Pumpkin French Toast

**Update: I stumbled upon the recipe on the PPK site, so I've linked to it below. This recipe is meant for the world to see, obviously.**

If you've read basically any post here, you know of my deep and abiding love of brunch. 

This weekend, I got a particular kind of brunch craving. I knew I wanted to have a Thanksgiving-related brunch food, but that we'll be busy on American Thanksgiving Day with cooking an enormous meal to compensate for how we're not eat someone else's enormous meal. Instead of interrupting my live-cam stream of the Macy's parade (easier to find on the internet than you might think) and my cooking marathon, we decided to have a small brunch today with just the two of us. I also realized that I had everything on hand to make the Pumpkin French Toast from Vegan Brunch, which I have to say is my all time favorite cookbook. Everything in it is a winner, from the scrambles to the entrees, to the muffins, to the other sides. I have plans to make the vegan sausage pastry puffs and the smoked almond gravy as Breakfast For Dinner later this week (drool). 

We decided to pair the french toast with a bottle of Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale that Kira gave us back when we ran the half marathon in Fort Wayne. She told me that it was kind of a novelty beer, but that it paired well with brunch, and I thought, "Sold."

Unfortunately, I have to report than neither of us liked this beer basically at all. The smoky flavor is really strong, but it's also pretty sweet. It was fun to try, but I wouldn't seek it out again. However, if you love smokey beers, then this might be your thing. You can read a more in depth but also more negative review over on Cheaper Than Therapy. I think my favorite moment while drinking it was when John said, "Man, something about this beer reminds me of kindergarten." It's the combination of that bacony, greasy, but also syrupy smell that he apparently associates with his elementary school cafeteria. I feel like there is someone out there who this beer is made for, who loves that sausage-waffle-smokey taste.

The french toast was pretty great, and typical of Isa Chandra. The pumpkin takes the place of eggs in the batter, and her spice blend was particularly savory. We both felt like the slices benefitted from a generous sprinkle of confectioners sugar and some syrup. I'm pretty sure we'll make it again over the holidays.

Also,

IT'S THANKSGIVING THIS WEEK WHICH MEANS THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that my fall races and conferences are over, I can devote the rest of my blog posts in 2012 to all things HOLIDAYS. I'm getting excited.