Fat Cat, Our Courtyard and Honey Toasts

It was a lazy, rainy Sunday yesterday. Our friend who lives in the courtyard, Fat Cat, was in agreement. He is extraordinarily fat and loves his full figure, he is always basking with his corpulent stomach on display for rubs.

This is our lovely courtyard...



We are so lucky to have our large windows face this quite seclusion rather than the loud city streets. It makes an enormous difference! It is so quite and with the plants, I feel immediately relaxed when I walk through the two locked gates (safety!) into it. The second floor window above Fat Cat is our bathroom.

Since I have been sick for over a month, the dreary weather helped justify spending the day in our apartment, excluding a quick trip to the boulangier for brunch, and it was the most necessary recovery day ever. I finally feel just a little better! Yay!

The boulangier up the street we go to for our fresh and tasty baguettes.

This is a breakfast treat I would recommend to everyone, everyone, everyone! My co-worker Elizabeth Tufts, who is an absolutely lovely woman from the south of England who married a Spanish man, showed me this recipe that her Spanish mother-in-law would make on special family occaisions - Honey Toasts!

Honey Toasts

1. Slice a fresh baguette and soak the pieces in a mixture of some cream or milk and about a teaspoon of cinnamon. Beat two eggs in a shallow dish and set aside.
2. Begin heating a tablespoon or two of oil in a frying pan. In another small saucepan, heat a couple tablespoons of honey with a bit of water to thin out the syrup. 
3. When the oil is hot, dip the bread in the egg and transfer to pan, cooking a few minutes on each side until browned. 
4. Individually dip each side of toasts in honey mixture and eat while hot!

These really are delicious- a crisp, crunchy crust, smooth and custardy in the middle. Served with some salty ham and fresh fruit - the most perfect brunch!