The Ladies' Tea Guild
Showing posts with label French toast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French toast. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

French Toast: a dish for breakfast or tea!

image from AntiqueClipArt.com
Although I always think of French Toast as a breakfast item, apparently it is more versatile. I love to look through old cookbooks and women's magazines, because they have so many "new" ideas that deserve to be re-visited again! I am really starting to research recipes that are meant to use up leftovers or things that might otherwise be wasted, like the heels of bread. French toast has been around for a longer time than I thought; it seems to be Victorian! Imagine French Toast on the 19th century tea table: this recipe for French Toast is from Peterson's Magazine, from the year 1867.

French Toast.

Beat four eggs very light, and stir with them a pint of milk; slice some baker's bread, dip the pieces into the egg, then lay them in a pan of hot lard, and fry brown; sprinkle a little powdered-sugar and cinnamon on each piece, and serve hot. If nicely prepared, this is an excellent dish for breakfast or tea.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And, while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
-- William Cowper (1731-1800)
"The Winter Evening" (Book Four), _The Task_ (1784)