New Year, New Blog

This isn't my only blog. My other blog rambles on at length about my crazy family, busy job and social events. My real passions are cooking and writing. Figured it was time to create a blog to combine them both so here it is.

I love to cook, love to bake but I'm not *that* good at either. I can make the heck out of some cookies but I'm probably going to burn half of them.

There's a lot of recipes and blogs I read with fantastic ideas but it seems half the time like things get left out. That combined with my inability to follow directions 100% of the time and my easily distracted brain makes cooking an adventure and sometimes a danger.

I digress...It's 2010 and I began this year craving french toast. Actually I ended

2009 craving French toast but held off cooking it until Jan 1. had houseguests who were told we'd be going for breakfast at 11 but since they slept in and I was bored, went to the grocery store and bought the makings for it.

When I got home and finally woke up my guests at noon and informed them I was making French toast, the wife of the couple demanded to know how I was making it.

And of course she had her input...I hate input when I'm cooking. Stubborn...yes, but I'm going to use a recipe or a variant the way I want to, don't need no stinking help.

So here's how I did it and let me tell you, it came out really crazy tasty:

Ingredients:

Loaf of challah bread 9as it turns out, bread is the key)

3 eggs

1.5 cups of half n half

3 tsp cinnamon

Raw sugar (the brown stuff

Crisco for the pan)

How I did it:

• Beat the mess out of the eggs, the add the half n half and cinnamon. I mean really beat it...don't want egg chunks on the toast
• turned a frying pan on medium high
• Put about a tablespoon of butter flavor crisco in the pan and while that was heating, sliced the challah into moderately thick slices. Nothing too thick or too thin. Methinks this is a negotiable thing based on preference.
• I didn't start dunking the bread slices until the pan was relatively hot.
• I dipped each piece into the egg and half n half mixture until coated on each side, let the excess drip off (held it with a fork so it would drip off) then placed in the pan
• Once I placed a piece in the pan, I sprinkled a little raw sugar on the top, not a ton but a little to give a little caramelized sugary goodness
• Cooked each side for 3-4 minutes then removed to a plate on the back of the stove so the French toast would stay warm.

And that's that. It was very well received considering it was my first try at French toast. I made too much and it's in the fridge now...so I plan on taking it to work with me this coming week. Mmmm breakfast all week...a nice change from bagels!