Phew….I made it.
I wish I had a sign that showed how far I really traveled but this was the only picture that I seemed to be able to snap as I whizzed by them on the road. I think in total I traveled about 2,900 miles to crash-land in Boston. The trip was a crazy, whirlwind of driving mixed with some laughs, some frustrations, and a whole lot of fun. I saw national parks, wildlife, cities of all sorts, small towns, mountains, plains, plateaus, rivers, lakes, monuments, museums, and waterfalls. This country sure has a lot to offer.
One thing I don’t miss about being on the road…..the lack of a kitchen. Boy, has it been good to get back to my happy place. First, I made meatloaf and next, I roasted a chicken. From the chicken carcass my mom and I made chicken soup. And, from there I made French toast.
For the record, wow…..best French toast I have ever made. Yup, it was crunchy, creamy, and perfectly sweet.
I took a little tip from Alton Brown and utilized my oven to make this French toast extra special. I happen to catch an episode of Good Eats and the subject for the day was nothing other than French toast. I happen to be a serious French toast lover. In my gluten eating days whenever I went out to breakfast you can be sure I would order French toast. I love everything about it. The gooey center. The crunchy exterior. The sweet syrup topping (or whipped cream.) And, who could forget the light dusting of powdered sugar? Paired it with some smokey, salty bacon and I say it’s my breakfast of champions.
To make this dish I started by preheating to my oven to 375 degrees and with two eggs.
Did ya catch the spots on those eggs? I bought these at Trader Joe’s the other day and silly as it is I love brown, spotted eggs better than the plain old white ones. When I stumble to my kitchen in the a.m. and open my fridge and see spotted eggs I smile a little. I takes me back to being a little kid collecting chicken eggs. Yep, that’s right. I grew up on a farm and I loved every minute of it.
Okay, back to the French toast. Crack your eggs into a dish and add:
- about 3/4 c of milk, soy milk, almond milk, or whatever milk you would like to use
- a tablespoon or so of brown sugar, sugar, honey, agave nectar, or any sweetener you like for that matter
- a dash of cinnamon
- splash of vanilla extract
Whisk all the ingredients together and now let’s start to dunkin’.
It’s best to start with day old bread or at least some bread that has been dried out a bit. Me, I toasted my bread in the toaster because of course, I did not set any out the night before to dry. I toasted my bread on the lowest setting a few times just to get some of the moisture out. You don’t want to see much or any color on your toasted bread since your bread is going to be fried in a pan and then baked in an oven. You’ll end up with a rock instead of tender toast.
Since my bread was no all that dry I soaked it in the egg mixture for about 30 seconds on each side. If yours is really dry you can soak it for a little longer to get all the egg-y goodness in the bread. From there I set my bread on a sheet pan to rest for a few minutes while I heated and buttered a pan. When the butter has melted and is good and hot I browned each side of the toast. I’d say I pan-fried each side for about 45 seconds. You want each side to be golden brown. Dont’ worry about the inside not being done. The oven will do that work for you.
When all your bread has been browned place them back on your sheet tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Top your creations with whatever toppings you like. (I slathered pb and maple syrup on mine. Yum.) 
Huh, I am ashamed to say that I did not know the “drying of the bread” trick. It totally makes sense! I bet this tip will create the best french toast I’ve ever had. I will have to try it.
Oh and P.S.
I LOVVE spotted brown eggs better than white ones too.
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