Challah French Toast

One perk of this shift change is that I get a day off during the week. They usually give me Wednesday off, but it changed to Tuesday this week. With this day off, I get to do all the things I can't because I'm stuck at work, and by the time I get out most things are closed. For example, I get to go to the post office to send back this calendar I never ordered; I can go to Tuesday Morning and buy all the Wilton closeout items; and I can make meals I am normally too tired to make when I get home.

Although today's breakfast was all M's doing. This baking class has turned me into a bread making machine and all he asks is that I make a decent sandwich bread. I've tinkered with a few recipes, but I am sticking with the one that is in the textbook (sorry Bread Bible, yours no matter how many times I tried, never came out right). I am also sticking to the challah recipe in my textbook, but the way they explain how to braid the dough is not clear... at least to me. It took a couple of tries, but we figured it out, and I managed a decent looking four braided loaf.

I could have just eaten it toasted with butter and jam, but French toast is really the way to go with this bread. I don't know what M's egg and cream ratio was, but it was heavy on the cinnamon and delicious. The bread slices were on the thick side, which I prefer so that it doesn't sop up too much of the egg/cream mixture (it's my egg aversion... I can't help it)

Why use a spatula when you have hands?

The only one who didn't get to nosh on the toast was Stella. Poor girl. 

Breakfast Fried Rice

 

 

I had just whipped up this dish and doled them out into our dishes when M asked the question that's been on my mind lately.

 

"So... what about your blog?"

 

Yes, what about it? The old me would have been snapping pictures the whole time. Current me wasn't even thinking about it. So I went to the other room to get my phone and took this. No overthinking it, just took the picture.

 

This has happened before, the lost of interest. Life gets in the way... the process of combining photos and words into something worth posting has turned into this tedious thing and nowadays I don't want that. I have been both very busy and very lazy. The busy I can't always control, but the lazy I definitely can. So I'm making the effort now... call it one of my resolutions for the year. Even if I'm writing for no one else but myself, at least I'm doing something.

 

So, this is what I made for breakfast yesterday. I had leftover white rice from one of my more recent take out orders, and black rice I cooked up the night before to accompany the disastarous pollock dish I made for dinner (apparently the house still smells like fish... and so does my jacket. Sorry co-workers). Heated up a frying pan with sesame oil and threw in some chopped garlic (about 6 cloves). Cooked one medium heat until it started to brown and added the rice. Tossed well to distribute the garlic, and prevent it from burning. Splash of Maggi, generous sprinkle of black pepper, and a hanful of chopped scallions. I was thinking about adding some egg, but I didn't think it needed anymore filler. M disagrees, but eh. He should cook it next time.

 

 

Shocked

I got to work a few minutes earlier than usual, so I decided I would hit up McDo for a coffee and something fattening.

It used to be that any sized coffee was a buck. This was pretty much the reason I've gone there so much - decent enough coffee for cheap bastards like myself.

But that's over. My large coffee turned out to be $1.49.

When the hell did that happen?!?

Not that it's that big of a deal, but it is at least pushing me to start making coffee again at home. Or not... I heard they'll be opening up a Starbucks here at work.

Whatever the case may be, someone's getting my hard earned dough.

A Little Too Eggy

M and I had breakfast at a local diner that shall remain nameless. He ordered eggs, toast, and home fries; I got french toast and an order of fries. About two cups of coffee later, our meal arrived.

Um… this is french toast?

Mind you, it hit the spot. Butter, syrup… the works. Quickly gobbled down. But it was just too… egg heavy. Doesn’t it look more like three square omelets than bread? Eh, shouldn’t complain. Good and cheap are always acceptable, no matter what it looks like.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Oh yeah… this is how my family rolls.

Woke up this morning and in typical fashion I was STARVING. My dad mentioned picking up breakfast, but gave up after my sister, mom, and myself asked him the same question. Maybe it’s just us, but when someone asks “What do you want to eat?” we answer with “Where are you going?” A fair enough question, amirite?

To quell the situation I headed over to the closest bagel shop and got sandwiches for all of us – whole wheat bagel with veggie cream cheese; plain bagel with lox cream cheese; hobo on an egg bagel; and a buttered hard roll. Okay, so the buttered roll isn’t really a sandwich but whatever.

Now That’s Yellow

Hard boiled egg from the cafeteria. Perhaps all the other eggs I’ve eaten before were on the muted side, but this one the yolk just popped out at me. It’s an Eggland’s Best egg.

I wonder how bright the yolks are on the local eggs?

