my 3 favorite places to be selfish

Thank you to all my friends & followers who weighed in online & off in response to my recent Non-Perfect-Mommy confessions. Sounds like there will be an equal number of kids who grow up without the scrapbook bordered memories. I'm glad to know my kids won't be alone and that we are all doing our part to keep the universe in balance :)

As a follow up to that post, I thought I'd pull back the curtain a little more on just where exactly I most prefer to indulge in self... you know, the places I escape to when I'm focused on me & not focusing on my family. Maybe a good mommy blogger wouldn't admit that these places exist. But let's all repeat: Regan is not a good mommy blogger, she's just mommy. 

My favorite selfish spaces:

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Top 5 Reasons I Would Not Be A Good Mommy Blogger

As I mentioned last week, I've allowed myself some room to share thoughts on the blog beyond just my little food world. For those of you who've stuck around and not unsubscribed (thank you), I thought I at least owed a little more explination about where the blog will NOT be going, as well. Parenting is a topic that's constantly on my mind... it's my most all consuming & important & terribly frustrating rewarding job. But a good mommy blogger, I am not. And here's why:

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what's the secret ingredient to great salsa?

The answer to the question may be a bit subjective, but let's give it whirl.

The obvious - if we're talking tomato salsa - is vine-ripe tomatoes. But I said "secret" ingredient, so let's not go for the obvious.

Some might say it's cilantro, and frankly that's not a bad guess. But you have this whole contingent of folks out there for whom cilantro is a real deal breaker. I personally am not one of those people. I love it... but I think given its "controversial" nature, it simply can't be the answer. 

And how about lime juice? Very close there, too. Lime juice really does brighten up most any dish you add it to. But I'm not sure it takes salsa from good to great. 

But these little guys

They do the trick. In case you don't know what they are,

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Baked Cherry French Toast

Forgive the picture

I don't normally post recipes to the blog that I've only had a chance to shoot with Instagram. I love Instagram, but the filters hardly do the food justice.

But today has been beyond dismal in terms of rain, and I never saw a good chance to shoot this. And since I plan to enjoy what remains of the dish as tomorrow's breakfast, I thought I should go ahead share.

A couple of notes: this recipe is based off of this recipe from Cooking Light. If you don't have fresh cherries on hand or are looking for a citrus twist, give it a try. I feel certain you could also try out a different preserve from the strawberry I used and maybe even some different fresh berries.

Are you on Instagram? If so, follow me. I'd love to connect with you there.

Baked Cherry French Toast

by Regan @ The Professional Palate

6030555

Ingredients (6 to 8 servings)

• 1 (12-ounce) sourdough French bread loaf, cut into 12 slices
• 1/2 cup strawberry preserves
• 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted
• 2 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon Turbinado sugar

Instructions

Arrange 6 bread slices in a single layer in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine preserves and fresh cherries. Spoon evenly over bread; top with remaining bread slices.

Combine milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla, stirring with a whisk. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Sprinkle casserole with Turbinado sugar. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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Life Lived in the Car Line

People prepare you for a lot of things about parenthood - the sleepless nights, difficulties potty training boys (boy is that the truth) and inevitable struggles to help your child transition to some level of independence in even the smallest of tasks.

But where was the memo on how insane the whole car pick up line process is?

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welcome to the ?new? professional palate blog

Friends that have been with me here on the blog will recognize that this site has experienced an evolution of sorts. What started out as a somewhat reluctant part of lauching a business website, eventually turned into a passion that lead me to launch other sites and grow an entire business centered around online food and nutrition communications. 

But for the most part, one thing has remained the same: The Professional Palate has pretty much stuck to food. And while I certainly intend to keep all things tasty at the heart of what I share here, the reality is that my life is wrapped up in more than just what I put on the table each day, and I want to record those thoughts on my blog as well. 

You may notice the sight looks a little different as well.

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back to school breakfast

Well, tomorrow is the day. 

This little guy

(who is quickly no longer seeming "little" to me at all) starts "big boy" Kindergarten. I call it that because we are one of those families who opted for Kindergarten twice. In the simplest of terms, last year was "little" Kindergarten. This year is big Kindergarten. My son has an August birthday and rather than make him the youngest in the class (as my husband was growing up), he will be the oldest in his class. I know this choice is not without controversy, but there it is. We wavered some in the past, but now knowing his personality and the challenges that being the youngest in the class offered last year, we're completely confident in our choice.

What we're not confident in is mommy's ability to get through this week without a total meltdown.

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{the recipe redux} no cook meals and a guest blog post

I'm happy this month to have my intern and the newest RD I know, Molly Jones (no relation :), doing a guest blog post for The ReDux.

Molly has been interning with me this summer, assisting with ReDux and various projects I have offline

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