Blackberry French Toast Casserole

When I went to the ornament exchange party/brunch hosted by Wendy of Simply Brookes, one of the casseroles she served was a Blackberry French Toast Casserole.

I think she got the recipe from Kristy at Mi Casa - San Diego (that's the person I would call for a good recipe recommendation, too).  Fortunately for me, Wendy put a link to the recipe on her blog.

I was going to make this while our house guests were here but I couldn't get my act together (sorry house guests).

 I made it today because one of my kids is going away to camp.

The recipe called for 1 cup of blackberry jam, but I had a jar with a little less than 12 ounces and I used the whole thing.  I didn't think a little extra jam would hurt.  The recipe also says you can top it with maple syrup or whipped cream, but honestly, I don't think it needs a thing.

Except a cup of coffee and a back porch.  Thanks for the recipe Wendy and Kristy.

Do you have any great breakfast recipes?

Giant Bubbles

The nice lady at The Home Depot wanted to

know what I was going to do with this pile of stuff.

Make giant bubbles, of course.

Here is a link to my post last summer that has the recipe.

I just love making these bubbles.

Once you start making bubbles, it's hard to stop.

Sometimes we do this at night.

They seem to last longer without the hot sun.
So if you drive by my house late, you might see
people in polka dot pajamas making huge bubbles in the dark.
That's hot.

This cutie took most of the photos.

Mesmerizing.

There was also a sneak hug attack after the bubbles.

And then, unfortunately, our

amazing, wonderful, beloved house guests

had to go on their way.

Borrowing eBooks for FREE

Do you like to read?  I do.  I had a book club with Miss Wendy and some other great friends.  This beautiful lady has always given me great book recommendations, too.

Mr. Jones bought me a Nook e-reader for Valentine's Day.  I never thought I would use an e-reader to read a book until I was chaperoning a concert at night and was cramming for book club.  I loved it.  It wasn't hard on the eyes like I thought it would be.  You can buy books instantly.  No driving to the book store.  No killing trees.  (I still prefer to buy cookbooks, reference books and children's books in paper).  I can also buy magazines and newspapers on my Nook, and there is no magazine clutter in my house.  You can lend and borrow books, but I hadn't yet found a friend to share with and my library's selection isn't so hot.

Then I read about this website in Real Simple Magazine ... it's called ebookfling.com:

 This is how it works in a nutshell:

You can either purchase book credits to use for book borrowing, or you get free credits when people borrow your books.  I got 5 free credits right away.  That's 5 books I get to borrow for free!  Not bad.  And now when I decide to purchase an e-book, in my mind I'm buying 3 books because I get my book and will eventually use it to borrow 2 books.  Not all books for Kindle and Nook are available for lending, but I think the selection is pretty good.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

What Have You Been Doing This Summer?

What wonderful things have you been doing this summer?

We went to Virginia Beach, Gettysburg, Georgetown and Alexandria so far.

Hopefully I'll tell you more about that later.

 We've also been spending time with relatives.

My mom and dad stayed with us for a week. 

 My amazing brother, Joe, and sister-in-law, Karla, are visiting.

They are teachers who work in Berlin.

Joe, Karla and my daughter made dinner for everyone a few nights ago. 

It was absolutely amazing.

 Crostini with avocado, red pepper and sea salt,

or with garlic, ricotta cheese, lemon zest and honey.

Could I just eat that with wine every night? Oh yes.

 White wine in coffee cups.

Sunflowers in a bucket.

Tea lights in mason jars.

Do you get the theme?

Easy, rustic and not over-done.

 Greens with raspberry vinaigrette, blue cheese and blueberries.

They brought the vinaigrette from Europe as a gift.

Mr. Jones is not a big fan of veggies ...

he had 5 helpings of this salad.

Need I say more?

 Stacked glasses for the mineral water.

 The company was even better than the food.

 Someone was being shy.

 I almost forgot ...

we also had pasta and red sauce.

 I filled my plate and ate every. single. bite.

 My photos were a little blurry, but you get the idea.

 We were having fun while the little one

read weird facts from his new book his uncle and aunt bought him.

 I really can't say enough to tell you how wonderful these two are.

If they moved in with us, there wouldn't be one single moment I would tire of them.

If I could special order a sister-in-law, Karla would be her.

If I could special order a brother, he would be Joe.

The only regrets I have from the night?

Grandma and Grandpa went home the day before.

It would have been wonderful to share our evening with them.

and

The photo I took of Mr. Jones didn't turn out at all.

Sorry honey.