The Importance of Mise en Place

I love to bake. Mainly it's because I know that the outcome is a direct result of how much I follow the rules of the recipe. It's (for me) therapeutic. BUT I have an issue with mise en place - I do not like to prep or set up beforehand. Sometimes I don't even bother reading the entire recipe. Usually I blame this on the fact that I have limited counterspace, so here I am admitting to you that it's actually because I am lazy. :P

Anywho, I'm bringing that up because I bought a loaf of challah bread the other day and decided to make Creme Brulee French Toast (Whole Foods Market style). Overall a tasty idea for comfort food, minus the part where I didn't bother to check if I had all the ingredients. This resulted in a frantic drive to the local market at 5am with bedhead and sweats because the base of my French toast had to be taken off the burner once I realized the absence of a few key ingredients. <insert ego-boosting fist pump here>

Breakfast was slightly on the sweet side, especially given the extra dollop of maple syrup, but the addition of the raspberries gave it a little tartness to kickstart my morning.

Wishing you and yours a fabulous Friday morning and weekend!

and Happy 2011! I just realized I haven't posted since before my Christmas trip home. Oops. :P