Pin #22 & #23 Coconut French Toast to DIE for!

So, I’ve pretty much decided that the best opportunity to socialize with other families (kids and adults) is weekend brunch.  The fact that we love getting our kids off to bed before 7:30pm and now live 30 minutes away from most of our friends, family dinners are just a melt down waiting to happen.  So, along with the fact that with brunch comes  the best of both savory and sweet offerings, we love to host and attend brunch dates with our friends.

Recently we hosted our good friends for a wonderful brunch and had the best time, and enjoyed some pretty amazing food too! I had made this recipe last spring and have been dreaming of it ever since!  This Blender French Toast with Coconut Syrup is to die for! It truly makes you feel like you are on a beach some place being served from a decadent overpriced resort menu.

The french toast couldn’t be easier.  Eggs, milk, vanilla and flour blended.  Then the syrup is buttermilk, butter, sugar and at the end some baking soda and coconut extract.  (Click on the picture below to find the exact recipe, you won’t be sorry!) AMAZING!  Both times I’ve used challah bread and sourdough, this is also key to the experience.

Pin #21 Blender French Toast with Coconut Syrup

The syrup – yes that is glorious butter!

Coconut Extract

Challah!!!!!!!

Also featured at this brunch was bacon cooked in the oven on parchment paper as seen on Martha Stewart’s website and of course, all over Pinterest.  This was something I saw on Pinterest pretty early on and have started cooking bacon this way almost every time I make it.  When we left our last house I was shocked when I found how far reaching bacon grease was when we did the kitchen deep clean.  (I’ll spare you the embarrassing details).  I vowed never to make, or allow others to make, bacon on the stove top again!

Pin #22 Easy Clean up Oven Bacon – by Martha Stewart

Now, I haven’t quite gotten the easy clean up part of this yet.  If you make your parchment paper too small, the grease just leaks into your pan anyway.  If you do a little extra parchment all around it makes kind of a boat to keep all the grease.  Then you just take your bacon off, I put it on a paper towel to get off all the extra grease, and then let the grease harden on the parchment paper and throw it out.  If you can master the perfect ‘boat’ you shouldn’t be cleaning grease off your pan.  (I’m still working on this part – but I can see it in my future). Also, it comes out super crispy and delicious.  One other thing I noticed while cooking bacon this way, there was once a time I had ripped the parchment paper and one slice of bacon was half on the paper, half on the actual pan.  The side that was half off was totally burned, so I think the parchment not only helps keep your pan clean(er), it also helps cook the bacon evenly.

yes, that is two pans of bacon…count them

Try this recipe, you won’t regret it, it will change your life.

23 down….77 to go!