Thanksgiving Pies

What would Thanksgiving be without them? A pie-less Thanksgiving? Perish the thought!

So, here are two that you may want to try... one is a recipe that I have used countless times from allrecipes.com and is often requested, and the other is a recipe I've posted previously but stands to be re-shared. I hope you enjoy them both!

Apple Cream Pie

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie

The pecan pie is a great one to let little ones help with. My 3-yr old daughter made it almost entirely by herself, her first made-it-all-by-myself-well-maybe-Mommy-helped-a-little pie.

I am so proud!

In all seriousness, I love Thanksgiving and what it stands for: a day to remember to be thankful for all that we have and for the people in our lives. So, thanks be to God for His great love and mercy and how he has cared and provided for us over the years, for my beautiful family, for creativity, and for chocolate. Amen. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take that french toast and stuff it!

I stayed at a bed and breakfast recently, and the innkeeper made french toast stuffed with fruit filling... inspiration!

So, for this Saturday's breakfast I decided to relive the experience and share with the family:

French Toast stuffed with Caramelized Bananas

Let me just say, it was waaaaaay better than I thought it would be - the warm buttery sweet caramel flavor with bursts of banana, cinnamon and vanilla, encased within fluffy french toast... NOM NOM NOM... It was also incredibly simple and quick.

A couple of notes:

1) I would definitely use a large, crusty loaf of French bread cut into slices of 1-inch thickness, makes the splitting/stuffing much easier.
2) I intentionally did not use super ripe bananas, as I find overly-ripe bananas tend to overpower every other flavor in a recipe. But to each his own.
3) I did not use as much sugar as a similar recipe called for, so it was just lightly sweet - increase amount of brown sugar for extra sweetness (but to no more than 1 cup).
4) Use a bread knife or some kind of serrated knife to slice the cooked french toast - it was still a little difficult, so if you have any suggestions on how to do this without burning fingers, let me know!

So, here it is - let me know how it turns out, and anything you would do to improve it.

French Toast stuffed with Caramelized Bananas - Serves 4

French Toast:
- 8 thick slices French bread cut into 1-inch thickness
- 3 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon/sugar mixture
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, for frying

Caramelized Bananas:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 bananas, diced
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of cinnamon

1) Heat a large skillet and small skillet on medium heat. In a medium sized bowl, combine eggs, milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon/sugar mixture, and salt and whisk until well combined. When large skillet is hot, melt butter to grease the pan. While the butter melts, begin dipping pieces of bread into the egg mixture, allowing a few seconds for the bread slice to absorb the egg. Immediately place in hot skillet to cook, cooking each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

2) While french toast is cooking, begin cooking the bananas. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in the smaller skillet, and let the butter heat until very lightly brown. Add the bananas and vanilla and stir constantly until the banana pieces sizzle and begin to caramelize (about 5 minutes). Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, and stir gently until the sugar melts.

3) Slice hot french toast in half lengthwise (see photo). Spoon bananas into center of french toast and close. Serve hot, and with a sprinkle of powdered sugar if the spirit leads.