Happy Easter...

...to all of our wonderful American Romance readers!

However you spend the day, whether you’re at home or away, whether you’re with family and friends or on your own, I hope you have a happy and peace-filled day.

Easter and springtime are all about new beginnings, so I want to share this delightful vignette with you.

I captured this scene from the White Rock Bald Eagle Nest web cam, where two eaglets were welcomed into the world this week—the first on Wednesday and the second on Good Friday.

Those who know me well know I’m a bit of a nature nerd, and White Rock is now one of five bald eagle web cams conveniently iconed on my desktop.

Yes, I’m hooked. But can you blame me?

For me, family dinners are all-important, and this is one beautiful family dinner.

While I’m on the subject of feeding families, I thought I’d share my absolute favorite and super-easy recipe for make-ahead, oven-baked French toast.

And it's seriously easy!

You make it the night before, put it in the fridge, then pre-heat the oven the next morning, pop it in...and half an hour later brunch is served!

Lee’s Oven-Baked French Toast

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
8 one-inch-thick slices French bread
4 eggs
1/2 cup light cream (10%)
1/2 cup milk
1/ 4 cup orange juice


Spread the melted butter in a 9" by 13" baking pan. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle half the mixture in the pan. Arrange the bread slices in the pan. You might have to squish them a bit, but make sure they don’t overlap.


Beat the eggs, then add the cream, milk and orange juice. Slowly and carefully pour this mixture over the bread, being sure the bread is evenly coated.


Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.


The next morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, remove the plastic wrap from the pan, and bake the French toast for about 25 minutes. Delicious when served with maple syrup and fruit compote.

By the time you read this, it will be too late to make this for Easter brunch, but it’s also great for Mother’s Day brunch or any other day brunch you can think of.

I hope you enjoy it!

Until next time,
Lee
The Christmas Secret (Nov. '11)
http://www.leemckenzie.com/

My Crazy Family

Tomorrow is Easter, and whether you celebrate, I hope you have something lovely planned for the weekend. I'm having my family over for dinner, but I have to tell you, mine isn't like one of those nice Harlequin American families.

You know the ones I'm talking about, those families that meet the heroine for the first time and instantly love her, making her feel welcome and valued as her own family never did. The mom who cooks up a storm of roast beef and mashed potatoes and cherry pie; the hard-working dad, the boisterous, teasing brothers, the impish but adorable niece, maybe a wise grandparent.

That does not describe my family. Mine are all crazy. Card-carrying, certifiable nuts. They talk incessantly all at the same time. They like to watch bad TV. They drink too much, they bicker over religion, politics and football, and one black-sheep cousin has been known to steal from houses where she is a guest. My sister obsessively cleans my kitchen (maybe that's not such a bad thing). And the children? Not cute or impish. Scary is the word I would use.

Yet I keep inviting them over, and they keep coming. When they invite me, I go. We share blood and a past, and that counts for a lot.

Everyone in my parents' generation is gone now. Members of my generation are the guardians of the history, the tellers of the stories, the keepers of the sacred photo albums and home movies. Much as I'd like to pretend I don't know them (sometimes), my family is part of me. I probably drive them as nuts as they drive me. But when we gather and tell stories, we remember and honor those who came before us, and we create new memories for the next generation. Reason enough to put up with a bit of craziness.

Spring has sprung

Spring has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest. I actually live in Canada, so I’m even a little further north than the Pacific Northwest. Most people—me included!—associate Canada with long, cold winters but here on the west coast, spring arrives early.

Last weekend my husband mowed the lawn for the first time this year, and this weekend he swept off the patio and set up the patio furniture. Other signs of spring are everywhere, from gardens to duck ponds. Ornamental fruit trees are in full bloom, there are daffodils everywhere, and ducklings will soon be paddling around our ponds.

I’ve lived on the Canadian prairies and I know a thing or two about winter, so I especially savor an early spring. Still, this year we’re worried about family and friends who live in places that still have severe winter weather conditions and the threat of floods and tornadoes. If we could send a little springtime your way, you can be sure we would.

We’ve had a grey Easter weekend and I'm one of the world's worst photographers, but I thought I'd post these pictures anyway. No matter what your weather was like, I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Lee
Lee's website
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