Brunch Recipe - Patt's Stuffed Baked French Toast

Happy Wednesday everyone! I'm sure many of you are busy with getting ready for the big day tomorrow. My birthday! Seriously, tomorrow is my birthday. Oh yeah, and a little holiday called Thanksgiving. Didn't you know that the Macy's Parade is really a parade for my birthday? LOL

I am going to my sister's tomorrow, so I don't have to do any cooking. I'm bringing the sodas. She is a great cook and always does a great job. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family. My brother in law will be deploying to Iraq sometime in the next few weeks, so this will be our last holiday with him before he leaves. So, tomorrow we will be thankful for him and the time our family has together.

We also will be thankful for little Logan, the newest member of our family. His first Thanksgiving. I've got a cute little Thanksgiving sleeper for him. I'll try to post a picture of him in it at some point.

So, I guess we will stick some candles for me in the pumpkin pie. I'm glad that my birthday isn't always on Thanksgiving. But, the years it is I certainly don't want birthday cake with turkey. Since we don't eat pumpkin pie year round, it is still cool having candles in that.

I hope all of y'all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

So, on to my recipe post. This is a recipe I got from my friend, Patt. With the cold winter days here, this one sounds like a real winner.

STUFFED BAKED FRENCH TOAST
16-20 slices country potato bread (or can use cinnamon raisin and don't add cinn.)
6 large or extra large eggs
4 cups half & half (do not sub. milk -- it won't set up)
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
dash nutmeg
cinnamon (if using potato bread)
Filling:
16 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large or extra large eggs
grated lemon rind (about 1 tsp. or so)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups fresh fruit (we like blueberries best)
Spray PAM on 9x13 baking dish. Cut crusts off bread and arrange half the slices in dish so the entire bottom is covered. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, half & half, vanilla, sugar. Pour half of this liquid over the bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.
In another separate bowl beat cream cheese until well creamed, add vanilla, eggs, lemon rind, and sugar, and mix well. Spread all of it over moistened bread. Put fresh fruit evenly over top of filling.
Arrange the other half of the bread over the top of the filling & fruit. Stir the rest of the egg mixture, in case any undissolved sugar has settled, and pour evenly over bread. Sprinkle with nutmeg and more cinnamon to taste. Cover with foil and let stand overnight in refrigerator. Bake, covered, in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes. Test for doneness with knife in center. Bake 5-10 minutes longer, if needed. (May need even longer for high altitude, especially if you used all extra large eggs). Serve with syrup and powdered sugar.