French Toast

Merrick made his first dinner for the family the other night. He made french toast! Our church has a food pantry that receives day-old bread from Panera, and often they have more bread than they can give out to food pantry clients in the week, so we take some home. This is the best kind of bread for french toast - not necessarily Panera, but any kind of bread that is a few days old - starting to get a little dry, but not crispy. We like white bread best for french toast, but wheat bread also makes very good french toast - just has a different flavor. Old hot dog, hamburger, or other buns also make great french toast!

Ingredients:
bread
eggs
milk
sugar
salt
cinnamon (optional)
vanilla (optional)
butter (for frying)

It's really pretty hard to mess up french toast. I use about 1 egg for every cup of milk, so for our family, I usually crack 3 eggs and add about 3 cups of milk. I throw in a bit of sugar (maybe up to a tablespoon) and a pinch of salt. Sometimes for fun, I'll add a bit of cinnamon (1/2 tsp or so) and some vanilla extract (1/2 tsp or so). These aren't really necessary, as just plain old french toast tastes great, too.

Beat the eggs and add the milk, then add any other ingredients if you wish. Preheat a large skillet or frying pan (I like to use an electric griddle) and run a stick of butter over the hot pan to get a bit of butter everywhere. Then dunk a piece of bread into the egg/milk mixture. Be sure it's completely covered, but don't leave it in there very long, or it will start to fall apart. Quick and gentle is the key here. Then take the bread out and put it on the hot pan. Fry for a few minutes until it starts to brown, then turn over to fry the other side.

Most folks like to eat it with butter and syrup. I happen to prefer butter & powdered sugar. Some even like brown sugar! Be creative! Enjoy! :)