Sunday Mornings

... are all about lazy hanging around the house in the winter. I love to hang on the couch with coffee and cozy food for breakfast. I do not love the work that can go into my favorite foods though. Sometimes I'm too lazy to make pancakes. I'm always too lazy to make sticky buns. There will be no kneading of dough or chopping of nuts on Sunday mornings. There can still be crazy good indulgent breakfast food though, with a tad bit of foresight. I threw this casserole dish into the fridge last night, already salivating over the idea of curling up on the couch with a hunk of it. I pulled it out of the fridge while I made coffee, ate a banana to calm to kicking belly beast while it baked, and was in heaven by 8:30 AM. Yeah, there's no Sunday sleeping in anymore since the bean wakes up at 6:30 and he's still in utero. E and I are in for it.


Pear and Gouda Baked French Toast


Ingredients:
1 small loaf of French of Italian bread, preferably a few days old, cubed
6 eggs
1 1/2 c. vanilla soy milk
1 c. low fat milk
2 Tbls. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2-3 ripe pears, cubed
1 c. shredded Gouda, divided
2 Tbls butter, cubed and syrup for serving

Preparation:
Toss bread and pear cubes to combine and spread evenly in a buttered 9x9 inch baking dish. Whisk eggs, milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon and 1/2 c. Gouda. Pour over bread and cover with foil. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Remove dish from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dot with butter and bake covered for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Discard foil, sprinkle with remaining shredded Gouda and return to the oven until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven to rest for a few minutes before serving drizzled with warm maple syrup.

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