Easy French Toast

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

My love affair with cooking started when I brought home my first cookbook (ordered from the Scholastic books fair at school, naturally).  It was the Better Homes & Gardens New Junior Cookbook!  The image of a red checkered cover with two children on the front will forever be burned into my brain. 

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

There were a few times I found myself talking to other people in college about this cookbook.

Everyone always said they tried the snickerdoodles recipe.

For me, it was the french toast.

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

This here french toast recipe changed my life.

Making French toast at 8 years old was a major life skill to have. A skill my brothers had not yet figured out. A skill that would serve me well in life, but most importantly throughout my childhood,  when I had to barter/bribe my older brothers.  French toast, while we were watching Saturday cartoons, could get me out of washing my dad’s car sometimes. I imagine I easily weaseled my way out of clearing the dishes with a batch of French Toast. We’re Italian. Food is our everything. 

I have to say, that I had a few things preventing me from reaching my french toast potential as a youth. We only ever had whole wheat bread in our house and margarine was the preferred spread of choice. French bread with and butter was reserved for when my parent’s had people over. And BOY DID WE INDULGE.

Now, our french toast is mostly made from sourdough bread (my husband’s favorite bread) and we use real butter.

One Friday night, with a little extra bourbon in my glass, I inadvertently found my first cookbook on for sale Etsy.  It arrive last week!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feast your eyes on some of the illustrations from the book!

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

I posted a video of this on my Instagram stories and a few of you also cooked from this book too!

Do you remember it too??? LOOK AT THE R in FRUIT!!!

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

Super sandwiches!

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com
Cooper has been at home this week from school with a really bad case of poison oak. Our schedules have been thrown off and we’re busy doing a lot of catching up with school work. 

I thought that it would be fun to throw a Shutterbean cooking lesson in the teaching plan while we’re at it.

 

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

(This is an old picture. I would never put a picture of him with poison oak online!)

Yesterday morning we made French Toast together and he said it was one of the best french toasts he’s ever had! It’s an Easy French Toast recipe. Totally simple and uncomplicated.  We’re cinnamon lovers in my house so I add a little bit extra on top of the final result.

It’s a special thing to teach Cooper how to make one of his favorite breakfasts. The best part is that we live in the house I grew up in, so we get to be in the kitchen where I learned how to cook.  We stand in the same exact spot where my mom taught me so many important life skills I use to this day (Thanks, Mom! I owe you!!)

My hope is that he remembers these moments of magic in the kitchen when he takes these skills with him into adulthood. Maybe eating french toast on sourdough bread in his first college apartment will remind him of staying at home and spending quality time with his Mom, who did whatever it took to help him heal and feel better.

One can only hope.

Let’s gather our ingredients!

Today we do an illustration instead of an overhead photo.

 

It’s mostly because I jumped right into teaching instead of shooting.

 

But I really liked how this came out so I might keep playing around with this.

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

We made the french toast together.

With some patience and instruction, we pulled it off.

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

Cooper turned his bananas into a smiley face.

He likes to style his food.

Gee, I wonder where he gets that from?

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

At 8 years old, he did every part of this recipe except for the stove part.

We’re still overly-cautious near open flames and heat.

But we’re learning!

Making French Toast from scratch with kids is a great way to empower them to continue learning in the kitchen! See more on Shutterbean.com

Now he’s ready to surprise me with breakfast in bed the way I surprised my Mom when I was a kid!

Wait. I don’t want maple syrup anywhere near my bed. Nevermind!

If you want to see more about how I work with Cooper in the kitchen, read my Kids in the Kitchen post! 

French Toast

.

serves 2-4

recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens New Junior Cookbook

  • 4 slices bread (stale bread is great for this!)
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 dashes ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for serving
  • syrup, for serving
  • fresh fruit, for serving
  • powdered sugar, for serving

In a bowl, beat eggs with a fork until eggs are frothy. Add milk, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon and beat until well combined. Pour mixture into a pie plate.

