Snow Day Perfection

It has been a snowy past couple of months and the past two days have been no exception.

We have been experiencing a winter wonderland with constant snow for two days and it’s perfect packing  to boot!

When Little Miss went out to do her morning chores she was ecstatic!  She’s been waiting for a good wet snow.  She got right to work making a family of snow people. I had to chuckle at her snow attire and if you look closely you will see how dirty that chore coat gets. It comes from hugging the dog, the chickens, the food bucket, the water jug and just plain enjoying the great out doors. When I brought the pictures up on the computer I realized that I really need to give that thing a bath!

 

 

My boys on the other hand by-passed all snowman sentimentality and went straight for Lord of the Rings!  They spent two days working on their re-creation of the fortress of Helms Deep and the Tower of Barad-Dur.  I love the creativity they put into it!

 

 

It was so gorgeous with the thick heavy snow clinging to the trees. I tried to go out and take some photos, but it was snowing to heavily and making my camera a bit too wet.  So I trudged back inside, opened some windows, leaned out, and took a few photos that way!

 

 

 

 

 

With such snowy weather outside my windows I just had to do some comfort cooking.  Plus my hens are still laying about eight eggs a day.  I am stacking carton upon carton in my fridge!  It’s a great thing really and we have plenty to share.  With all this abundance I have taken to making a dinner, once a week,  that uses a lot of eggs.  This week I decided to try a new recipe.

 

 

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

(original recipe here.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch pan.

8 eggs

1 t  vanilla

2 t  cinnamon

1/2 t  cloves

1/4 t  nutmeg

1/4 t  ginger

2 T  white sugar

1/4 c  milk

1- 15oz can pumpkin puree

~Mix all the above ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

~Cut up a 2 lb loaf of French bread into 1/2 inch cubes.

(I have an old standby recipe that I use for my French bread and so I always make it fresh. But, you could also use store bought or even a loaf of Texas toast bread.)

~Place the bread into the pumpkin mixture and toss until the bread is well coated.

~Pour into prepared baking pan.

~Mix together the following in a small bowl, until crumbs form.

1/3 c  brown sugar

1/2 t  cinnamon

2 T  flour

1 1/2 T  butter, softened butter.

~Sprinkle over the top of the bread.

Bake 30-40 min or until golden brown and knife inserted comes out clean.

 

This was a huge hit with all my guys. I served it with big mugs full of fruit smoothies.  The combination of the pumpkin and spices was perfect! It wasn’t icky sweet like some french toast casseroles can be.  There was very little left. My boys kept going back for more and if my youngest son, who has been sick, had joined us for dinner I’m sure they would not have been a single crumb left.  It’s that good!

Definitely a perfect snowy day recipe!