French Toast was probably my favorite breakfast growing up and recently I've been receiving lots of different variations of this popular morning food.  Some with different fruits and spices, some stuffed, some layered, the classic single slice and family casserole style.  It made me wonder, why do we call it "French" toast anyway?  I know it's not really French, or is it?

Wikipedia's etymology says the earliest use of the term was in 1660 and was bread fried with wine, orange juice and sugar.  I'll have to give that recipe a try!  After doing a little more digging through Google, I discovered in French it is actually called "pain perdu" which translates into "lost bread."  It was a popular recipe in many countries, not just France, as a way of making stale bread palatable.  The English call it "gyspy bread" and I think I'd like to adopt that term from now on ... sounds like breakfast with an adventurous edge!

While there are many different adaptations, the basics remain the same.  A simple batter of eggs and milk.  And I like to add a dash of vanilla, the way my Mom always made it.

This recipe comes from Diane Kenniston Hill Inn Bed & Breakfast in Maine. She likes to make her French Toast with shell or heart shaped homemade biscuits.  In lieu of biscuits I used some Texas sized bread.

Here's what you'll need:

The basics ... milk, eggs, bread, butter

Add to that a dash of vanilla, some sugar, walnuts, strawberries, and maple syrup.

You can do this same recipe with whole slices of bread instead of heart shapes.  Or, if you're like me, next time you walk through the baking section of your store and see all the cookie molds you'll dream of French Toast in the shape of flowers, butterflies, kittens, birds, musical notes and the State of California.  (That last one was random, I know)

If' you're going to make it into a shape, cut your bread first ...

Then add the milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla to a large bowl and mix well.

Pour mixed batter into a shallow bowl for dipping.

Then start layering into a 13x9 inch baking dish.

Slice your strawberries and layer on top of the bread.  Isn't this starting to look like a lovely Valentine's Day breakfast?

Next, put a layer of bread on top of the strawberries, sort of like a sandwich.

I poured the extra batter over top to fully soak them in eggy goodness.

Sprinkle with walnuts and add a dab of butter to the top of each toast.

Bake at 325 for about half an hour.

And you'll have plenty of left over crust to make bread pudding ... or feed the ducks.

When they're finished, slice around the edge of the hearts with a knife and serve individually with strawberries and maple syrup.

Doesn't it look like it's sticking it's tongue out?

That is, if French Toast could sass back and actually had a  tongue.

Mmm.  Delish.

Heart Shaped Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

I've been craving gingerbread this week and decided to try and make it into an acceptable breakfast ... other than a cookie dipped in coffee.  I've even been on the hunt for a gingerbread man pancake mold ... but I've only found cookie cutters which are a bit too small. Thanks to the Google Gods I did find eons of gingerbread pancake recipes.  So many I didn't know which one to try.  Some with raisins, some with currants, some with cocoa, but I just wanted to stick with a basic gingerbread pancake.

I eenie-meenie-minnie-mowed and clicked through on one of the first listings that came up.  I found one on CDKitchen.com and gave it a whirl (with a couple of my own modifications and additions  ... please take note).

So here's a holiday breakfast recipe that will be both memorable and delicious.

The full list of ingredients at the bottom of the post.  I later added an additional cup of flour, teaspoon of ginger and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Start with adding your dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.

Next, add your wet ingredients to another bowl and whisk together.

During one of my health nut kicks a couple of years ago I had a nasty introduction to molasses.  You see, I thought it was syrup.  I was going to be healthy and low cal by adding that to my pancakes.  And I drenched my sweet little pancakes in the black, rust-flavored tar.  Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh.

My boyfriend was a champ.  He didn't complain. Ate them all.  Me ... I made some toast instead.

Molasses on milk.

My new art project.

Blend together.  Starting to look like chocolate milk, huh?   Don't drink it though.

Pour wet batter into your large  dry ingredients bowl with the flour, spices, etc.

You may have to scrape the bottom of the bowl a bit.  Molasses doesn't play nice with others.

Blend.

