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I'm Helen Jane. I think you should celebrate something, anything every day. Join me in that pursuit, won't you?comments lately
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Meet the Dottie Party
March 1st, 2010
James and I are a little superstitious when it comes to babyhaving.
We don’t find out the gender of our offspring.
We keep packages unwrapped until after the baby comes home.
We don’t have baby showers.
Instead, we have “Meet the Baby” parties after the baby shows up.
Sunday, we had our “Meet the Dottie” lunch at the local brewery.
We decorated with paper chains, balloons and flowers.
I kept things simple by only working in yellow and white.
I kept things simpler by only using items from a local Safeway.
Paper chains were made fancier by cutting them the long way down the paper, ½ inch thin, just in yellow and white.
I have a big paper cutter, so I just chopped the white and yellow construction paper, lickety split.
I bought regular helium-filled latex balloons (11 white, 10 yellow) from the floral department at the local big-chain grocery store. From that same floral department, I bought a few mixed bouquets from the display. At home, I separated all the flowers and then I reassembled bouquets in vases and pint glasses to take to the restaurant.
We filled goodie bags with cookies, chocolate and dried cranberries.
(What else do you put in a goodie bag, really?)
Internet luminaries @Aubs, Maggie and Leah all made their luminous appearances.
Shiny.
Luminous.
Luminy.
Little children ran together, jumping off of winery steps and carrying rocks to and fro.
Little children shared and played and
one even achieved his first elbowscrape.
My sister, my mom, stepdad, bocce team, local friends, far away friends, all joined me in a delicious meal — especially the Scharffenberger Semolina Porter cake.
Don’t believe me?
Download the menu.
Awesome, right?
I know, our superstition makes no logical sense. But if it results in a party like we had Sunday, with good-smelling hugs and jumping children, well, get me some chicken feet.
Also, for your Rabbit Rabbit yay day, join me this month of March on Twitter.
I’m tweeting two entertaining tips every day for the entire month.
Helen Jane’s Sticky Baked French Toast Recipe
February 26th, 2010
I went looking for this recipe in my archives and lost it. No tags, no titles, it’s gone. So thanks to Ann over at RecipeZaar who archived it for me to re-post and meta meta blogity blog blog blog.
From her description:
This is a delicious pan of french toast that is perfect for brunch. It is refrigerated overnight. I found this recipe at helenjane.com in 2005 and baked it for my family. Thanks Helen Jane, the family enjoyed it and I want to have it archived on the computer since I cannot find it on your site any longer.
Duly noted Ann!
Since the first time I posted this recipe the recipe has changed and become more custardy — because that’s what our family prefers. Note the extra butter, milk and eggs for maximum sticky awesome.
Helen Jane’s Sticky Baked French Toast Recipe
This recipe works best if you prepare the casserole dish the night before. The next morning, you just pop this tasty breakfast casserole into the oven. You could even do it — gasp – before your coffee.
Ingredients
1 loaf French bread, day old
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or corn syrup)
1 cup milk
8 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream and strawberries
Directions
Cut the french bread into 1″ wide slices. I love to use leftover Cheesewhizzes or party bread for this.
In a medium sized saucepan, put maple syrup, butter and brown sugar. Heat over medium.
Stir until it all comes together and starts to bubble.
Carefully pour the hot, sticky mixture into a 13″ x 9″ baking dish.
Arrange the french bread over the mixture.
In a big bowl, beat together eggs, milk and vanilla until light colored and a little bubbly.
Pour the eggy, milky mixture over the bread (which is on the top of the hot, sticky mixture).
Cover the baking dish and refrigerate overnight. (note: You can do it just a few hours before you bake it, but it is much better if you do it the night before.).
The next morning
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put the french toast dish in the oven and bake for one delicious hour.
Loosen the sticky baked french bread from its hot, sticky bed and invert onto a platter.
Perfection.
Serve with whipped cream & strawberries!
Valentine’s Breakfast of Love
February 15th, 2010
The traditions I’m most excited to carry on from Mom are her breakfast celebrations.
Growing up, my mom decorated the table for four major non-holidays. We awoke to decorations and little wrapped gifts every Valentine’s day, St. Patrick’s Day, Three Kings Day and Halloween.
So now that I have my own girls, well, I see where this is going.
Last night in the low-memory hours before I collapsed into bed, I set the table. I decorated with hearts from paper Nora Lea had colored. Those hearts scattered down the middle of the table.
Sparkling wine and strawberry juice, chilled for Valentine’s Day mimosas. I made the pancake batter, used a funnel to put the batter into a squirt bottle and set that in the fridge.
(Let’s not forget preparing the coffee maker, this is also a vital night-before task.)
At the grocery store, I bought nine latex balloons in pink, orange, white and red. I hid them in the garage. Before Nora Lea woke up, I tied four to each chair.
(The last one was saved for Nora Lea.)
In the morning, I woke with the wee ones and snuck downstairs to bake bacon, make the pancakes and serve up the fruit salad. Our pancakes are made with chants of “Pan-Cake. Pan-Cake.”
Entertaining a toddler requires lots of dishes but it can be done. We added rice, glitter and some strawberry trimmings for a complete toddler bowl of stir.
The little lady was so excited for all the decorations that after all her stirring, she snuck up on the chair, chanting, “Mo! Mo! Mo!” Chants of “Mo!” are saved for the finest toddler delights. Balloons, syrup and sausage also make that list.
James got the Valentine’s gift from me of the extra two hours of sleep on Sunday. Once, we used to give gifts that were things. Now we gift sleep. Precious, mo’ than gold.
The pancakes turned out heart-shaped indeed. They reheated well for when James made it downstairs. They go perfectly with the maple syrup my brother makes. My brother is skilled like that.
Her first breakfast sausage caused a flurry of signs for, “Mo? Mo!?”
We had a mimosa toast, James and I. We gave Nora Lea her first champagne — ha! just kidding! — we gave her some strawberry juice in a champagne flute and found it surprisingly toddler-friendly. She didn’t spill at all. Now she’s demanding all her water come from a flute.
Blessed is my fruit.
I love me a good Valentine’s day breakfast party.
