This morning, I hosted a lovely brunch at my house for my mom and sister. As always, it was so nice to see them!

Back in June, the three of seriously struggled to find a time to get together. Our schedules just never matched up, so it took us weeks to coordinate. Once we finally found a time to hang out, we decided to make it a priority to get together at least once a month. Since then, we’ve stuck to our goal! 

On the menu for brunch: French toast with warm maple syrup and berries, hickory-smoked bacon, and coffee.

Mmm! The French toast was, of course, my favorite part of brunch.

To make the berry syrup, I just heated maple syrup and frozen berries in a pot on the stove. Super easy, but so delicious.

My dog has terrible table manners. He won’t jump up and try to get your food, but he’ll sit and wait for the tiniest morsel to hit the floor.

After brunch, the three of us went to the Derby Street Shoppes to do a little shopping.

Holy Christmas!

It’s only November 13th, but it looked like the holiday season was already in full swing. I can’t believe some stores were selling Christmas decorations in mid-October!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the holiday season, but I don’t like how it starts earlier and earlier every year. Stretching it out almost makes it seem less special (and more commercial) to me. Mal and I actually have some rules to make sure that Christmas is only celebrated at the appropriate time.

I’m not going to lie, at first, the holiday cheer in the stores sort of annoyed me. (I mean, poor Thanksgiving! It’s one of the best holidays, but it’s never celebrated like the other ones.) But, the more I wandered around, checking out the sights and sounds of the holiday season, the more I started to embrace it. 

Smelling the scents of the season really did it for me. It’s tough to be annoyed with the holidays when you’re sniffing a candle that smells like Holiday Garland, Christmas Cookies, and Warm Woolen Mittens!

I actually loved the Christmas Cookie candle so much, I bought one. I guess it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the holiday season a little early, right?

I already broke the eggnog rule, BUT there will not be holiday music until after Thanksgiving and not a single decoration will be hung until December 1! Bah! Humbug!

What do you think about the holiday season? Does it start too soon? Or can it not come soon enough?

Yummy breakfast!!! I made Barney Butter-stuffed French toast! Every bite was like tasting heaven! 

Check out the melty almond butter goodness!

With my BB-stuffed French toast, I also had some blood orange slices on the side. 

Breakfast with iced coffee…

Almond Butter-Stuffed French Toast 

Makes 2

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bread
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk 
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp of almond butter

Directions:

• Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl to create the French toast batter. Mix well. Set aside. 
• Take 2 slices of bread, and spread 1 tbsp of almond butter on one slice. I used Arnold’s Bakery Light whole wheat bread, which worked great because it is thinly sliced (and just 40 calories a slice). 

• Stick both pieces of bread together; almond butter on the inside. 

• Coat both pieces of bread with French toast batter, keeping almond butter on the inside of the 2 pieces. 

• Heat skillet and coat with non-stick spray.
• Place bread in skillet; heat both sides until lightly browned, approximately 2-3 minutes each side. 

• Top Almond butter-stuffed French toast with maple syrup (optional).
• Eat and enjoy! 

Spring it!