How to Throw a French Toast Party

How to Throw a French Toast Party

1. Tell your friends to bring the bread and eggs. You've got the bacon

2. Schedule a date

3. Cook up some yummy cinnamon French toast and bacon. Pour yourself a mimosa.

4. Relax.

One night when I had to fend for myself for dinner, someone in our group chat said they wanted French toast. I said you bring the bread and eggs, and I'll bring the bacon. And a French Toast Party was born. I really meant for them to come that night but we actually scheduled a time a few days later. 

Danielle said she would bring the eggs and bread. I had the bacon. I told Erin to bring Orange Juice. Then Danielle said we should have mimosas and we had to get champagne. 

After seeing goats in pajamas, Danielle and Erin came over for some French Toast. We decided cinnamon French toast would be the best. I manned the frying pan making bacon while Danielle whipped up some French Toast batter. I was able to multi-task and get the French Toast done and bacon done at the same time. My BS (Breakfast, burgers, steak) cooking hubby wasn't home so I had do the breakfast making. I didn't burn down the place but was too busy cooking to get pictures.

We sat down to a tasty brunch of French toast, bacon, and mimosas. As we filled out bellies, we chatted and caught up on life. Sometimes, even in the midst of a pandemic, you need some girl time. Besides it gave us a reason to make bacon.. not I ever need a reason to make bacon.

I liked the semi-spur of the moment event. It reminded me of college when my sisters and me would do impromptu dinners in the suite. Ah the memories. 

We definitely need to more of these semi-impromptu meals. Working from home has greatly reduced my socializing with people on a daily basis. Hopefully the random meals will continue in the future. 

Goats in Pajamas

 I saw an event on Facebook for Kids in Pajamas at a cheese store in Malone. I wasn't sure what it was but it looked cute. Mom asked if I was actually going and I said probably not. Then Danielle asked if we were still doing our MASH party with Andrea. I said only if we can take a detour and see the kids in pajamas. Our MASH party was cancelled due to COVID exposure but we still headed to Malone to see some goats.

LaClare Cheese Shoppe is also a goat farm. I've passed the place a couple times when we'd head down to Fond du Lac on 151. They make goat milk, goat cheese, and other goat products. 

The kids were in bins in the indoor viewing area which was nice since it was chilly out. The kids, baby goats, were dressed in little pajamas. They were two goats per bin and probably a few months, if that, old. They were not really impressed being dressed in pajamas on show for people. They preferred to sleep.

While waiting to go into the viewing room, one family at a time, we got to try goat milk. Goat milk tastes like regular milk. I was surprised since I am not really a fan of goat cheese. We also learned the difference between goat milk and cow milk. It was a science lesson I was not prepared for. 

After seeing the goats, we headed upstairs to the upstairs viewing area. Since it was a Saturday, there was no production. The production area was used for Saxon Creamery cheeses and the LaClare Goat cheeses. 

We said we will have to check it out again when it's warmer out. I'd love to eat the cafe, try some ice cream, and see the goat outside. It was a fun little excursion on a Saturday morning. If you are ever in the area, check out the LaClare Cheese Shoppe. It is worth the stop. 

6551. Indulge in a Hot Chocolate Bomb

 Hot chocolate bombs are a big food trend in 2020. Why I am not really sure. It is really just a chocolate ball filled marshmallows and cocoa. When you pour hot milk over the ball, the chocolate milk melts and releases goodies inside. Many places are selling them at $5 or more dollars a bomb. You can buy a mold on Amazon for about $8 and that allows you to make 12 bombs.

I've been dying to try a hot chocolate bomb. I saw that SAG and Brewed Awakenings in Appleton were selling them. Then I saw that Doughlicious got on the bandwagon and was selling. Their price was the cheapest I saw and decided that I needed to pick one up. So I did.

After sitting on the counter for a month, I decided it was time to give this hot chocolate bomb thing a try. There were successes and failures in this attempt.

Mistake #1 -- I didn't warm the milk enough nor did I warm it up in a measuring cup. So pouring the warm milk from one mug to another made a mess.

Mistake #2 -- I didn't use a big enough mug. I realized the only mug I had that was big enough has never been used and still had the sticker on it. 

The "explosion" was actually pretty neat to watch. The chocolate does break apart and you can see the marshmallows and cocoa mix with the milk. There were actual bubbles. Because I got mint, there were also candy cane bits inside my bomb.

Mistake #3 -- I didn't realize you had to stir the bomb contents after the explosion. I took a few sips and was like this tastes just like warm milk. After a few stirs, it was much better. 

Honestly, hot chocolate bombs are nothing special. It is a fun food fad but at the price, I can have Starbucks make me a peppermint hot chocolate and it comes with whipped cream. I will not pass one up if some gives me one but I probably not go out of my way to get another one.

21 in 2021

 Last year I made a 20 in 2020 list. I did not complete it. I managed 14 of 20. 3 of the 6 I missed were do to COVID and the other 3 were mainly due to laziness on my half. Let's try this again. The 6 from last year, did get moved to the list year and are the first six on the list. Maybe I will actually get all 21 items done. 

1. Go to short story night at Lion Tail Brewing Company hosted by Neenah Library

2. Make crepes -- I did find a recipe for Crepes for two so hopefully I will get this done this year

3. Go to Spat's

4. Try a new fruit -- Erin is in charge of the starfruit at our next get together.

5. Go to Mile to Music -- Hopefully this goes on this year

6. Tour Lambeau Field

7. Go to Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

8. Have a fro-doh

9. Make homemade Cinnamon rolls -- I made cheater cinnamon rolls last year. The hubby really likes a good cinnamon so I'm going to try to find an easy (yeast) recipe

10. Go to Copper Rock Coffee Shop

11. Buy a bike and bike at least 10 miles -- I definitely won't wait to July or August to try to get a bike this year.

12. Make melted crayon art

13. Get crab ragoons at the farmer's market

14. Read a Cadecott and Newberry Winner each month

15. Go to Neimith's Southside Market

16. Walk the new walking bridge in Appleton

17. Go to the Dirty Bookstore in Appleton 

18. Go to Hearthstone House

19. Have an apple cider donut

20. Complete the Brenda Novak Reading Challenge

21. Try stuffed chicken wings from Mai's Deli

I tried to keep the list local not knowing what the year will bring for travel plans.