

So we served these two dishes up with some fresh fruit and they were the perfect menu items for a birthday brunch - kids included!


This weekend we have a little cold snap coming through. I am already trying to decide what's coming next. Chicken and Dumplings, Cure-All Chicken and Rice Soup, Fried Onion Soup?? What do you think?

NEW ADVENTURE UNDER THE MILLER BIG TOP

I recently got to cross something BIG off my bucket list! The hubs and I got to meet and have lunch with PAULA DEEN at the Metropolitan Cooking Show in Houston! Back in 2009 you may remember that I wrote here about how I love her laugh and that someday I hoped to meet her. She does not disappoint y'all!

It was a hoot. She had us in stitches and you know what surprised us - that her sweet "appears to be quiet on t.v. husband" was not quiet. Micheal was as funny as she was. The whole things was a dream.

I got to tell her that she was "my person". Out of all the celebrities in the world she is my gal.

Why? Well it definitely has something to do with that infectious laugh of hers. I love to laugh. Don't you? That laugh that gets you way down in the belly and if your lucky brings you to tears??! Man, if I laugh like that - it's a good day.

But mostly it is about who she is. She is a hardworking woman that loves her family, loves to cook, laugh, and live it up. Yeah, she uses A LOT of butter. But she loves her friends and family through those delicious recipes like no other!

She cares about leaving a legacy of the sights, sounds, taste, and smells that come from a kitchen of a woman that loves you. And it really doesn't matter where you are from or what size of kitchen you have, she shows you that you can love people through food. However, I think that anyone from the South (especially from Texas) has a one-up on the rest of the world in the hospitality department ;)

She told us about her new cookbook that was coming out and the luncheon was comprised of recipes from it. She told us of her hopes and dreams for this cookbook - that it would become a staple in kitchens for southern cooking. It was a dream y'all? Did I mention that already?

So, I pre ordered the cookbook. It came - signed. Oh yeah, be jealous. Now I have two cookbooks and a chef coat signed. Trinkets to treasure a beautiful memory.

I relished over the pages. Trying to decide what I was going to make first. How was I going to decide? So the hubs and I came up with a plan. We are going Julie & Julia style on this cookbook!! We are going to make and document every single recipe.

So to honor Paula and her beautiful new cookbook I am going to delve deep into the fabulous world of Southern Cookin' I plan on living it up in the kitchen with my super sous chef, The Hubs. I hope that we laugh so much that we mess up a recipe here or there because we are having so much fun - oh and also so that we burn off some of those extra calories the next few months may bring ;)

So y'all jump on board and join us in this journey!

Tomorrow we are starting with breakfast:

Praline French Toast Casserole

Cheesy Southern Quiche with Country Ham

I am so excited I am not sure I'll be able to sleep.

On the Pecos Texas Trail

We aren’t in a wagon, but we may as well be because we are in the Ford Fusion that apparently has transmission problems that my husband knew about but didn’t get fixed before a nine hour car drive… At some point our travel may require pushing the car or hanging out with the tumbleweeds on the side of the road until the tow truck shows up….grrr….

Besides the car revving up to 7000 RPM’s every half hour, it has actually been an unique situation that has lent itself to a great car ride. We are on the way to Granny’s funeral in Pecos Texas. It is about a nine hour drive and we are only going for three days so we decided to leave the kids with my parents. (I have the BEST parents and sister. They all jumped at the opportunity to take care of the kids and I don’t have to worry one bit about them. They are such a blessing!!) Since we don’t have kids in the car we actually get to talk and listen to music that does not involve nursery rhymes. We have rapped Jay Z style, enjoyed a little Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band style, and even listened to some Beastie throw back.

It is strange to be alone in the car this long with just Austin. It is so reminiscent of the old dating days. Goofy songs, great conversations, time to just be. We have been silly most of the drive and have laughed so hard that we have both cried. At one point I pulled out the flip camera to take some video of Austin documentary style – like I said really silly stuff.

In the midst of the silliness I look over at Austin and fall in love with him all over again. It’s a different love then the teenage love we had so long ago (yes we were high school sweethearts!) This love is a deeper stronger love that comes with admiring his strength, his hard work and his commitment to me and our family. A love that comes only with the trials and joys of three kids, tough life lessons, and time. He has endured such loss in his life and always has had an eternal perspective about it all.

