Santa Rosa Plum Galette

Again from the 150 Best...it was not very difficult to make, the pastry was easy and very very good, and I will most definitely make that again. Some notes: LINE THE OVEN WITH FOIL. So glad I did. Juice leaks out. It was VERY tart, maybe it was just my plums, but the full dose of sugar was not enough. Overall it was a success, however I would not make it with plums again, but will try maybe fresh peaches, or pears.
Another note: when all said and done, it looks like a small animal was slaughtered on my counter, at least that's what it looked like out of the corner of my eye...eww.

Tortilla Soup with Chicken and Avocado

This was "life changing" soup, and will always remain in my most favorite of favorites. A lot of people underestimate chicken thighs, but they have so much flavor, and they really add a lot to this recipe. For me just the right amount of spice. It burns without being painful, but you can adjust the chili powder to your liking. Josh loved this, even with the avocado, which he normally doesn't like. Better the second day. Seemed complicated the first time, but the second time we made this, I could almost do it without looking at the book.

NOTES: I found that adding the corn and beans and tomatoes to the bowls first made the soup cold too fast. I put it in the pot so they could be hot as well. Keep cilantro and lime and avocado out as a garnish as the recipe suggests.

Bayless's Black Pepper French Toast

After we realized so many of our all time favorite recipes were all from the same book (via TONI sharing!) my friends and I decided to cook our way through our favorite cookbook "The 150 Best American Recipes" By Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens. Lets just get started! We're only posting reviews of recipes so that it's not a problem with copyright (right girls? or not? let me know, maybe it doesn't matter...) Maybe we will convince you to buy it too. Last night Josh made Bayless's Black Pepper French Toast, which is actually from the editors forward! So technically it's not from the 150. D'oh. Anyway, it was really yummy. He used Challah bread, which was perfect for it. If your worrying about the pepper making it spicy, don't. It was a slight after taste, and not spicy. A nice compliment to the honey. Big thick slices, just the right amount of crusty and soft.