i have a theory…..if you grew up in springfield, mo no matter where you end up living later on you eventually find other springfieldians to bond with.  sort of like being in the peace corps, even though there might only be 6 other peace corps volunteers in estonia they’ll all eventually seek each other out for friendship.  a month into living in knoxville fellow springfieldian and childhood friend, erin, tracked me down having just moved down here with her husband.  this easter both being unable to travel home for the holidays we tagged teamed easter brunch.

we kicked off the meal in a spectacular way by popping the cork of the champagne bottle, which bounced off of not just one wall of the kitchen but two! the menu included: stuffed french toast, eggs-in-the-oven, vegetarian sausage, deviled eggs and mimosas.   our meal conversation consisted of basic springfieldian dialoge……”you remember this?”  ” they are so and so’s sister. -oh i know them” and of course “well i think your mom told my mom” to ease our overly stuffed bellies we walked through my neighborhood and fantasy house shopped at open houses.  the last house though cute on the outside and newly painted on the inside we concluded “there was more there than meets the eye” aka a money pit.

STUFFED FRENCH TOAST RECIPE

ingredients

1 baguette

1 small container of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

FRENCH TOAST BATTER

3 eggs beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tsps cinnamon

1.  slice baguette down the middle, but not all the way through, you should be able to open up the bread as if it was hinged.

2. mix together ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, and chocolate chips.  spread cheese mixture onto bread, fold top loaf back over, forming a sandwich, slice into 1 1/2 inch slices.

3.mix together eggs, milk and cinnamon to form batter.  heat griddle on medium heat.

4.  dip each slice of stuffed baguette slice into batter coating all sides of bread.  cook on both sides till bread is golden brown and all raw egg is cooked.

5. serve french toast topped with powdered sugar and syrup.