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French Toast English Muffins with Cinnamon
Marmalade Ricotta |
There was an article that popped up on Huffington Post not too long ago on
10 Ways Introverts Interact Differently with the World, and in reading it, I felt very much as if someone had been watching me as a test subject. I realize that handing out hard copies of the article before social functions might not be a great idea, so check out the link above. In any regard, it's a good primer.
The biggest take away from it for me - aside from the fact that, yes, I hate the phone, do well in a performance capacity but not so great at the after party, am generally rotten at small talk, and need to run like hell from full rooms of people after a certain amount of time - no matter how much I may love those people in that room - is exactly how much downtime I require between periods of prolonged creativity to refill the proverbial well.
You know the question:
What are you working on right now? I told a good friend of mine earlier this week,
I'm washing my socks and organizing my spice rack, and that's about as far as I can think as my creative stores replete themselves. Projects are going to start taking off in March, and I'll get into that soon. In the meantime, I'm generally nesting in my apartment as much as I am able, before I get too busy and it gets too hot to even bear turning on the oven.
I've been trying to make sure that I have (as close to) one full day at home a week to recharge. Sweats get pulled on, candles get lit, music gets played, the bathroom gets cleaned, soup gets made, tea gets brewed. And in the case of this morning, there is Sunday breakfast. And I say that with no regrets, because I've been kicking my ass at the gym four times a week (I'll tell you about that later). I may be working on getting back into fighting shape, but a girl still has to eat.
French Toast English Muffins with Cinnamon Marmalade Ricotta
one serving - double as necessary
1 English muffin, split in half (gluten-free, as necessary)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch cinnamon
1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbsp orange marmalade (extra points if it has fresh ginger)
another pinch cinnamon
maple syrup (the real deal)
Take your English muffin halves and prick both sides in several places with the tines of a fork, so that liquid will be able to soak into the bread a bit easier. Combine egg, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a shallow dish that will also fit both halves of your English muffin, cut side down, and nestle your muffin halves down into the liquid. After about a minute, turn your muffin halves over in the egg mixture. You want as much of that liquid to be absorbed into the English muffin halves as possible without them totally disintegrating.
In a separate bowl, combine ricotta cheese with marmalade and cinnamon, and stir well. Set aside.
In a griddle or large, flat-bottomed skillet, heat about 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat till it melts and starts to bubble, coating the bottom of the pan, and add your two English muffin halves to the pan to brown to golden. After a couple of minutes, flip the muffin halves over with a spatula and brown the other sides. Transfer to a plate. Serve with cinnamon marmalade ricotta and real maple syrup.
