Nigella & My Daughter: Doughnut French Toast

Tonight is my baby girl's fifth birthday. Yes, I know if she's five she's not a baby. Tough. To me, she's the little just over 4 pound dynamo we brought home from the hospital who cried non-stop for oh, 10 months. Now she smiles most of the time and her stated goal most days is to be happy and dance. Who can argue with that?

We had a rather fun birthday weekend full of healthy food (I'm serious) so today, after a long day of work and childcare, what is the perfect thing to celebrate five years of smiling, dancing, and Barbie? Why, Nigella Lawson's Doughnut French Toast.

It is terrific. Run to your kitchen and make it now. It is the perfect foil for fruit, which we had in the form of two pints of strawberries pureed in the blender with a dash of powdered sugar and vanilla. Get it? Like the strawberry jam filling inside a sugar doughnut. It's just like Nigella made on this week's episode of Nigella Express. Even my son, who is a professed fruit-hater licked his plate.

Doughnut French Toast: Picture and recipe from Food TV.com

Alton Brown Does Bacon in a Waffle Iron!

Behold by clicking. Genius.

Not breakfast for MY kids

I'm always on the make for something new for the breakfast rotation here at Casa Latte, and came across this recipe and picture while surfing Food52.com.

Blueberry Almond Breakfast Polenta

Wow! Maybe someday if my kids are ever at somebody else's house for the night Monsieur and I will wake up in a most leisurely fashion. (6:45am, golly, would be sleeping late!) Whilst he lingers over the newspaper (whilst there are still newspapers) I will whip this up. Then we will go out for coffee. We will take bets how long it takes us to start talked about the kids again. I think once we made it a whole half hour.

THIS JUST IN: Lifehacker Coffee Shop

Hey, very cool round-up post from Lifehacker today with links to all the things you love to eat at your favorite coffee shop but are too lazy to get out of your pajamas to go get:

Lifehacker Cookbook: Homemade Coffee Shop Addictions (picture courtesy Lifehacker)

Another crazy day in Flu-ville

Image via Wikipedia

Oh, Ethel, bar the door. Cookies and scotch aren't going to get me through this flu season. It's OCTOBER, for crying out loud. There's no flowers in March to look forward to. No cherry blossoms. There's only more flu. February. It's MONTHS away, yet it seems like it's already here.

It's like a NEW DISEASE was discovered. "Flu? Flu? I HAVE THE FLU?????" No, wild dogs aren't going to consume your head. You are not being consumed by flames. For 99% of you, it's just the flu. You are going to feel like poop for days and then you will feel better. And next year you can say, "Dr. Latte, you were right. I should get a flu shot." I was once naive, too. But then I had the flu. In medical school. On call. On OB call. Did anybody send me home as I spewed evil juices all over pregnant ladies? Ah, medical education. Nothing like it.

Despite my recent permanent resident alien status in Flu-ville, I chanced upon a few decent recipes and food interludes. Here's one. For those nights when you think, Hmmm...Should I get Chinese take-out or just eat more potato chips at the counter, how about eating potato chips at the counter while you make your own Chinese? SKINNY Chinese?

From Slashfood, "Takeout Vegetable Fried Rice"

Not feeling like Chinese? How about Indian? Pakoras? From a blog in my very own Central Ohio backyard--Hungry Wolf--a most enchanting trip down Pakora Lane. Not a recipe. An Indian snack vignette:

Taste & Create, Pakoras

A bit of Central Ohio navel-gazing, but delicious, Navel-of-Venus gazing, also from Hungry Wolf, a locavore dinner with a most intriguing cast of characters. Now, blogging is Class A, 100% navel-gazing. For moi, the food blog, is a notebook I browse like a cookbook. What should I make? What sounds yummy? What is interesting but probably too much work? I put it on the blog. If I like whatever it is, if it survives my own kitchen test, I put it into a real-life notebook. Well, a file. I have a lot of recipe files.

But what is cool about navel gazing for me, anyway, is all this local stuff! Who knew there was a winery in Johnstown? I do now. That plus a whole lot more. It's so intriguing, it's so virtual, but I'll be converting my new virtual knowledge to calories soon at a wine or cheese shop, farmer's market, or bakery nearby:

Locavore Dinner at The Winery at Otter Creek.

Went out for sushi this weekend with some dear friends. Had my favorite, spicy tuna. Could it be that the magic is in:

Spicy Sriracha Mayonnaise?

Well, golly, I might have to find out and become quite addicted.

Meanwhile, back in Central Ohio, I mull over the Slow Food movement. Ha! I have a 20 minute Speed Racer food movement every evening in my slap-dashery to get food on the table for us all. There's nothing I love more than cooking for a day with nothing else to do, whipping up a some braised protein and a perfectly chopped vegetable fraggonarde (I made that up) while tippling a sipple of thistle but it just doesn't happen in my life, which is mostly neatly divided into 20 minute chunks. 2o minutes to get coffee and breakfast ready, check calendar; 20 minutes to get kids ready; 20 minutes to get me ready; 20 minutes to get to work; 20 minutes per appointment for nine hours; 20 minutes to get home; 2o minutes to make dinner, blah blah blah. Where does the all day braise fit into that exactly? I'm not sure, but I'm going to take, ah, 20 minutes and read about it in my own town:

Slow Food Columbus

And I'm going to check that website monthly (must add to-do item to reqall) so that I never miss another fabulous event. Unless I'm busy crazily cutting everything in my house into chunks 1/20th of original size.

