The Tradition: Blueberry French Toast

Every year since I can remember, I have made my grandson  Blueberry French Toast for the first day of school.  This year is no exception.  He was sitting on a stool in the kitchen this morning while I was looking for the recipe.  I was having trouble finding it and finally broke down and had to confess to him, "I can't find that recipe, Jake."  "Grandma," he said, if you can't find that recipe, I might cry."  I can't have that, I thought, so I dug deeper and looked in another place I have recipes.  (I have recipes I have had for years: recipes of my mom's and Gene's mom, recipes from when I worked outside my home and recipes from friends.  The road to Hell will be paved with those recipes because I have every intention of trying every one of them.)  Lo and behold, there it was, stuck between my Thanksgiving Butternut Squash recipe and my Christmas Snowflake Pudding recipe.  Jake and I both had big smiles on our faces as I waved the sheet of paper in the air.  Of all the recipes to misplace, the Blueberry French Toast was not one of them, especially the day before the day before school starts, and particularly since this is his senior year.

Now, why am I telling you all this?  I am telling you all this because Saturday and Sunday, September 3-4, 2016, Gene and I had a show in Bend.  A wonderfully kind lady came by the booth who had viewed our website.  As we talked, I asked her what she would like to see on the website and she said "recipes."  I'm not really a cook (my mom differentiated between "plain" cooks and "fancy" cooks and I am in the "plain" cook category) but my grandson loves this Blueberry French Toast so I thought I'd share it with you.  A relative gave me the recipe years ago so I don't know who she got the recipe from.  She had it in the category "Breakfast/Brunch" and it makes 6-8 servings.

Blueberry French Toast

• 12 slices day-old white bread, crust removed
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 12 eggs (we have our own chickens so my husband sees $3.50 fly out the window every time I make this recipe)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup Lavender Gourmet Honey

Sauce

• 1 cup granulated pure cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon butter
• (Option:  2 full capfuls of Monin Lavender Syrup)

Directions

1. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes.  Place one-half in a greased 13" x 9" baking dish.  Cut cream cheese into 1-inch cubes.  Place over bread.  Top with 1 cup blueberries and remaining bread crumbs.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs.  Add milk and syrup to the eggs.  Mix well.  Pour over bread mixture.  Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.  (I cover and refrigerate until all the egg mixture is absorbed by the bread.)
3. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Cover and bake 350° for 30 minutes.  Uncover.  Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until golden brown and center is set.

Sauce

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water and stir until smooth.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes.  Stir in blueberries.  (Sometimes I add 2 full capfuls of Monin Lavender Syrup.)  Reduce heat.  Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until blueberries burst.  Stir in butter.  (Approximately 1-3/4 cups sauce). Pour over bread mixture.

I think this would be good over ice cream but my family eats it "as is".  It's made to serve with french toast.

 I hope you enjoy this recipe.  

Open for the Season

STILL WATERS LAVENDER

IS

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

From:  July 1- August 31

Time:  10a-4p

Days:  Thursday-Saturday

U-Pick Lavender is ready in several long-stemmed varieties, including purple and white lavender.  $5/bunch (a bunch is approximately 150 stems.)

The Gift Shop is full of lotions and potions, pillows and sachets, scarves and aprons and a whole lot more.

We also have a medieval-inspired labyrinth to the west of the gift shop.  While it will be finished this fall, the outline is completed and you are encouraged to walk the pathway.

One greenhouse is completed and the second greenhouse is approximately 80% completed.  We will be beginning our propagating of next year's plants after the harvesting of this year's buds.  Until then, we still have some plants from this year:  L. 'Grosso'--a large plant with extraordinary long beautiful stems--and two varieties of English lavenders, 'Hidcote' and 'Munstead'.  Originally sold for $6/per 4"pot, we now have them on sale for $4.50/per 4" pot.

We look forward to seeing you walking through the 26 varieties of lavender or meditating quietly in the labyrinth or coming to the gift shop and seeing the many items we have available for your enjoyment.  Whatever reason you are here, we make you kindly welcome.

Pork Chops with Herbs' Rub

I promised this particular recipe at a show we attended about a week ago.  I promised I would get this recipe online.  This is a recipe for two people.  Also, I love basil and thyme so I'm a little heavy handed on those two herbs.  The culinary lavender I use is 'Folgate" because it is mild (some of the lavenders can be a little overpowering).  I grind the lavender in my designated coffee grinder set aside for my herbs.  I prefer fresh herbs but dried can do, too.   I apologize for the time it took to fulfill that promise but here goes:

2 pork chops

Rub for Pork Chops

Herbs: dried basil, dried marjoram (or oregano), dried thyme, terragon, dried lavender buds.  (About a teaspoon of dried basil, marjoram, thyme and about 1/2 tsp of lavender and terragon.)  With fresh lavender, I go out and clip off about 3-4 sprigs of basil, marjoram and thyme and about 1-2 sprigs of terragon.  (I cut the fresh herbs with a vegetable chopper in a wooden bowl a friend gave me years ago.)  The lavender is dried so I use about 1/2 tsp of lavender.  I find that, as I use the lavender, I add more and more to the mix because I like the unique flavor it brings to the dish.)

If you would like to keep this rub around for your next meal, increase the amount, mix all herbs together and put them in a sandwich bag or plastic container.

Roasting the Pork Chops

Rub the pork chops evenly on both sides with the herbs.  (Option:  You may cover them for a couple of hours and put them in the refrigerator.)  Preheat the oven to 475° .  Place the pork chops on a roasting rack and cover with aluminum.  Bake 15-17 minutes, remove the cover, turn over and reduce heat to 350 °.  Continue roasting for 10 minutes or until the center of the pork chop is not pink.  Melt butter and drizzle over the chops. (Option:  Place under broiler and lightly brown the tops.)

The next time I make these, I'll try to take a photo.

Enjoy this delicious way to fix pork chops.  And, experiment with your herbs (you might like summer savory or fennel) because there may be some you like better than others and some that you don't like at all (my husband doesn't seem to appreciate basil very much)...