Put 1/4 of the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.

Dip one slice of bread into egg mixture, then turn it over to coat the other side. Let sit for a few second and put bread into the skillet. Cook until bottom is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until all the french toast is cooked.

Serve warm topped with maple syrup, butter, fresh fruit and a light sprinkling of powdered sugar.

  • Ronni

    It’s such a joy to see the relationship you have with Cooper. Thanks for sharing that with us.
    The first real food I learned to cook was scrambled eggs. It was my specialty. My handicapped uncle came to stay with us for awhile and I made scrambled eggs for him one time. I may have been around 8 or 9. Even into my adulthood, he would bring up the fact that I made scrambled eggs for him. It’s one of my fondest memories/stories.

  • Leah K.

    “Maybe eating french toast on sourdough bread in his first college apartment will remind him of staying at home and spending quality time with his Mom, who did whatever it took to help him heal and feel better.”

    And I’m crying. I am also 6 months pregnant so that doesn’t help. But, this! This is what I hope to create with my children, life skills but also memories of our time spent together learning and creating.

    You are doing a wonderful job as Cooper’s Mom.

    • Tracy

      What an exciting time for you! I wish you all the best on this journey into motherhood! xo

  • Megan

    I had this book as a child 🙂 Wow, that brought back a lot of memories.

  • Sarah

    French toast was also one of my first specialties! I didn’t have that book, but this book: https://www.amazon.com/Clueless-Kitchen-Cookbook-Teens/dp/1554078245/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488504459&sr=8-1&keywords=Clueless+in+the+Kitchen%3A+A+Cookbook+for+Teens which had a similar recipe. It’s so great to hear him getting excited about cooking and food! Such a great momma!

  • Bri

    You are a continuous inspiration – to your family, you readers, and everything in between! Thank you for sharing a little piece of your everyday with us. It does not go unnoticed!

  • Iris

    I am totally making this today! I love when you post cooking with cooper, I bake often with my 3 year old and while it can be a bit stressful (the mess! Oh god the mess!) I know I am making memories. Frenchtoast was the first thing I ever made by myself, thanks for the trip down memory lane.

  • Leah

    I was so excited to see that book in your post! I had that same one growing up and cooked so many great things from it. I still use the saucepan spaghetti recipe today.

  • Meredith

    I can’t believe you said SNICKERDOODLES! That was the very first thing I ever made in the kitchen as a kid. And now I’m a chef. All hail the power of the snickerdoodle.

  • Jessica

    I had this book!!!!!!! I made the muffins that had a little dollop of jam in them. It’s how I learned not to overheat muffins from my mom!

  • lauren

    That looks like a blast! I have fond memories of helping my mom with carrot cake and lasagna. Those are her signature items and it was exciting whenever she brought the ingredients out for those.
    I have some fond memories of cooking on my own. When I was 7 or so, I brought a no cook cookbook home from the library when my grandmother was watching us after school and made me and my younger sisters eggnog. They were probably 2 and 4 and thankfully I didn’t get anyone sick!
    The first thing I made by myself was eggs at a friend’s house. I was probably too young, but she talked me through turning on the gas stove (gasp), since ya know, she was too scared to do it. After that though, I felt like I could make anything 🙂
    My husband made our 3yo one of those learning towers when he was about 2 and it has been great cooking with him. I got a set of nylon knives and let him practice with one of those. Sometimes it is a mess, other times he will start freaking out of the batter, but in general it is a great time. He will eat or at least try almost anything he helps with. I even find letting him help serve himself works wonders.

  • Traci

    Tracy, I know you mentioned your affection for old cookbooks before. Are you familiar with Persephone Books? They republish forgotten books and they bind them in a way I know you will find beautiful. They have a section called “Cookery Books” and there is one called Kitchen Essays. Possibly a 1920’s version of you…

    http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/grey-books-46/cookery-books/

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