Pumpkin Bread Pudding

My husband loves loves loves bread pudding. He also always complains about the bread pudding we get in restaurants -- no matter where we are, or what variant the bread pudding is, there is always something wrong with it. So, when I set out to make pumpkin bread pudding for his birthday, I was a little nervous that it wouldn't turn out well. And to be honest, while he raved about it, I think it can still be improved upon somewhat. We shall see if and when I make it again!

Orange-Maple French Toast

I work constantly. I get up around 6:30, get dressed, make a quick breakfast, and start work at 7. At some point, I go into the office. I get more work done on the 40 minute metro ride in, work at my desk, leave, work on the ride home. I grab a quick dinner and get back to work until 9-10 at night, and then I go to bed. I am not exaggerating -- you (those of you who know him!) can ask my husband and he will be happy to verify, largely because he works the same hours!

Bear in mind, I am not even close to complaining. I work constantly because I love to work constantly. However, to keep up the pace, I need to make sure to steal a few moments to fuel up for each awesome day with an awesome breakfast. Today, I'd like to share with you a fun twist I whipped up on french toast -- orange-maple french toast.

Orange-Ginger Caramel Popcorn

A few months ago, I posted one of my caramel popcorn adventures -- honey-chile caramel popcorn with a cream cheese glaze. This recipe turned out to be a big hit, and I got to share it nearly immediately with two dear friends to celebrate their move into their new home.  The only thing better with deliciously addictive food is sharing deliciously addictive food with fabulous people!

When I shared this recipe with y'all, I was also recommended to try curry caramel popcorn and ginger caramel popcorn. I have not tried curry caramel popcorn yet -- I have big plans for that one! -- but I have experimented a little with ginger. So, I present to you my first pass at an orange-ginger caramel popcorn.

Savory French Toast

I know this is a total shocker to you guys, but I have a pretty huge backlog of recipes and crafts to post here as I find the time. I was scanning through my photos, trying to figure out what to post  today, and realized I had yet to share with you one of my delicious triumphs: savory french toast.

One day, I came home from work with a very specific craving. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. I only knew that it had to include eggs in some way -- but not whole or scrambled -- had to have carbs, and just needed to be savory. Obviously eggs + carbs immediately made me think of french toast, but french toast is usually sickly-sweet to me. I despaired of solving my craving dilemma momentarily before it occurred to me that there was no law against making savory french toast. Fortified by this thought, I went about developing a recipe.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

One of our cost-saving measures -- and one of my favorite new activities! -- is making our own bread. For our first bread experiment, I went with a delicious classic: honey whole wheat.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I am loving our recent push to cut back on our grocery bill to under $200 a month for the two of us. It allows me to explore all kinds of recipes I never really contemplated when we weren't watching our food finances. Turns out that I'd been missing out on a lot of easy and tasty recipes, like this recipe for buttermilk pancakes.

Rosemary Cheese Soft Pretzels

My dad loves soft pretzels. They are one of the food items he cannot resist whenever we go out (one of the others being hot dogs . . . he is a very special dude!). So, to crown off the bake-celebration, I made him some delicious home-made rosemary sea-salt pretzels with rosemary cheese sauce, courtesy of the baking brilliance of two peas and their pod. Apologies in advance for the even-worse-than-usual quality of the photographs in this post -- for some reason, my camera was acting up.