His grandmother, Fanora Elizabeth Miller lived a great life. She and her husband left a beautiful legacy of hard work , love, determination, and LAUGHTER! Papa and Granny loved to laugh and so did Austin’s parents. I can only imagine the time they are all having in heaven! If there is an opportunity in heaven to laugh and play golf then they are all probably sad they didn’t get there sooner.

I believe that there are no coincidences. It is not mistake that Granny passed away when she did and that we are in a car alone on the Pecos Texas Trail. It is not happenstance. We may not ever know why some things happen. But I do know that I am going to embrace this time to fall deeper in love with my strong, faithful, courageous, kind, smart and FUNNY husband!

AND

I am going to accept the gift that I believe that a man and woman named Ronald and Fanora Miller are blessing us with today – time together to love and laugh.

Two things that they enjoyed and did very well.

What the Heck is that, Wednesdays!? (WTHIT)

I am thinking about starting a new game on Wednesdays called:

What the HECK is that?!

I will post a picture of an item that I found from places like -
under the couch cushions
behind the trashcan in the kids bathroom
under a car seat
at the bottom of my purse

OR like today, from behind a glider in our playroom...

I'll describe to you in as much detail as possible without making you hurl -- what the item looks like, smells like and feels like and you guess what you think it is.

Sound fun?

Well, what are you waiting for, let's begin!

As you can see this item is about the size of a quarter. There is some strange coating on the outside...



And If you look closely you can see teeth marks. Either it was edible at one time and was only partially eaten or was not edible and tossed to the side.

What is that yellow fluffly bit? Part of a feather from a princess outfit - of course.

This thing is rock hard. I mean, hard like no ones business. It could quite possibly be the rock that took Goliath down. It is THAT hard.

It has no smell.

I didn't lick it to see what it tasted like - if you would like to do so, I can arrange that.

I'm guessing that it was sticky at some point, hence the feather stuck to it.

So what's your guess?

Is it from a planet that sustains its inhabitants with the rocks of the land? Has Caleb been holding late night experiments in the playroom trying to find a solution to alternative energy sources? Did McKenna find a new bug that she has been taking care of and this is the cocoon?

I don't know!

Come on y'all give it your best shot.

What the heck is it!?

Salvation and Rice

Today Caleb and I had a date - lunch and a movie!

Such a treat to go to the movies during the day when there is nobody else there and I don't have two toddlers with me that have a hard time sitting through the whole thing.

La Madeline happened to be right next to the theater so that is what we decided on. La Madeline also happened to be the place that we always went to lunch with Granny when we visited.

Granny is 92 and is has become very ill this past week. Her health has taken a major downfall and will probably go to be with the Lord, her husband, and Austins parents very soon. We are so sad to see her go, she has lived a beautiful life and has been a crucial part of Austin's life.

Naturally the conversation came up about Granny while we were there. I asked Caleb if he knew where Granny was going to go when she died.

He told me that she was going to see Gramps in Heaven.

Easy enough. I just wanted to make sure he was prepared for what was about to come.

I told him that he was exactly right and Jesus would be waiting there to greet her.

He then asked me what happens when you are in heaven. Do you lie around with your eyes closed?

It is always so interesting what kids think by drawing natural conclusions. I explained to him that when you are in heaven you have no pain. You can only feel joy and God's love and your spirit is there although your body remains on this earth.

Then he says, so what if you don't go to heaven, where do you go?

I reply, hell.

Okay, so I believe in straight answers. Not over the top elaborate explanations, but if they ask then they deserve an answer. However, we have not specifically talked about hell before as it has not specifically come up. So this was new territory and I was definitely interested to see where he was going to go with this and how much he was going to ask.

So the questions start pouring out: what is hell? who goes there? who is the devil? what is hell like? is it red there? what does the devil look like? what is suffering?

I go through the explanation of heaven and hell and the gift of salvation that is offered to us. I try to explain to him the best I can in answers that he can understand. But man! By this point I was sweating in my tomato basil soup! So many questions! And so much information for a 5 year old to take in all at once. Who knew that God was going to use Granny in this way for me to minister to Caleb?!

