Nigella Lawson is, and will always be, one of my absolute favorites. Not for her recipes but her simple approach and awesome attitude towards cooking and life in general; recipes will never be prepared the same twice, and that’s ok (I’d like to think there are other, bigger metaphors in that). I saw her make something along these lines (via rerun on Youtube), but switched things up to make it seasonal (trust me, I tried my darndest to find plums!). 

French Toast: 

4 slices of stale wheat bread

2 eggs

2 tbs. brown sugar 

1/8 tsp. fresh nutmeg 

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. almond extract 

Pear compote: 

1 unripe pear (I used Bosc), sliced

1 tbs. butter

1 c. cranberry juice 

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon (ground! In the video she uses sticks, but I prefer ground)

In a sauce pan on medium, stir sugar, cinnamon, butter and cranberry juice until the sugar is disolved. Add pear slices, and turn down to low. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until tender. 

For toast, whisk together all ingredients (except for the bread!). Soak each slice of bread for a minute or two on each side (dense french toast is where it’s at). Heat up a griddle, and cook until each side is golden brown. Serve with hot pear compote over the top! 

NOTES AND SUCH: Most importantly, use an unripe pear! There really isn’t too many delicious, ripe pears in grocery stores right now (as they are out of season), and this is a great way to use fresh fruit during the dead of winter. In Nigella’s video, she talks about stirring sugar before turning on the heat— to tell you the truth, I’m not sure if that’s a real thing or not (it maybe effects the way the sugar caramelizes? I don’t know!). Maybe next time I’ll test it! 

There are a few things better than waking up on a Sunday, going grocery shopping early in the morning, and realizing they have waffle irons on sale for less than $10. That said, I decided it was time to make a delicious stand-by recipe for whole wheat waffles. More importantly, I wanted a recipe that I could eat a ton of without feeling too terribly (the holidays.. ya know, they get to us all). 

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. milk (I used almond!)

1/2 c. greek yogurt

1/4 c. oil (canola or veggie)

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 c. whole wheat flour 

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. flax seed

1/2 c. wheat germ

4 tsp. baking powder

1 heaping tbs. sugar

Pinch of salt

In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. Slowly add in milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Stir until combined, then heat up your waffle iron. Feel free to butter your iron, then cook all your waffles! 

Notes for wonderful waffles: This is a pretty basic, simple waffle recipe. I topped mine with the cranberry sauce I made around Thanksgiving! Feel free to substitute extracts (I thought almond, hazelnut or peppermint would be delicious) and add in toppings (i.e. chocolate chips, nuts, berries, etc.). I was thinking peppermint waffles with white candy-cane flavored chocolate pieces would be GOOD.  Next weekend, maybe?

We are at the tail-end of plum season. In lieu, it was time I baked with these bad-boys before our time was up. When I think of baking with fruit, I always overlook plums. Why? I have no idea. They’re sweet, tart and hold up to heat pretty well! Not to mention beautiful. I guess plum jellies, jams and pies are typical… 

…and having another breakfast-on-the-go recipe is always a good thing: A bagel or yogurt satisfy my inner food nerd very little. If I can eat breakfast on the way to work AND have it be awesome, delicious, unique and healthy? Now we’re talking. 

1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats

3/4 c. slivered almonds

1/3 c. brown sugar (or honey/agave syrup)

1 tsp. cinnamon (I used a liiiittle bit more)

pinch of salt 

1 1/2 c. milk 

1 egg

1 tsp. almond extract

2 plums, pitted and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix oats, almonds, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk, egg and extract until well combined. Pour into a buttered 9x9 baking dish. 

Place sliced plums on top, covering as much oatmeal (and also as prettily) as possible. Bake in oven for about 50 minutes. 

Notes for killer clafoutis: This was pretty fool-proof! And you can switch out the plums for preeetty much any other fruit. I’d like to try it with pumpkins.. or even pears. If you’d like your clafoutis to be thicker, double the recipe!