I’ve had a horrible week. I know, nobody wants to hear from a whiner, but seriously it’s been really crap.
He ordered a new jumbo drive which would become my new brain and worked feverishly to get everything working. Yes, I had to reinstall all the software. What a pain in the neck.
Then, just when I thought everything was hunky dory (I love that phrase) the power went out. It happens fairly often and one day they’ll find the cause but until then, it can be chaos. When the power came back on the surge killed my new c: drive. Back to the store we went. In addition to being expensive, imagine being offline from Friday to Wednesday! I had 973 emails to wade through today. Yes, most are mails I don’t need.
I needed some comfort food. I had this lovely loaf of bread I’d made and all I could think of was thick slices, soaked in custard for hours, gently fried and then placed in the oven til the custard set. THEN slathering it with real maple syrup and eating til I exploded. (ok maybe not exploded but I wanted my fill) I know we’re not supposed to reward ourselves with food but come on, a computer crash is pretty catastrophic!
In addition to the computer problems, I was a bit homesick for my American roots. Not often and it’s never a depressing thought but sometimes I miss my family and old friends back in the states. This was one of those weeks. It was my son’s birthday and I knew all the celebrating that would be going on and I would miss it – again.
Whenever I feel this way I always sort it out by making a truly American meal – memory food. This week I’ve done ribs, bbq beans, corn on the cob and cole slaw but I was still feeling a twinge. I got up and kept thinking about French toast – baked French toast.
I used to make this by dipping the bread fairly lightly and then frying it and then eating but one day I left the bread in the custard mix when the phone rang and thought I’d have to toss it out because it would never cook through. Not wanting to waste anything I fried the toast til golden brown and popped it in the oven until I could see the toast rise.
It was SO good. It’s the only way I make French toast now. I love the yummy soft custard inside. I’ve now had my American fill and my computer is back in operation but I’ve got a few programs yet to install.
While I was offline I made some really good dips – the beet dip was especially nice and I made ketchup. I have always wanted to make it and this week I did. I couldn’t work on my computer so I ketchuped. It’s not called ketchup in Australia – it’s called tomahto sauce. So maybe I’m still in the midst of birthday week homesickness. Time will tell.
Here’s how I make my baked French toast.
- 6 thick slices of white or French bread (use what you have)
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (the good stuff)
- ½ tsp allspice (nutmeg would work too)
- butter for frying the bread
- real maple syrup
- Preheat oven 400F 200C
- Mix the custard ingredients with a whisk.
- Soak bread until all liquid has been absorbed (you could do this the night before to save time)
- Fry the bread lightly on both sides until golden brown on medium heat (2 to 3 minutes per side)
- Place on a baking tray for 12 to 14 minutes.
- Serve with maple syrup or fruit