RECIPES:

Fresh Peach French Toast Bread Pudding

Maple Bacon

Fruit and Nut Muesli Bars

New shoes always announced the start of a new school year. My mother would buy us new sneakers the week before Labor Day, and the agonizing wait to wear them would begin. My older brother and I would lace them up and place them beside our new, carefully planned first-day-of-school outfits. Sometimes our mom would let us try them on and walk around the house for a few minutes, but we always had to take them off again so as not to scuff them or get them dirty. We would stroke them, imagine how we’d look wearing them. Then my brother and I would compare the “treads” on the soles—whose were cleaner, whose were more interesting, and, most importantly, whose were more likely to make us run faster. Getting ready to go back to school might as well have been getting ready for Christmas.

I want my own children to look forward to the start of school as much as I did. If they can love learning, regardless of their ages and where they are, then I believe they will succeed. I think the best way to foster their love for learning is to celebrate and show my appreciation for it.

A fellow blogger, Stephanie Nielsen, hosts a back-to-school dinner each year for her kids. She inspired me to do something similar. Our Back to School Breakfast—or as I like to call it, our Education Celebration—began the night before. My children set out their clothes and packed their lunches, while I prepared the French toast, raspberry syrup, and Fruit and Nut Muesli Bars. As soon as I woke up the next morning, I placed the French toast and bacon in the oven. Breakfast was ready by the time the kids were out of the shower and ready for the day.

Celebrating the first day of school in your house might work best as a breakfast like ours, but you could also celebrate the evening before. Use the time at the table to help ease any first-day-of-school anxieties and to share personal stories from your own school days.

variations on a theme:

To avoid morning chaos, host a special breakfast-for-dinner the night before.

Fresh Peach French Toast Bread Pudding

The inspiration for this bread pudding comes from the Yardley Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Manti, Utah. Serves 6

6 medium peaches, sliced and peeled

1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup, plus 2 tablespoons

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup milk

1⁄2 cup heavy cream

4 eggs, well beaten

1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1⁄2 teaspoon pure almond extract

6 thick slices artisan bread

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Raspberry Syrup (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spread peaches out in a single layer in a medium casserole dish or a large pie plate. Combine 1⁄4 cup maple syrup, melted butter, cinnamon, and lemon juice in a small bowl and pour over peaches.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons maple syrup, milk, heavy cream, eggs, nutmeg, and extracts. Place bread slices in the mixture and press down so they soak up mixture.
3. Arrange soaked bread on top of the peaches. Pour as much remaining mixture over the bread as will fit in the dish without overflowing.
4. Place the dish on a baking sheet to catch any drips, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and bake for 20–25 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar, and serve with Raspberry Syrup.

Raspberry Syrup

12 ounces frozen raspberries, defrosted

1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup

Mix the ingredients together and serve, or place in a blender and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Maple Bacon

I was never much of a fan of bacon until I discovered this method of baking it. It’s sweet and crunchy and salty all at once. What’s not to love? Serves 6

1 (12-ounce) package thickly sliced all-natural bacon

1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet, and set a cooling rack on top.
2. Lay the strips of bacon on the cooling rack. Brush each strip with maple syrup. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until crisped to your liking.

get creative:

Set goals for the coming school year. Give each child a piece of paper and a pen or some crayons, and have them write down what they hope to accomplish in the months ahead. Seal each child’s goals in an envelope to be opened and enjoyed on the last day of school.

Fruit and Nut Muesli Bars

Make these treats the night before, and slip them into the kids’ lunchboxes along with a love note. One of the beauties of food blogging, is the opportunity to share our ideas with the world, and learn from other talented people as well. I learned this trick—creating a syrup out of sugar, butter, and honey to make chewy granola bars—from Lauren Brennan, of laurenslatest.com, who got the idea from Rachael Ray. Makes 16 bars

11⁄2 cups quick oats

1 cup crisp rice cereal

1 cup mixed nuts

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup evaporated cane syrup or brown sugar

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1⁄3 cup honey

Pinch of kosher salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, combine oats, crisp rice cereal, nuts, and dried fruit.
2. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine evaporated cane syrup, butter, honey, and salt. Stir constantly until the mixture reaches 220ºF on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over the oats mixture, and stir to coat well.
3. Press mixture firmly into an 8 x 8-inch square pan, and let sit for 2 hours or overnight. Slice into bars and wrap each in parchment paper. Place one in each lunchbox, and store the rest in an airtight container.

books to inspire:

On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Splat the Cat, by Rob Scotton

Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School, by Nathan Hale

music to set the scene:

Overture to The School for Scandal, by Samuel Barber

Rodeo—Four Dance Episodes, by Aaron Copland

“Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning,” by Irving Berlin