Saturday, December 18, 2010

Sundays In My City #57 - Food & Giveaway!

$80 CSNStores.com Gift Certificate.

Travel the World with Unknown Mami.

Armed with twelve dozen eggs and five loaves of fresh challah bread, I entered Godson's middle school classroom on Friday to assist him in a cooking demonstration that consisted of teaching a group of very fun, and slightly hyper, 13-14 year old guys how to crack eggs and make Cinnamon French Toast.

Getting hands washed and actually clean was the first challenge that seemed more like herding a litter of kittens but eventually all were scrubbed and covered in aprons (yes, I made them wear aprons) so Godson could get started.

I don't know if it was the promise of food with maple syrup or their actual interest in cooking, but the group quieted down and focused, and I mean really focused, on the task at hand-- Egg cracking. And they did a great job! Only one egg landed on the floor and the rest managed to make it into bowls with a minimal amount of egg shells.

The French Toast recipe was explained and measured accurately and eventually the end result was a delicious smelling and tasting treat...

In the interest of student privacy, this is the best photo I could share.

Here's the recipe courtesy of William Sonoma:

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray or melted butter for cooking

6 large Eggs

2 cups Whole Milk

1 Tablespoon (Tbsp.) Vanilla Extract

1/2 teaspoon (tsp.) Ground Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon (tsp.) Grated Nutmeg

2 Tablespoons (Tbsp.) firmly packed Brown Sugar

1 large loaf of Challah - Cut into 1” thick slices

Butter and Maple Syrup for serving


Directions:

-In a large bowl, using a handheld whisk, beat the eggs.

-Add milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar and whisk until blended.

-Preheat electric griddle or a large frying pan over medium heat

-Spray griddle/pan with nonstick spray or swirl with melted butter

-While griddle/pan is heating up, dip 1 bread slice into egg mixture and soak, turning once for about 45 seconds on each side. (Make sure the bread doesn’t soak to the point of falling apart.)

-Place bread on preheated griddle/frying pan and cook until golden brown, then flip over bread with a spatula over and continue cooking on the other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Keep warm while you continue to cook remaining bread.


Serve with butter and maple syrup. Serves 4 - 6 people

Godson received high marks for his demonstration and the food was excellent. Even teachers passing by followed their noises into the class for a sampling. In between huge bites and a constant mouthful of food, Godson was pretty proud of himself. So was I.
*******
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Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

50 comments:

  1. Ooh a different french toast recipe. I've never added vanilla or brown sugar before. I can't wait to try it - maybe with Yulekake.

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  2. This sounds absolutely delicious, I really have to try this as the French toast I am used has no sweetness to it.;)
    Have a lovely Sunday,
    xoxo

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  3. What fun...I think! It sounds like all went well and everyone left, with a full tummy.

    Hope the giveaway is headed my way...I did win a poetry book once!

    Goodnight...it's late!

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  4. I love french toast!! Sounds like fun was had by all!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. YUM. I love french toast and this recipe look and sounds delicious. I may have to try it Christmas morning.

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  6. Mmmmmmmm. Syrup! lol. And only one lost egg? Not bad!

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  7. YUM! Cooking with more than 1 other person is BRAVE.

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  8. Yep, my experience is that 13~14 year old boys will do anything for food!!! Heeehehee!

    Don't ya just love and edible presentation!!! Sounds like it was very successful and a yummy blast to boot!

    You are such an amazin' God~Mom girl!

    God bless you and have an excellent day my friend!!! :o)

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  9. You are just the BEST godmother EVER! :-)

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  10. My thoughts as well, Joanna.
    I am a mom who hasn't volunteered in school yet this year, and you just did this!!!!

    awesome.


    and I'm going to get my gang to try this fancier recipe as well during the holidays.

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  11. will you come do a demonstration? smiles. this sounds like a blast an i bet the kids loved it...

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  12. You are the best godmother! What a fun and tasty demonstration!

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  13. damn, I wish I was a kid in that class!. challah rules.

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  14. A wonderful test of your patience. And I do love me some french toast. Most of the time, it doesn't even have eggshells in it.