Well bah-humbug.  The batter was runny.  I dipped my finger in and took a taste. This was a no make-up-work-in-my-pajamas day, so I have no photographic evidence of the finger-licking.  But I'll tell you that it tasted like molasses.  Ugh. Now I'm feelin a bit scroogey.

I followed the recipe EXACTLY!   To a T!    (indecently, where does the phrase "to a T" actually come from?)

Anyway, it was a runny, molasses flavored mess.

So, I added a little more love that it needed.

An extra cup of flour.  That helped with the consistency.

Now to put molasses in its place and tweak the flavor.  I added an additional tsp of ginger and a 1/4 cup of sugar.

Mmm.  That helped a whole lot!  Dipped my finger again and now the flavor is more like a gingerbread cookie.  It's ready to go be made into round cake perfection.

A little butter.

A little batter.

A little bubbly.

Flip.

Now that's a leave-for-santa worthy pancake.  I could eat it like a cookie.  But instead of eating with my fingers I'll fancy it up with a bit of butter, maple syrup and festive star fruit.  And of course, a fork and knife.  Still in my pajamas though.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Pancakes

Ingredients

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg, beaten

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1) Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  (Flour, spices, sugar, baking soda and powder)

2) In a separate bowl, beat the egg  then add and mix together the milk, molasses and oil.

3) Add wet mixture to dry mixture and blend until combined.  Using a ladle or measuring cup, scoop 1/4 cup of batter onto  a hot greased griddle or skillet. You can use non-stick spray or butter. (I prefer butter for flavor)

4) Turn when bubbles form on the surface and the edges are golden brown.

5) Serve with butter, syrup and festive starfruit.

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A few weeks ago, Brian met a couple in Mount Dora (our hometown) that were taking a vacation from the vacation business.  They are the innkeepers at the Penny Farthing Bed & Breakfast in St. Augustine.  So naturally, when we were driving through St. Augustine last week we had to stop in for a cup of coffee and say hello.

I have to confess ... I was a little confused about who "Penny" was and I kept adding an extra syllable to the end of their name as in "Farthing-ton."  I've since been enlightened.  Take a look here at the video.

Marie (not Penny), gave me a fantastic recipe for a Berry French Toast.  I love breakfast made in a ramekin since you end up with nice little individual servings of goodness ... and ... if you have extra you can just put a lid on it or cover in saran wrap, stick it in the refrigerator and save it for later.

Here's what you'll need!  Simple ingredients ... yum-mee flavor.  I used some fresh raspberries and also some froze mixed berries since berries are not in season at the moment ... I had to elbow a few people at the grocery store to even get my hands on a pint of raspberries!

I could actually just take the bread, cheese and raspberries and go have a picnic!

When we visited Paris, everyone had a baguette in hand, under arm, or in a basket.  It was like, if you didn't have one you were missing out!  That memory pops up every time I slice into "French" bread.

My large cutting board was in the sink, dirty, and my no-slip cutting board was in the dishwasher ... also dirty!  So, I used my simple el cheapo cutting board and placed a dish towel underneath to prevent sliding.  It also came in handy for cleaning up the crumbs afterward!

You'll need four slices, and you want them to be in small bite sized bits.  The quickest way to do that is to cut it in half ... then flip one side over so you have the crusts facing the same way.  That makes it easier to slice through.

Also slice up some cream cheese.  Careful ... it's sticky!

After you have the bread and cheese chopped and ready to go, layer them into the ramekins. Bread first, then berries, then cheese, then more bread.  Cause, ya know, you can never have enough bread!

Mix together 3/4 cup of milk, 3 tsp of maple syrup and 2 eggs.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the layered bread, cream cheese and berries.  Cover and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

The next morning, bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

I think I followed directions pretty well all except for one ...

... greasing the ramekins!!!  AAAAAARRRRGGGH!

Since I made a crappy move by forgetting to grease my ramekin, it made me think of a friend of mine's son who had a great phrase for making a turd.  And that was ...

Taaaah Daaaaah!

Well, it might not look pretty, but it tasted GREAT!

Good thing I had a few more to spare.  We'll just keep them in the bowl, shall we?

A little dash of some berry sauce ...

