two things

1) when i posted that old picture of oliver last week with the lilly pollen all over his "who me? i'm innocent!" face, shauna astutely pointed out that it was a great candidate for a caption involving cheetos. so naturally i marched myself on over to i can has cheezburger and made myself a lolcat.

(to everyone who was worried about oliver poisoning himself on the lillies: thanks for your concern! i do know lillies are potentially toxic to cats - the first incident which resulted in that picture was back when oliver was a kitten, and i did not know about his "i will eat everything living that you bring into the house" thing until then. lesson learned. which is why i was keeping the lillies in the bathroom this time! but he's no worse for wear - he regularly eats highly ridiculous things like cardboard and stinkbugs. he's fairly indestructible.)

2) when i had my college roommate over for brunch last weekend, i made a new french toast recipe that turned out SO DARN WELL that i've actually been daydreaming about it ever since and can't wait to make it again. it's delicious! and easy! i super-duper recommend it! here is the recipe, adapted from epicurious. it looks kind of long and involved, but i promise, it is neither of those things.

Challah French Toast with Berry Sauce

For French toast:
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 (1-lb) challah loaf, cut crosswise into 12 (1/2-inch-thick) slices (no end pieces)
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

[note: using these quantities, i didn't have enough mix to soak all the bread, so i ended up making a second batch with another 2 eggs and unmeasured quantities of sugar, milk, vanilla & cinnamon. also, the original recipe did not actually call for vanilla or cinnamon, so i'm hugely guessing on how much of those i used.]

For berry sauce:
3 cups mixed berries such as blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

[note: as commenters on the original recipe suggested, i used 1.5 cups of (cheap!) frozen berries for the puree, then fresh berries for the mixed-in part. also i probably used 2+ cups of fresh berries, not the 1.5 it calls for, but i wanted the sauce nice and thick with whole berries.]

Prepare French toast:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, and salt [and vanilla & cinnamon!] until blended. Pour into a large baking pan and soak bread slices in 1 layer, turning once, 8 minutes. [i don't know where these people get their baking pans, but i could barely fit my challah slices into TWO pans.]

Prepare berry sauce while bread is soaking:
Purée 1 1/2 cups berries with sugar and lemon juice in a blender. If you want to eliminate seeds, force purée through a very fine sieve into a bowl. Transfer to a serving bowl and fold in remaining berries.

Cook French toast:
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet or griddle over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Transfer 4 soaked bread slices to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Cook remaining bread in 2 batches, adding more butter as needed. Transfer slices as cooked to a large shallow baking pan [i greased mine with butter first] and, when all are browned, bake in middle of oven until hot, about 5 minutes.

Serve French toast with berry sauce.

YUMMMMMM.