Joj's Bed & Breakfast

I got to live a little bit of my dream this weekend!! I played overnight host to Casey and Mike last night/this morning. This means I got to pretend to be Ina for 24 hours!!!!

I wore chambray so hard that Ina would probably be embarrassed of me. Chambray pajamas, chambray brunch shirt. Who can blame the woman? Chambray is comfy and totes Hamptons chic.

So Casey and Mike had a wedding to attend in town and unfortunately I was working both yesterday and today, so we didn't have much time together, but it was quality and I'll take every second I can get with friends!

We decided to stay in for breakfast today since they brought some delectable treats from Albermarle Baking Company in Charlottesville - Mike actually works there, so we also spent some time swapping bakery horror stories over some delicious cake last night.

The gorgeous challah they brought!

We (and by "we" I mean myself and the Ina voice that is ever present in my crazy head) were inspired by this gorgeous loaf of challah and decided it would fulfill its purpose in life by becoming Grand Marnier French Toast. 

Brunch was a team effort and we put together a rather phenom spread (toot! toot!) and I want to say that we slowly savored the fruits of our labor... but the smell of bacon turns even the most patient people into blood thirsty savages, and next thing you know, everything was gone.

Brunch is the greatest meal ever.

Grand Marnier French Toast <3

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:

5 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup Grand Marnier

3 tablespoons sugar

zest from 1 small orange

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 loaf of challah, sliced in approx 1 1/2" sections

4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl, whisk until blended. Dip each slice of challah into the mixture, making sure to coat both sides. Arrange in 13x9x2 baking pan. Pour remainder of the batter over top of the challah. Cover with plastic wrap and place into fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add 3-4 pieces of bread to skillet and cook until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes per side. Place on baking sheet and into oven to keep warm until serving.

We had ours with plenty of powdered sugar on top, maple syrup, a dollop of whipped cream that I added a splash of Grand Marnier to (it was the right thing to do), and some fresh strawberries. That's some yummy stuff.

Soaking up all of that wonderful batter.

That challah bread is seriously delicious. I've never been a sweet breakfast person, but this has changed my world. I get it now. 

This B&B is now vacant and looking for more friendly faces to see and pie holes to shove french toast in to. 

You can tell by the look in her eyes that Ina's giving me the ol' "get it gurl."

Thanks for stopping by Casey and Mike and for waking me up from my french toast-less nightmare of a life! The clouds have parted, the skies are bright and blue, and my life is now full of sweet breakfast-y goods.