(I had this sauce on hand. Marie at Penny Farthing has a couple ingredients listed below to make some sauce from scratch)

... and now we've got some good looking AND great tasting Berry French Toast.

Here's the whole recipe.  Enjoy!

Berry French Toast

from Penny Farthing Inn

Ingredients

4 slices of French bread cut in 1/2 inch cubes

3/4 cup raspberries or blueberries

2 ounces of cream cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3 tbsp maple syrup

(Sauce)

2 tbsp raspberry preserve

1 cup maple syrup

Directions

(prepare night before)

1) Grease two ramekins and line with half the bread cubes

2) Cover with raspberries or blueberries (or both!), top with cream cheese and cover with remaining bread.

3) Beat together eggs, milk & 3 tablespoons of maple syrup.

4) Pour egg mixture over bread/cream cheese/berry filled ramekings and place in the fridge over night.

5) In the morning, bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes.

6) Cut round the edge of the ramekin and turn the French toast over onto a plate.  Cover with sauce and serve!

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Any snack, dessert or breakfast containing  either bananas, chocolate or nutella (or God help me all 3 ingredients!) is surely going to push me into my "I'm not sharing" mode.  Containing bananas, maple syrup and pecans ... this breakfast is one of those.  Thankfully for my waistline it is too big and too rich to eat all on my own.

After trying out this recipe I'm convinced there is a way to incorporate it into my campfire cooking repertoire.  Just got to work out the not-having-an-oven in-the-woods part.

This delicious recipe was sent to me from Margi with C.W. Worth Bed & Breakfast in Wilmington, NC.  I absolutely love Wilmington. I have great memories of this historic waterfront town while visiting there often while my cousin went to school at UNCW.   Their ghost walk happens to be one of my favorites.  That guide had me shaking in my boots from his stories and tall tales.  A little history mixed in with a little adrenaline is a great way to entertain.

Anyway.  Back to the Banana Upside Down Pancake.  To start, you'll need to whip up a basic pancake batter found here: Classic Pancake Batter.  The only difference is, add about a capful or two of vanilla to your batter.

Along with your classic pancake batter, you'll need a cup of maple syrup, 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans, vanilla extract, about 3 bananas sliced, and one whole stick of butter.  Yes, one whole stick.  Told ya this would be good!

Margi uses a cast iron skillet.  Since I don't have one, I used an oven safe pan.  Now that I think about it, I probably could have used a little less butter since the cast iron would have absorbed more.  But ... since when could you EVER use too much butter?

When the butter is melted, coat the pan with a pastry brush and add maple syrup.  Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Next place coat the bottom of the pan evenly with banana slices.

Then cover your bananas with the chopped pecans.  I think I went a little nuts with the nuts.  That looks like a little more than a 1/2 cup in my hands.

Next pour your pancake batter on top of the nuts and bananas and cook for about 5 minutes on the stove top.  Then add to your oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool.  Then invert onto a large platter or plate and enjoy!

I smothered mine in more syrup, and then let it soak up the syrup for another 5 minutes.  As you can imagine that made it incredible moist and really ... really ... sweet.

My neighbors Jim & Ana came over for dinner and I served up some of this left over pancake with vanilla ice cream on the side.  Jim said it reminded him of a clafoutis, which is a French term for basically "fruit and batter."  Well, it may be.  If you want to get all fancy schancy.  But really it is just a simple and easy recipe to make.

C.W. Worth House Bed & Breakfast

Banana-Pecan Upside Down Pancake

Ingredients

1 stick butter

1 Cup Maple Syrup

2-3 bananas

1/2 Cup chopped toasted pecans

1 recipe of your favorite pancake mix

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) In heavy cast iron skillet, over low heat, melt 1 stick of butter and brush the sides of the skillet with the butter using a pastry brush.

3) Then add 1 cup of Maple syrup and remove from heat.

4) Slice 3 to 4 bananas evenly to completely cover the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle chopped toasted pecans over that.

5) Mix up pancake mix and add vanilla.

6) Pour batter slowly over the bananas/nuts and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.  Then bake in oven for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

7) Let cool, then invert on large platter or rimmed cookie sheet and serve.

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