at home with ann

This was one of the dishes from Colin's First Birthday Party , and it was delicious!  Perfect for entertaining, it's best if you make it the night before, and then pop it in the oven in the morning.  I did a trial run a few weeks ago (always a good idea when testing a new recipe for a party), and cut the bread into all these little cute triangles and stood them up in the dish.  It was kind of a disaster, because not enough bread was down in the bottom to soak up the custard and the tops of the toast were all dried and overly crispy.  Lesson learned, though, and this batch was great.  Cinnamon French Toast Casserole inspired by Smitten Kitchen 1 loaf of cinnamon swirl bread butter 6 large eggs 3 cups milk 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Generously butter a 9x13 baking dish. Cut the slices of cinnamon bread in half lengthwise and arrange in two layers in the dish.  I slightly overlapped each piece so I used 6 full slices (12 halves)...

Normally, if I want to dip apples, you will find me with my hand in the peanut butter jar.  Literally.  The jars of peanut butter I get at BJ's are about the size of my head.  I saw the idea for this recipe in an ancient magazine in the waiting room at the mechanic's this week, and thought it sounded easy enough to try.  It was delicious, and would be a great dip to offer with not just fruit, but graham crackers, cookies, and maybe even carrots and celery.  The measurements don't matter much here.  I pretty much just used equal parts yogurt and peanut butter, with a little honey and cinnamon. Peanut Butter Yogurt Fruit Dip 2 Tablespoons plain or vanilla yogurt 2 Tablespoons peanut butter 1 teaspoon honey 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Combine all ingredients and stir well.  Serve immediately or keep refrigerated.