Delicious Vanilla French Toast

Break 4 eggs into a mixing bowl. Add 2/3 cup of Milk, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of orange peel (buy a jar of Spice Islands!!), and add a dash or so of salt.

Slice your bread into 6 slices. Any very good, dense bread is fine, just as long as it isn’t that 40-calorie stuff!!!

Whisk all of your delicious ingredients together. Place your slices together in a shallow pan. A 7 x 11 glass casserole dish seems to fit 6 slices perfectly.

Pour your whisked mixture over the slices of bread. Is your stomach growling yet? And start the coffee will ya?!!

Turn the bread over a few times during the soaking to evenly distribute the mixture. As the bread becomes saturated, it will be in jeopardy of falling apart if you don’t carefully turn the slices, picking them up with both hands to prevent them from tearing. Let them soak for a good 15 minutes or more. Go make your fruit salad, set the table, brew some coffee, read the paper, fry some bacon. Yeah, go fry some bacon!!

Now, melt equal parts of butter and canola oil, a spoonful of each, over medium to medium-sort of high heat in a frying pan. When you pick up your bread slices, there should be very little if any mixture left in the bottom of the dish. The bread slices should have soaked up all the french toast mixture.

Now, place the bread slices in your hot frying pan and cook until golden brown on each side. It will smell totally awesome when you turn them. Be sure not to overcook them. If you can’t put all the slices of bread in the pan at once, cook as many as you can, put them on a dish and cover them with foil to keep them hot while the other slices are cooking.

Now, does this sound totally gorgeous or what? (Is it possible to have a gorgeous breakfast?) Hmmm. I’ll have to think about that – while I’m wolfing down this French Toast. Now, where’s the syrup? …

(This recipe courtesy of my dear friend Beth Sollars – the Singingirl Cooks Gal!)