the most important meal of the day + berry berry stuffed french toast

I grew up with a real distaste for breakfast. I went through phases where I simply wouldn't eat breakfast, I hated the nights where we had "breakfast for dinner", and the only kind of egg I would eat was a hard boiled egg. Then there were phases where I would eat food in the morning but it was more along the lines of cold spaghetti or pizza (seriously so good I would still eat it for breakfast). At least I was eating something for the most important meal of the day, right?

I have since acquired a better breakfast routine. While I would say my first breakfast is a simple cup of coffee, I eat granola with fruit and yogurt nearly every weekday morning. It is so satisfying.

One of my favorite parts about the weekend is that I have time to make a real breakfast and don't have to rush off to work.

About a month ago I made french toast for my very first time (with the help of this girl). I know, I know, it's quite ridiculous that it took me 25 years to make french toast, but, like I said, I used to hate breakfast.

Anyway, I'd been eyeing a few things in the fridge and while sitting in church Sunday morning enjoying my first breakfast (delicious Metropolis coffee), I began to dream up what version of french toast I would try making when I got home.

This is what I came up with: And here's a forewarning, it's quite the improvisation since I didn't have quite what I needed and there is little to no nutritional value to this breakfast ;)

First I brought out the kitchen aid to make some whipped cream. In my opinion, french toast must always be topped with whipped cream. (Combine heavy cream, a little vanilla, a couple spoonfuls powdered sugar. Mix until stiff peaks form)

I grabbed some close to being stale bread and dipped it in a milk/egg/cinnamon bath (For 2 pieces of bread I used 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, a lot of cinnamon). If you happen to have a loaf of white French bread where you can slice a nice thick piece and make a pocket for stuffing, by all means -- do it.

For my stuffing (because, again in my humble opinion, one should never eat "unstuffed" french toast) I made a little blueberry sauce (combined a handful of blueberries, a tbsp of water and a few swirls of honey in a small saucepan and mashed it all together until it was nice and blue and saucy) and then combined the blueberry sauce with a little strawberry jam and mixed it with a bit of cream cheese. Now, I was a little over-zealous on the fruit side of things and this will cause the stuffing to be a bit runny. This is not ideal. It should be in the realm of "spreadable".

Now, if you had a nice thick piece of bread, cut a pocket and fill with the fruit/cream cheese stuffing. If you have regular 2-day-old bread, then take two slices and make a sandwich with the cream cheese goodness in the center. **Note I do brown the inner-sides of the bread before slathering the cream cheese on it.

Now throw this “sandwich” on the stove and cook both sides.

When it’s cooked to your desire, put french toast on plate, cover with more blueberry goodness, add a generous portion of that whipped cream and a sprinkle or two of powdered sugar.

(Optional: sit on front porch with large cup of coffee and people watch while M. Ward plays on the stereo and you indulge yourself in the yumminess of Berry Berry Stuffed French Toast)