When slow food fails to slowly ooze deliciously from my own two hands, though, I will enjoy it prepared by others. How about breakfast? Nick, at Breakfast with Nick conveniently published his favorite breakfast items, many (most?) practically in my back yard:

My Ideal Breakfast

And that, friends, is it for tonight. I have to go attend to my colleague, Dr. House. He needs my help. Some poor soul, sick with a dread fake disease, about to be examined and tested in an excruciatingly ridiculous but hilarious quest for diagnosis. Sure, most of the cases would be figured out in 5 seconds in a decent lab, and sure, the rest of the cases would never happen, but oh, the preposterous fun.

Later!

It's late and I'm tired

and I haven't eaten a thing but junk food and coffee all day long. So imagine how I'm swooning over the following:

Migas in the morning, courtesy of homesick Texan

Pumpkin Pancakes via Joy the Baker and Pancake Maker

Quiche Lorraine via Smitten Kitchen. I mean, she has a NEWBORN! What is she doing with leeks?

And in a very useful "Cooking the Blog" post, Wednesday Chef cooks from the NYTimes and has a thing or two to say about it:

Melissa Clark's Coconut Barley Pilaf

Whatever the outcome, it looks fabulous. Head on over and see for yourselves.

Oh, one last thing. Joy has something to say about buttermilk:

The best buttermilk substitutions

Migas and pumpkin pancakes are definitely on IcedLatte's table this weekend.

Can you tell I'm hungry?

Vegetable tacos: Look divine. These are on the menu next week. Thanks to Simply Recipes.

Whilst you are visiting Simply recipes, you might want to check this out, especially the sauce, which I think I want to put in a mug and drink:

Porkchops with Mustard-Bourbon Cream Sauce

We don't use nuts in our house 'cause my boy has a raaaaah-ther nahsty reaction to cashews and peanuts. So I chanced upon a granola bar recipe at Smitten Kitchen which looks terrific and doesn't have nuts:

Granola Bars

They will be on the menu for breakfast next week, too.

Breakfast with the Punks

I mentioned yesterday on my uber-wordy and tedious blog, Med Marg, I have a new meal to incorporate into the day. My kids used to get their breakfast at their childcare center. No more. Mommy has to come up with five more meals every week. I'm picky about said meals, too, because if you're gonna do it, may as well do it right. Unless I've worked like a dog all week, cooked dinner every night without called Cafe Courier even once, then even made pancakes Saturday morning. I have been known to serve the kids a Happy Meal at lunch, but with milk and apple dippers.

A few weeks ago, trying to solicit some buy-in and introduce the kids to the idea of having another thing to accomplish in the morning (where exactly the time for all this is coming from I do not know) I had them make a list of stuff they like. They did really well:

• Yogurt with fruit: I use 2% Greek Yogurt with a mashed up banana and some honey. Cinnamon if they're in the mood. Substitute fruit or in a pinch, fruit preserves.
• Puffins (or other cereal) with paper thin slices of banana: I pretend to be a jeweler slicing up a diamond. The kids think it's quite hilarious because of course I ham it up. It works to get some fruit down their tummies.
• Waffles: I use whole grain Eggos. Boy, I've tried all kinds of frozen waffles at Whole Foods and man, do they taste like curdled dried paste. I take a little fruit--say blueberries--and warm them up in the microwave with a little maple syrup.
• Cheesy eggs and bacon: One slice of precooked bacon, and one egg each with lowfat cheese I cook on the stove with a smidge of olive oil. They also split an English muffin usually.
• Oatmeal: This is a family favorite. On weekdays I make a quickish pot of whole rolled thick organic oats (just because I like the Bob's Red Mill brand a lot). I cook them in 1/3 1% milk and 2/3 water. We usually have it with a smidge of half & half and a little honey or real maple syrup, a handful of no-nut or sugar whole grain cereal or raisins. And cinnamon if the kids are in the mood.

I included in my MedMarg post yesterday a handy little article including some more breakfast ideas. These good ideas include:

• Smoothies
• Breakfast burrito
• Stuff with peanut butter, which unfortunately is verboten in this house.

I got a lot of suggestions from readers with kids over the last 24 hours. Good suggestions. Here goes a few:

From Rain Domino:
"Oatmeal with a few spoonfuls of applesauce. Daughter Susan Lucci loves it."

From Dr. Jardin Green Jeans:
"I am feeling your pain with the early morning schedules. Honestly, we just do cereal most mornings, since we have tons of different cereals and they are nutritious. Add fruit or yogurt and you are good to go. We did French toast this morning since I had 15 extra minutes, but yep- it's usually cereal."

From Dr. Vera Bradley:
"Breakfast casserole is all I can say. And freeze extra pancakes left over from the weekend. Just some of my favs for the morning rush to get kids to school and you to work!!!"

From a fellow Coffee Whack Job:
Two things. One, cottage cheese with any fruit, but mostly good old retro pineapple folded in. Two, yogurt parfaits with fruit and granola layers.

From Frenchie:
Oh, Mon Dieu. Why do you make things so difficile? Hunk of bread, a touch of beurre, a slice of cheese, et l'orange.

Mon Dieu indeed, Frenchie. I'm open to ideas. You know you have 'em. Rules are they can't be gross, they must taste good, and they must take no more than 10 minutes or use more than one hand because the other hand is going to be French pressing coffee or pulling espresso.

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Fast and Fab Breakfast Ideas

I got to thinkin' this week when I read a recent post at Apartment Therapy/The Kitchn, about breakfast. Most days I have a banana and Diet Coke, which I throw on top of my giant morning iced latte, then top off with some chocolate and pretzels. But I'm also a big fan of steel cut oatmeal with honey. I should try making it with fruit juice. Burritos, another very packable item. Great idea from commenters. Something to mull over. Has to be easy, has to be packable, has to be able to be eaten on the run between patients without needing a lot of fussy reheating, etc.

I'm open to ideas.

Fast, cheap, and healthy breakfast ideas.