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  15. It must warm your heart to know many of these young kids will be making breakfast for their families over the break....what a fun day you are a saint in my book JJ!

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  16. Happy Sunday and happy holidays Joanna.

    I love French toasts, yet I have not had them in a while. I am going to try the recipe in the morning!

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  17. What a dear you are for doing this with your godson...how truly precious this gift of your time and attention are to him. It absolutely warms my heart whenever I read of these beautiful acts of kindness you do for those in your life. Happy Sunday dear lady. XX

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  18. He gets a gold star from me! I love this recipe!!

    I agree with everyone else- you are special! I love the imprint you are making on your godson. Many blessings. xo

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  19. This is so wonderful, so sweet of you!
    The recipe looks amazing!
    Thanks for your visit!

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  20. what a wonderful way to spend time with your godson! And I agree that you are one brave woman, cooking for young men with big appetites! Your
    French toast recipe looks a lot like mine, except I've never used Challah--I will try this.

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  21. I'm going to try adding brown sugar next time. Sounds delicious!

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  22. Sounds absolutely yummy! What a fun day to spend with the kidlets like that. Good for you and for your Godson. :)

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  23. Sounds fun and delicious! I'm super impressed that only one egg ended up on the floor!

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  24. What a great day! You made me so hungry for French toast now!

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  25. Sounds like a fabulous time - I love working with kids and teaching them to cook. Getting them cleaned up - not so much, haha.

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  26. Looks very yummy! The kids must have a wonderful time!

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  27. How fun! I would have eaten that activity up. Literally!

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  28. I dated a guy who would dip the bread in powdered sugar after dipping it in a sugary egg mixture with other stuff.......the outside of the french toast was oh so crispy with slightly burned sugar....it was divine. This sounds amazing!

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  29. yummy love french toast..pure comfort food..
    saz x

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  30. What a great lesson. I was just watching Anthony Bourdain last night and he was saying that we should all know how to cook. That home ec classes used to be geared to train women how to be "servants" to the men in their lives and it is a good thing that we are no longer teaching that, but we really missed an opportunity because what we should have done is taught it to both genders.

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  31. Wow, what a great job! Well done by all! This makes me CRAZY hungry for french toast, suddenly! Doh!

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  32. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Godson is one lucky young man to have a Godmother like you! And topping it off, what a delicious recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this, as well as the love you have for this lucky young man. You're an inspiration in more ways that you realize. Merry Christmas from a friend whose heart is warmed by you in chilly Michian!

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  33. Aw, how cute! I can almost smell it from here and my stomach is growling!

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  34. This looks like such a fun day. The Challah bread looks fantastic.

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  35. I'm impressed that you made them wash their hands first. It sounds delicious, making French Toast sounds like a handy lifelong skill!

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  36. I love french toast, but I don't eat it much anymore. Sometimes with butter and strawberries. I had to give up sugar cause it makes me cranky. Oh, well. I'm glad the presentation was a success!

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  37. I bet that smelled so yummy! That's so awesome that Godson got high marks for his cooking demo. You are always so creative!

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  38. Supervising a group of children with eggs is a very brave thing to do!
    Glad it worked out well and the food certainly looked delicious.
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May

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  39. That looks so delish!!!! My school won't let you give anything to the students unless there is a label with list of ingredients on the box. ugh. That means NOTHING homemade (or even kid made) :(

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  40. I could just imagine the yummy smell coming from his classroom. You really are the BEST godmom ever! So glad he has you! : )

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  41. This is really cool. What a special thing for a guy to do with his GodMom--and to encourage young men to cook.

    Excellent.

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  42. What a great thing to share with those students!

    And the recipe looks wonderful.

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  43. Way to go! Wish I could have seen them all dolled up in their aprons.

    Have a wondrous Christmas!

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  44. Yum. What a great fun thing to do with a group of boys.
    Merry Christmas Joanna. xo d

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  45. How did I miss this post? Way to go, godson!! You described this so well I am going to cut the fresh bread hubby made last night and make French toast this morning.

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