The much-awaited (read: dreaded) ski season has arrived, well it arrived a while ago but I've been putting off my first day on the slopes for a few weeks, letting Dave go by himself last weekend. Dave is already anxious to get to some other ski resorts in the coming weeks, but I told him I needed a 'warm-up' day at our easy resort first.

I'm happy to report that it was my best first-day-of-the-season ever. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that we skied quite a bit last year, much more consistently than I ever had in the past. I always dread getting back on the slopes because I have a fear that I'll need to start back at square one. It usually takes me a while to get comfortable with my turns and worked up to speeding (which really isn't that fast anyway) down the slopes like I did at the end of the previous year. But after the initial nerves wore off and I successfully made it off the chair lift (I can't even remember the last time I fell doing this, so not sure why I worry so much!), and then one good run down, I really felt like I was back at the end of last season.

I think we'll head to Chamonix next weekend and I've never skied there before. This always worries me because there's nothing I hate more than ending up on the wrong type of mountain for my level and having to painfully find a way down. I'm not exactly where my fear came from, I never had a terrible experience with skiing in the past (although I still have bad memories of the all-day ski lesson I had when I was maybe 7 years old, or more specifically the horrible spaghetti they served at lunch). Dave is always so positive and is convinced I'm a good skier, and I actually am fairly confident on runs that are my level, but nothing puts me in a worse mood than getting stuck on a run that's too hard for me.

But I won't turn down a ski weekend in Chamonix. This is the cutest town and it's only about 45 minutes from where we live so we don't even need to stay overnight. There are tons of adorable shops and restaurants and my favorite part of the ski day is apres ski, of course! And here it means hearty French dinners which I'm up for any day.

But since today was just a warm-up, we just needed something to get us through a few hours. In fact, we got a 2-hour mid-day pass for just €9! So browsing through my latest favorite cookbook for ideas, I decided this one would be the perfect fit for a pre-ski power breakfast. Filling, but not heavy, warming and sweet, but not too sweet. I wasn't sure how this one would turn out, but it was a hit. I added a bit of nutmeg to my version, but otherwise, it's all Ellie Krieger's from her So Easy cookbook.

Blueberry-Almond French Toast Bake

Cooking spray
1 whole-wheat baguette, but into 1-in cubes
2c low-fat milk
6 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1/3c maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
several dashes of nutmeg
2c fresh blueberries
1/2c sliced almonds
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

I adjusted the eggs in the recipe slightly as I didn't want to go with the recommended 8 large eggs and 8 large egg whites for just Dave and I. Therefore this recipe is best in a 9x9 baking square, for 4 servings.

Spray the baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the bread in the baking pan (you may not need the full baguette - start with a single layer in the baking pan). Whisk together the milk, eggs, egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan, spreading it around so the liquid saturates the bread. I seemed to have a lot more egg mixture, so I add more bread cubes, but note, it will still be very soupy. Scatter the blueberries evenly on the top. Sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Serve hot, no additional syrup is needed.


Results: Light and delicious, this did taste like French toast. I didn't stick to the single layer of bread as the recipe originally called for, but continued adding pieces to soak up some of the egg mixture. The amount was perfect as it wasn't too dry, but also a few bread pieces that were on the top got a nice toasty crispness to them. Sweet, but not too sweet, this is definitely something I would make again. It's pretty quick to prep and great that it can be done the night before; the only downside would be the long cook time. I usually wake up before Dave, so he lucks out, breakfast is ready just as he's waking up!