Popular Foods of 2012: French Toast

So now is the time for the "best of's," looking back on all that was in the twentytwelve. I thought good and hard about doing one, but to be honest... I couldn't think of many highlights for this blog.

I got published.

I made some crazy cupcakes.

I got freakin' published!

Okay. There was my blog recap. Could have been better, sure... but meh. 

Anyways, in regards to the french toast. It has been my go-to breakfast option at work lately. In fact, I ordered it for two weeks straight. At both sites. It's just too good to pass up. Yes... chock full of calories and bad for my thighs, but it's the end of the year. I'm allowed to indulge.

A Festively Fine Failure

First off, for those of you whole celebrate it, Merry Christmas.

To the rest of you, I hope you're enjoying the day off.

M and I are both working - M as his holiday shift, and I'm on call. There are gifts to finish up, packages to be wrapped. The house needs to be cleaned up since we'll be having company next week.

I offered to make M an omelette while he took reign of the gift wrapping duties. Four eggs, what was left of the half & half, a package of mushrooms that were sauteed in olive oil the night before, and a good handful of finely shredded mild cheddar from Trader Joe's.  I didn't do a very good job of spreading out the mushrooms and cheese, which made for flipping this monster of a thing quite difficult. As you can see, it fell apart not once... but three times. And because there was just so much of it, it didn't completely cook all the way through. So it was a tad runny. But M didn't complain, he ate the thing like a champ.

I'm not really an egg person, so I did not partake. But it smelled tasty enough.

Sushi With Your Bagel & Schmear?

Spotting this on a quick visit home. I was heading into the city and decided to grab some coffee and a sandwich. I ordered an egg and cheese on a hard roll... which I never ate. Kind of forgot about it. Coffee was eh, adequate. But what really drew me in was the sushi. Well, the sign anyways.

They serve sushi! According to my dad it's a recent thing. 

Haven't tried it yet. And to be honest, I don't have high hopes for it. Come on... it's a bagel shop.

Carbs & Fat = Wonderful

Don't hate. It really hit the spot this morning during my fifteen break.

Breakfasting on Wheels

I was on a good streak there, exercising. But a majority of the summer I've been busy until the late evening so working out just had to wait. Then came that nasty humid weather, or the downpours on the weekends that got in the way of healthy activities.

But I did it. I got back on the bike and enjoyed the nice weather. I really wanted to bike out to Rotterdam, but I ran out of time. Settled on twenty miles. A good number and I got to do some uphill work - and failed.

Must say I really like the crunchy peanut butter Clif bar. Going to have to remember to buy more of those.

Blueberry Pancakes

I love how some of the berries just ooze when they cook.

This Is Not A Hobo

One of the rare times I get breakfast at work. It started off as an egg and cheese on a hard roll. But then I spied home fries, and thought, why not? Not necessarily a hobo, but it would be hobo-like in nature. And it's not as if it's all that hard to make. You just throw them on there while the eggs are cooking. 

So I asked if they could add some home fries on it. The grill lady gave me a funny look before saying okay. Then someone came over and decided to help with grill duties. Made up my sandwich and handed it over to me, potato-less. "Ummm..."

"No, she wants home fries on top of it."

"What?"

"Yeah." Looks are exchanged, and the second helper went back to the grill to make that above.

Really? I asked for something pretty easy. I didn't ask for an omlette made with egg scramblers, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, and turkey bacon all on multi-grain toast. Just some home fries thrown into my egg and cheese sandwich.

"Umm..." The girl at the register doesn't know what to make of this either.

"The home fries are supposed to be inside the sandwich."

"Oh!" Buttons were pushed and I paid for my meal.

The Hobo Sandwich

So there was all that talk recently about the egg and cheese sandwich. Hell, there was even a tour, which I sadly could not attend.

And while I do enjoy the occasional ECS, it is not my favorite breakfast sandwich. But it’s almost there. Almost.

It just needs a little spud love.

Healthy Beginnings

So I’ve started to take steps to be healthier. I got a membership at a local center and have been running/swimming/loosely hitting the weight room. I’ve also been eating oatmeal in the mornings – I’ve remedied that stale steel oat issue and bought a few pounds of oats from Honest Weight. I also picked this up, since it was on sale. I’m not really a cereal person, and hot cereal… well, doesn’t sound all that appealing. But it’s healthy, so why not, give it a go.

Cooking is a snap. There are directions, but I don’t really follow them. Mix enough water with the oats to your liking and cook in the microwave. I usually set cook time for two minutes, but there’s a lot of pausing to stir the oatmeal and prevent it for spilling out of the bowl. Sprinkle some brown sugar and allow it to cool down enough so it doesn’t burn your mouth.

