"Working" Vacation

Last weekend Shannon and I ventured out on our bi-annual (is that every other year or twice a year, because I mean every other year) road trip to Georgia with the little crazies. Yes, it IS 14 hours in a car with 2 little girls BUT it isn't 17 hours in a car with a toddler and infant (which is what is was two years ago!). And, because we get to spend three fun-filled days with Aunt Tara and Uncle Jamie, it's totally worth it! Even though the weather was very un-Georgia like (in the 40s!!!!) we found (well, Tara found) lots of fun things to do. Friday was a late pancake breakfast, the park, where we fed hundreds of little gold fish that literally swam into our hands, and a trip to the American Girl Doll store where we oohed and ahhed over all the beautiful dolls and clothes, talked about the dolls we have and mourned the tragic and horrible death of Addie - trust me, if you don't know the story, you don't WANT to know! Tara made us a lovely dinner and we adults stayed up waayyy too late watching the Phillies and a movie. Saturday was just miserable, weather-wise, so after a trip to the Waffle House, we just hung around the house. Christin played with her new best friend, Kona, all day and Lindsey just kind of hung out with whoever would play with her at the moment. Uncle Jamie entertained the girls while Shannon, Tara and I, well, I can't really say what we did and hopefully, no one will ever see any evidence of it, but it was a fun, free, laugh-filled way of killing 4 hours! Saturday evening, I put together a recipe I have now made 3 times: French Toast Casserole by Joelle Arsenault. Joelle is an awesome person with awesomer kids! I will write about them (and her husband) more when I make their recipes, but for now, I should just say that Joelle is the coolest home-schooling mom you will ever meet. You will never catch her with a bun in her hair or roller-skating in a skirt! But the most special thing about Joelle is her undying loyalty. I love her sooo much and appreciate her friendship even more than I appreciate her french toast casserole (and that's saying a lot!). It's a sinfully delicious breakfast that you make the night before and put in the oven in the morning. As I said, this was the third time I made it and it was just slightly disappointing this time. I think I over-cooked it the first two times and took it out at exactly forty minutes this time. It was a little 'mushy' for me, so if you like your french toast on the firm side, you'll want to add 5 minutes or so to the bake time. Here is the recipe:
French Toast Casserole
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 Granny Smith apples
1 loaf of Italian or French bread
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 T. pure vanilla extract
Combine brown sugar, butter and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Add apple. Toss to coat well. Spreand apple mixture evenly on the bottom of baking dish. Arrange bread (cut into 1 inch slices) on top of apple mixture. Mix eggs, vanilla and remaining 2 tsp. cinnamon until well blended. Pour over the bread, soaking the bread completely. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Bake covered in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 additional minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings.


Because it was our goal to gain a minimum of 5 pounds over the weekend, we finished off Sunday by having a late night dip and fondue party. I made Kathy Fiola's Hot Artichoke Spinach Cheese Dip from the book, but substituted SO many ingredients, I'm not sure you can call it the same recipe. Here is the recipe as published with the many, MANY alterations in blue.
Hot Artichoke Spinach Cheese Dip
1 jar (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained
2/3 cup parmesan cheese ( I don't think there was even 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream (nope!)
1 cup shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese (did this mean 1 cup of each? We didn't have any mozzarella and weren't sure so, we just put in the whole 2 cup bag of cheddar!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish. Place artichokes, parmesan cheese, and garlic in a small bowl and pulse with handheld stick mixer (huh? Pulse? Stick mixer? We had no idea what this meant.) until chopped but not ground. Set aside. In medium bowl, mix together with spinach, cream, sour cream (or 1/4 cup or so of cream cheese out of desperation) and shredded cheese. Stir in artichoke mixture. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Bake for 20-25 min. or until cheese is melted and bubbly.


Believe it or not, it was quite tasty! We scooped it up with some funky little bread, cracker....okay, I really have no recollection of what we used. Tara?


Since our return from the land of cotton, I have had a cold and sore throat, so no cooking going on here! However, next week I'm sure to be back on track and venturing out on some new culinary quests!


Oh, and GO PHILLIES!!! :-)