I'm not going to lie... I definitely got some raised eyebrows from our neighbors during all this. I could tell they were picking up words like "hell" and "devil" and not quite sure what to think. Pretty heavy conversation for a lite light lunch at La Madeline with a five year old.

So I then asked Caleb if he had any more questions.

He looks right at me, picks up the salt shaker and says "Yeah mom. Why is there rice in here?"

Ok. Well then, I guess we are done with Heaven and Hell!

So we switch topics and start talking about humidity and how the rice absorbs the extra moisture.

Two very important topics - Salvation and Humidity.

Does anyone doubt that we live in Texas? ;)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25)

We've got a screamer!

And it's not who you think it is...

It's me.

In an attempt to maintain - or regain - or get a gosh darn sliver of control around here, I have done what I said I would never do.

I have turned into a mom that yells at and argues with her kids.

I hate to admit it, but its true. It doesn't happen every day, but I had a really bad day yesterday and yelled big time. My kids asked me why I was being mean. I went to bed in tears feeling like a failed.

I swore I would never be "that mom". Screaming doesn't accomplish anything, but it sure does seem natural when the scenario goes something like this:

I ask. They ignore. I ask again. They complain. I ask AGAIN. They throw a fit. I ASK AGAIN!!!

So this morning I got up and said - not today. I apologized to the kids and said it was wrong for me to yell. I told them I was going to try hard not to do it again. Instead I was going to ask one time and make sure they all understood what the expectation was. If they didn't follow there would be an immediate consequence. No second chance.

The choice was up to them.

Tonight while in the bathtub, I told them to make sure they do not splash any water outside of the tub.

I can assure you everyone heard me and it is something that I say EVERY night.

They took the container that we use to store the bath toys, filled it up with water and dumped it out on the tile - on purpose.

I calmly pulled the plug for the bathtub. Told them that bath time was over.

I took all their towels and used them to clean up the wet floor.

Then, I looked at them and said "I am sorry that you made that choice to disobey. There are not any more dry towels because I had to clean up your mess. You can go outside in the backyard and dry off."

It wasn't easy, and pretty much all hell broke loose (on their end), but I would bet that there would be no splashed bath water tomorrow.

Man, that feels better then arguing with them!

Mom - 1 Kids - 0

Cooked Cotton Balls

For those of you that don't know. I am homeschooling Caleb for Kindergarten this year. It has been fun, scary, exciting, & exhausting! The hardest part has been the time management of everything, the best part has been able to see his progress in reading. It is so exciting to be a part of that! I just love seeing how proud and (surprised sometimes) that he is with himself when he reads something that he doesn't think he could.

We have this amazing book store called Katy Budget Books and we like to go there and hang out and read. The sell used and new books and they have a great kids section. It really is a hidden treasure. There is nothing fancy about it, but they have a wonderful selection. You can take your used books there and get credit and then trade them for other books. It is really is a great place!

I found this great book called Magic Mixtures there for a dollar a while ago and it has pages after pages of creative recipes for finger paints, molding mixtures, and doughs.

We decided to make puff dough, because I have never heard of anything like it and we were interested to see what would happen.

Here is the recipe for "Puff Dough"

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 small bag of cotton balls - yep, cotton balls. I know, weird huh! I was pretty skeptical that we were going to make a mixture of the this and cook it!

First, you mix the flour and water together to make a really think paste. Start with half cup of water and add more.

Then coat the cotton balls with the paste. They tend to puff up and will remain puffed if you handle them gently.






Carefully life each cotton ball from the mixture, allowing the excess to drop off.


Form the cotton balls into desired shapes on a cookie sheet.

What did Caleb decide to make....? A Rocket Ship of course. Since, he is still insistent that he is going to be an astronaut when he grows up.





Cook in an over at 325 degrees for about an hour or until the shapes are lightly browned and hard to the touch.

When it cools it can be painted.



It was so interesting! I couldn't believe that you could cook cotton balls and it was really hard and sturdy after it dried. It was definitely one we would do again!