It’s not bad, and surprisingly very filling. I’ve been eating this in the early afternoons, when work slows down a bit. And since it is winter, warm food is always a good thing.

Stewart's Buttered Roll

So there was a discussion on Twitter recently about the buttered roll. One person in particular didn't understand what the big deal was and why people could eat such a thing.

Why? Why the hell not? 

It's bread and butter, conveniently put together and in grabbing distance as you pay for your morning coffee. And it really isn't an upstate thing, nor is it really a New York thing. I've bought these at Stewart's here in the Capital Region; 7-Eleven in New Jersey, Maryland, DC; Wawa in Southern Jersey; and Sheetz in Western PA. Hell, I bought buttered rolls in a tiny hotel shop in Hawaii! I've bought these at gas stations, bodegas, the corner food cart. You don't buy it because it's flavorful. You buy them because it's cheap, portable, and tides you over until you actually eat.

Okay, I'm done complaining. 

Anyways, I went to Stewart's this morning on the way to work to pick up some ice cream for a party (Crumbs Along the Mohawk, on sale this week for $3.19). I poured myself a large coffee and there they were... the buttered rolls. But there was more... much more. Peanut butter rolls! Peanut butter and jelly rolls! Plain rolls you can toast and then butter! And bagels with the same options, but I didn't really pay much attention to those since the hoopla was all about the rolls. I grabbed a roll and scooted over to the cashier. Paid for my food and went on my way. I put my coffee and roll in the staff lounge to eat once I got settled at work. This was about 9AM. When did I finally get around to eating that roll? When I got home, which was about 6PM. Bread didn't taste stale, butter I'm guessing was salted. 

Whatever, still hit the spot.

Stale Steel

I’m a mess today. Woke up hours ago because of some sharp pains to my thigh. Not that you really need to know, but the pain is anterior-lateral is occurs when sitting down or getting up. Abduction or adduction is possible, but not without me almost crying. Most likely this is all muscle related, and the sensible thing would be to just rest.

Sensible thing.

Instead, I’ve been hobbling around the kitchen and living room, packing my pool bag and getting something in my stomach so I can take a pain reliever. I went swimming last night, and there is a good possibility that session aggravated this problem even more. But I paid this membership off and I intend on using it as much as possible.

Since I was up, I decided I should have something more than several cups of coffee (I’m in my crazy coffee drinking phase again). It was still dark, and the heat wasn’t going to kick in for at least another hour. So oatmeal was the only answer. But not the instant stuff I have laying around in the pantry, but steel cut oats.

It’s not add-some-water-and-zap-in-the-microwave quick, but cooking steel cut oats is not hard, nor does it take all that long. Bring three cups of water to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add in a cup of oats and cook on low for 20 minutes or so. Cooking directions may vary depending on your brand, but that is really all there is to it. I added brown sugar to the mix, hence the brown tinge to the oatmeal. Smelled wonderful.

But then came that first bite. The oats had some give, which I like, and it was lightly sweetened. But it was stale. There’s no amount of toppings to cover that stale taste – it just coats the inside of your mouth.

Just how long have I had this stuff sitting around? I took a look at the expiration date on the bag, and hello! Use by date was a date last year.

Whoops.

I really need to clean out that pantry.

Salted Egg and Tomato Salad

Of course, for every fried food there must be a salty accompaniment. And while it may not be all that salty, it is salty nonetheless. You can purchase salted eggs at the Asian market, or you can make them yourself. Normally my dad makes them, but the ones here are store bought.

It's kind of weird - the sweetness of the tomato mingled with the salty egg and then you get that creamy yet grainy texture from the egg yolk. I swear I can taste shrimp paste, but my dad usually says it's "all in my head."

Making this salad is simple enough, dice the tomato and cooked salted eggs. Toss. Eat with any fried food you may have laying around, or on its own... it is a salad, after all.

posted from Bloggeroid

Chicken Fried Pork

A welcome surprise after all that snow. I hope there's some rice.

posted from Bloggeroid

Baked French Toast

We had a breakfast buffet at work a couple of weeks ago. At first I wasn’t going to bring anything in, but I was kinda put on the spot about it and decided to make baked french toast. Really simple to make, especially since you do the majority of the work the night before. Baked it first thing in the morning, and it was still hot when I brought it in. And what do you know? Someone else brought BFT… and it was pretty much all gone by the time I got there.

Lesson learned – just give cash next time.