French Toast

As we all know, breakfast foods are superior to all other types of foods. McDonald's only recently caught up to the rest of us when they extended their breakfast menu past 10:30 AM. Not to be outdone, I'm serving breakfast for lunch with this delicious recipe.

French Toast

What you'll need:
4 slices of bread
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter

1. Break the eggs into a flat bowl. Add the milk, salt, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well, using a fork.

Here's where things went a little wonky. I didn't have any regular milk, but I did have this delicious vanilla almond milk. So I substituted it for the milk, and cut back on the sugar and vanilla (since the almond milk was already sweetened and vanilla-flavored). At least, that's what I intended to do, but then I splashed more vanilla into the bowl than I meant to, and I misread the recipe and added too much salt. At this point, though, I had my heart set on french toast, so I just pressed onward, self-soothing with the mantra, "But we like vanilla! We're okay!"

Ahem. Moving on.

2. Put a frying-pan on the stove over a small flame. As soon as it's hot, add the butter, spreading it as it melts.

Boom. Nailed it.

3. Lay each slice of bread in the egg mixture and soak it well. 

I tend to feel my best when I limit the amount of gluten and dairy in my diet, so at any given moment I typically have gluten-free bread on hand in my kitchen. I went gluten-free for this step, but you could use any slice of bread that you prefer. I actually think the GF bread is a great option for this recipe because it's already pretty dry and is eager to soak up all of the egg mixture. It's also cut a little thicker than a regular slice of wheat bread, which makes for a little more substantial breakfast-lunch, am-I-right?

4. Then place the soaked slices of bread in the frying-pan and brown first one side and then the other.

Let's see how I stack up to the recipe book. This is, after all, an "Easy Recipe for Beginners" and we're supposed to be having "Fun with Cooking."

10-year-old chef, 1947

28-year-old chef, 2015

Not bad! Even with my modern modifications, this is looking pretty good. I will say my version probably smelled a little more strongly of vanilla. Between the almond milk and my heavy hand with the extract, my kitchen was alarmingly aromatic.

5. Serve immediately with jam or jelly. In the second picture, Gerrie shows you her delicious and wholesome lunch--French toast, jam, a glass of milk and an apple.

I let the toast crisp up a little bit before flipping and serving, and I took some liberty by sprinkling some powdered sugar on top. I did include an apple, though, just like Gerrie.

I could definitely taste the vanilla, but it didn't overpower the toast in the least. Success! I'm glad I didn't give up after step 1--I'm learning that even when things go "wrong," the recipe will probably turn out okay. Probably. After this, my 15th recipe, cooking doesn't seem quite so intimidating.

I'm not sure I would describe this lunch as wholesome, though, but it is pretty delicious. Let's just say McDonald's isn't the only kitchen with a high-caloric breakfast option all day long. Just sayin.

Peanut Sugar Snaps

It's 3 PM and hunger strikes. Do you know where your snacks are?

Look no further than your peanut snack jar! Remember all of our good times with the National Peanut Council? Well, today we're adding another tasty treat to the canon.

Peanut Sugar Snaps
Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well-beaten 
2/3 cup chopped salted or roasted peanuts
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(little loaf dog optional--do you see her?)

1) Cream shortening and peanut butter. Add sugar gradually. Beat in eggs.

2) Add peanuts and extract.
But first, you'll want to chop your peanuts. I used a food processor for this part, while my stand mixer kept the mixing going. You know, with all the mentions they get, KitchenAid should really be sponsoring this blog. Someone get KitchenAid corporate headquarters on the phone. K thanks.

 3) Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into first mixture.

4) Shape in 1-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. 

Ooh, look, an action shot! Honestly, I have no idea whether these are 1-inch balls or what. Does anyone ever take linear measurements when they're baking? Maybe I should keep a ruler handy.

5) Press flat with bottom of small water glass covered with a piece of damp cheese cloth.

I didn't have any cheese cloth handy, so I just took my chances with the glass. It turned out okay and the cookies didn't stick to the glass.

6) Bake in a moderately hot oven at 375 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Here's a thought--I could probably better approximate the size of the cookies by seeing how many cookies my mixture is yielding. I think I ended up with about 3.5 dozen cookies, so probably could have made each ball a little smaller. Guess we didn't need a ruler to tell us that. Oh snap. (See what I did there?)

In hindsight, I also probably could have smooshed each snap a little more with the glass to get them a little...snappier. They turned out chewier than your typical sugar snap, but still tasted great. No one complained in my house.

So there you have it! A snappy solution to satisfy your 3:00 snack needs!

Banana Nut Tea Bread

I'm not sure there's anything better than a warm slice of banana bread on a chilly fall morning. If you're still looking for the perfect recipe for banana bread, then look no further! I've got you covered.

Banana Nut Tea Bread
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, well-beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)

1) Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. No, I didn't spill flour on Sheila's head. She just looks like that.

2) Beat shortening until creamy in mixing bowl. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well.

3) Add flour mixture alternately with bananas, a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Add 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts to mixture (optional).

I've got to say, recipes like these are made so much better with a stand mixer. Never let 'em see you sweat, that's what I almost never say.

And bananas help, too. In fact, Chiquita Banana says: "Banana helps keep bread fresh and moist!" In other words, the bananas are what makes this bread so a-peel-ing.

Haha! Banana joke for the win!

4) Turn into a well-greased bread pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 inches) and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) about 1 hour 10 minutes or until bread is done. Makes 1 loaf.

I've made many loaves of banana bread in my short Millennial/Gen Y existence. It's one of my more common culinary attempts, and, even pre-blog, almost all of them have turned out just fine. Mild banana flavor, moderate moisture, you know--typical banana bread. But this recipe really takes the cake....er...bread? (What's the expression here?) It's flavorful and soft and moist, with a perfect golden crust, which is probably due to all of the unhealthy stuff, like shortening and sugar, but I don't care about that. There's fruit in the name, and it comforts me in times of cold weather. Bread will keep us together.