French Toast Flavored with Triple Sec

There’s nothing like getting up early in the morning and cracking eggs for French toast, right?  It’s a thing that is usually reserved for an occasional weekend morning here.  The “kids” were all here for breakfast Christmas morning and this was what I made along with plenty of bacon and sausage, and forgot the pictures.

This is not “eggy” and not soggy either.  I added a little Triple Sec to flavor it up along with vanilla extract.  I usually make it with Texas Toast ~ not toasted as the name implies.  Stale bread works best.  You can fry it in melted butter but I usually put it on the griddle and save some calories. Either way, it has a crispy exterior with a creamy interior.

It melts in your mouth and is perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch!

French Toast Flavored with Triple Sec

Ingredients:

8 slices bread, stale 

3 eggs

1 cup milk

¼ cup Triple Sec

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

Butter for frying, optional

Method:

Beat eggs and add milk.

Whisk in Triple Sec, vanilla and salt.

Dip bread in egg mixture and place on hot griddle or fry in melted butter in a skillet on medium heat a minute or two until golden brown.

Serve

Yum!!!

Do you like your French toast with syrup, powdered sugar or both?

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Ultimate Thanksgiving Stuffing

We may talk turkey at the Thanksgiving table but, what we really crave is stuffing or dressing, as I grew up calling it.  No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without a great stuffing.  It is definitely my favorite part of the dinner.

The recipe is an adapted Chicago Tribune recipe and is a re-post from when I first started this blog ~ I want to share it again as it is the absolute best stuffing that my family and I love. It has honors as our traditional stuffing.  By adding Italian sausage, apples, pecans and Triple Sec, it is a moist and flavorful stuffing ~ distinctive from all others.

Just one bite of this delicious stuffing will be enough for a chorus of “aahs” around the dinner table – it’s that good!  Give it a try and it could be your traditional stuffing!

It is incredibly delicious, the ultimate stuffing!

Just one bite of this delicious stuffing will be enough for a chorus of “aahs” around the dinner table --- it’s that good! 

The Ultimate Stuffing w/Dried Cherries and Apples

Servings: 8

This is truly the ultimate stuffing. It's always a favorite on our Thanksgiving table along with the turkey! It's delicious!

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 2 cups chopped celery, with leaves
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) package herb-seasoned bread stuffing mix
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 2 Honeycrisp apples - peeled, cored and chopped
• 2-3 cups chicken broth
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. In a large skillet, melt ½ cup butter over medium heat. Sauté the celery and onion in the butter for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2. Combine the stuffing mix with the celery and onion mixture.
3. Stir in the cherries and apples.
4. Mix in 2 cups chicken broth and egg; the stuffing should be totally moistened, if not, gradually add more broth.
5. Season with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper.
6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
7. Lightly butter a 15x10x2-inch baking dish.
8. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish.
9. Cover with buttered foil and bake until heated through, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
10. Uncover and bake until top is crisp, about 15 minutes.

Notes:

This stuffing can be made one day ahead. Refrigerate until ready to bake and add another 10 to 15 minutes baking time, until stuffing is heated through.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway!

MMMarvelous Coconut Margarita for Cinco de Mayo and a Happy Birthday to my cats!

I don’t know about you but Cinco de Mayo means time for my favorite cocktail.

Restaurants around here have a long list of margaritas.  There are different tequilas and different mixers all ending up in a zingy cocktail.  It’s the perfect drink for summer, festivals, parties, happy hour and Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo not only commemorates the Mexican Army’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, it is also the 6^th birthday of our two cats, Minnie and Moocher! 

We adopted them from a rescue shelter when they were 6 weeks old.  Minnie is feisty with a mind of her own and Moocher is laid-back and affectionate, contrary to what some people in this family think; you know who you are! 

That's Minnie on the left and Moocher yawning.

This is not the same old margarita ~ the ones with strawberry, lime or banana.  This margarita is shaken up a bit with the subtle taste of coconut. 

Minnie and Moocher will be diving into a can of tuna while I enjoy a Coconut Margarita.  Here’s the recipe:

Coconut Margarita

Ingredients:

4 cups ice

4 teaspoons Coco Lopez, Cream of Coconut

8 ounces pineapple juice

4 ounces tequila

8 ounces Sweet & Sour mix

2 ounces Triple Sec or other orange liqueur

Lime wedges

Sugar or toasted coconut

Method:

Place ice in blender and add remaining ingredients except for lime wedges ans sugar. 

Blend until slushy.

Add more ice for a thicker margarita.

Rub rims of glasses with lime wedges.

Dip rims in sugar or toasted coconut

Pour margaritas.

Sip and enjoy!

Makes about 4 margaritas.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo amigos!

¡Feliz cumpleaños Minnie and Moocher!

Strawberry Daiquiris for Your Valentine

 

We all know that cards, candy, flowers, and a gourmet meal, or maybe a table reserved at your local White Castle,  finishing with a fantastic dessert are the customary things on Valentine’s Day.   However, how about surprising your Valentine with a sinfully soothing cocktail at the end of a perfect day? 

Daiquiris always include rum, sugar and lime or lemon juice, but they can also have other typed of liquor, such as tequila.

STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRIS

Ingredients:

2 ½ ounces light rum

1 ounce lime juice

½ ounce Triple Sec

½ teaspoon superfine sugar

1 cup ice

5 strawberries

Strawberries for garnish

Method:

Mix all ingredients in a blender for about ½ minute at high speed until smooth.  Pour into a tall glass and garnish with strawberry.

Serves 2

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU!

Ultimate Thanksgiving Stuffing

The First Thanksgiving

Jean Louis Gerome Ferris

We may talk turkey at the Thanksgiving table but, what we really crave is stuffing or dressing, as I grew up calling it.  No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without a great stuffing.  It is definitely my favorite part of the dinner and we all have our favorite stuffing, for sure! 

This recipe is adapted from a Chicago Tribune recipe.  Just one bite of this delicious stuffing will be enough for a chorus of “aahs” around the dinner table – it’s that good!  It is the absolute best stuffing and my family loves it. It has honors as our family traditional stuffing.  By adding Italian sausage, apples, pecans and Triple Sec, it is a moist and flavorful stuffing, distinctive from all others.

Stuffing is definitely the soul of Thanksgiving and this is by far the ultimate!  Just give it a try and it could be your traditional stuffing!

Ultimate Thanksgiving Stuffing

Ingredients:

1½ cups dried cherries, or golden raisins*

1½ cups orange liqueur (I use Triple Sec)

½ cup butter

2 cups celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 lb. Italian sausage, casing removed

1-16 oz. package stuffing mix

1 cup pecans, chopped

4 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and chopped

½ cup butter, melted

2 cups water or chicken broth

1 t. ground sage

Salt & pepper, to taste

Method:

Place cherries in a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup of orange liqueur. 

Bring to a boil, remove from heat and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt ½ c. butter over medium heat.  Saute the celery and onion for about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Using the same skillet, cook the sausage until crumbled and brown.  Drain.

Combine the sausage and stuffing mix with the celery and onion mixture.

Stir in the cherries and liqueur mixture, pecans and apples.

Mix in melted butter, water, ½ cup orange liqueur. 

The stuffing should be completely moistened.

Season with sage, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter a 15" x 10” baking dish well.

Place stuffing in prepared dish.

Cover with buttered foil and bake till heated through, about 1 hour.

Uncover and bake until top is crisp, about 15 minutes

8-10 servings. 

* Use any mixture of dried fruit you like:  cherries, cranberries, raisins, dates, etc.

It is incredibly delicious, the ultimate stuffing!