I am famous for loving the idea of Sunday plans when I am committing on a Monday, but then come Sunday I wonder what in the world I was thinking, because all I want to do is relax after a busy week.
This past weekend was no exception. I had plans with a friend to do a mother/daughter brunch, which started as possibly happening in New York City where our daughters live, but ended up being a team effort at her home. This may just be my new favorite kind of playdate.
As everyone gets older and moves out, the organic ways people used to be a part of your day slowly disappear. No more sidelines, committees, or pickups to casually catch up with friends. Even my trips to the grocery store are greatly reduced now that I only shop for two. I never realized how much socializing I was doing in Whole Foods and Acme. Now is a stage of life where you need to put the people you love in your day.
After many texts and trying to align busy schedules, my friend suggested brunch. This, after all, is a favorite activity for twentysomethings and worked for all our schedules.
As the date approached, those “why did I make Sunday plans?” feelings started to creep in. But as we finalized the details, which were to just have a casual brunch at her house, they disappeared. We divided and conquered, a format I love for get-togethers. She hosted and was on coffee and fruit salad, and I made eggs and French toast.
The girls took the train out from NYC. We were all in our cozy clothes, and while the caramel pecan French toast baked in the oven, I made the New York Times green shakshuka eggs with avocado and lime while we all chatted over coffee.
The beauty of this French toast recipe is that you make it the night before, so all I had to do was text them to preheat the oven while we were on our way over and pop it in when we arrived. The eggs were my effort to balance the decadence of the French toast (which was worth every bite) and I made them in a cast iron skillet I had brought with all my ingredients prepped. They were so easy to make and delicious.
Both dishes were ready at the same time and we enjoyed a delicious team-effort cooked-with-love meal around the island in her kitchen before retiring to a big comfy couch, where we chatted and caught up for hours.
I dropped the girls at the 4:30 p.m. train and, on my way home, felt blessed to have our kids close by so days like that are possible. I thought about how wonderful it was to just relax and not worry about sitting for too long at a restaurant table. The moral of the story is, when making time to gather with friends and family around the table, don’t underestimate the power of a delicious and relaxing Sunday brunch to keep the Sunday blues at bay.
Caramel Pecan French Toast
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1½ cups packed brown sugar
¾ cup butter
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1½ cups chopped pecans
36-40 ½ inch slices French baguette, about two 8-ounce loaves (can get it sliced at Whole Foods), or 18 2-inch slices.
9 eggs, beaten
¾ cup whole milk
1½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, stir together brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Heat and stir until the butter is melted and the brown sugar is dissolved. Pour two thirds into a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle with half the pecans.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. Stir in bread slices until they are completely coated. Arrange one layer of bread slices on top of caramel. Drizzle half the rest of the caramel on top of bread (you may need to reheat). Sprinkle with half of the remaining pecans.
Stir together granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, sprinkle half over bread. Repeat step 3 using the remaining bread, the rest of the caramel, pecans and sugar mixture.
Cover and chill in refrigerator for 8-24 hours.
Bake uncovered in a 350° oven for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes.
To serve, remove individual servings with wide spatula and invert onto serving plates.
