Mother's Day and a Birthday Celebration

I wish I wish I wish I could have spent Mother's Day with my mom. I always miss my family, but I miss them more on holidays, birthdays, Tuesdays...yeah, all the time. I'm lucky to see them as often as I do (about six times per year), but more would be so much better!

Yesterday, for Mother's Day, Terry and I invited his parents and brother over for brunch, and it was great to be with my in-laws. We woke up leisurely and swung by the farmers' market to pick up some flowers and fruit. Then I prepped the rest of brunch and got ready by 11.

Goat cheese and tomato quiche

Sausage, spinach, and bell pepper quiche with ricotta cheese

Sourdough French toast casserole

Sourdough Pecan French Toast Casserole
Serves 12

• 3/4 loaf cinnamon swirl bread, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 loaf sourdough bread, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir in the bread chunks until they're evenly coated. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and let sit in the fridge overnight (8-12 hours). In the morning, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour the bread into the dish, spreading evenly. Sprinkle the pecans over the bread. Bake the casserole for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown.



It was a fun, relaxing morning with good food and a nice chance to catch up. I'm so grateful my mother-in-law (and father-in-law!) raised such a wonderful man. On a side note, she also taught Terry how to clean a room like nobody's business. :-) His wife is quite grateful.

After brunch (which may or may not have included three glasses of champagne), I didn't feel fantastic. I had a crazy headache and just wanted to nap. Instead, I thought I'd try a quick workout to zap the blues, but I skipped the 20 minute jog on this 100 workout. Nothing really worked, but we had big plans last night so I summoned my energy and got all fancied up for...

...Jenn and Justin's birthday celebration! Jenn and Justin are two of our very best friends, and we missed Jenn's birthday party two weekends ago. Instead, we opted to take them out for a fancy dinner at The Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills. Oooohhh goodness, if you have one of these near you, find an excuse to go immediately! Delicious meat (Jenn, Justin, and I ordered filets and Terry ordered lamb) and seafood, fantastic sides (creamed spinach makes my tummy happy), and--we discovered last night--seriously phenomenal chocolate cake. I already miss that cake.

Fancy dinners with friends are so fun! Gotta do these more. Love you guys!