FYI - Female age 14 already in trouble in base skills class for not following "french toast" recipe. But hey everyone loved it and wanted to know what she did... lil nutmeg, sugar, vanilla, cloves and who knows what else she threw in we always eat it up.

I have checked out alot of post and am going to sign her up too. We will definitely look into your suggestions. Oh I can't wait to see what she pops up with this weekend.

I know what you mean about kids getting into trouble by not following the party line.

Friend Wife and I are living historians, as were the kids when they lived at home. So, after spending a weekend literally living in the 18th century the kids had to return to school in the 20th---where the history teachers, more times than not, got it wrong.

So, until they learned to shut up in class, they were always in deep doodoo.

Try and impress on your girl that the secret is to do what the teacher wants, just to get through it. Her job in that class isn't to learn right vs wrong ways of cooking, but to do what the teacher says. Then, at home, she can forget everything the teacher says and be as creative a cook as she wishes.

Just for the record, while I'm not personally big on cloves, the rest sounds terrif! When I make French toast it always includes vanilla and a touch of nutmeg. I leave the sugar out because we top it with syrup, jam, or a fruit butter, which brings enough sweetness to the party for our tastes.

Unlike her teacher, I present this merely as an alternative, not as one way is right and the other wrong. There are no wrong ways to cook!

Something fun she might want to try. Use a cookie cutter to punch out a circle in the middle of the bread. Then soak both pieces in the egg mixture as usual. When the whole piece goes on the griddle, crack an egg into the hole. Gotta be careful when flipping them, cuz the eqq won't be set on top, yet.

But there ya go: French toast and fried eggs all in one package.

BTW, if making several pieces at once it might be easier for her to first crack the eggs into individual small bowls or pudding cups.

Hi KYH,
You are as usual so helpful! Hope your holiday feast was great! Ours was out of this world! Just finished off the turkey for yesterdays lunch. Boy will I be missing the taste of scrumptuous turkey!
One of the things you mentioned above about cracking eggs into a container 1st; is something I allways do when adding eggs to any recipe. It is so much easier to see if a stray piece of shell may have tagged along, as well as picking it out is so much easier if so! I once was invited to eat a georgeous piece of coconut cake - my mouth was watering for this cake - well I took my first big beautiful bite and YUCK Crunched down on a piece of egg shell; just kind of ruined my whole piece of cake and killed my appetite. But as you so beautifully pointed out everything is a learning experience!
Bon Apetite', Cathy

Once upon a time, when there were wolves in Wales and snakes in Ireland, I could hold two eggs in each hand, crack and drop 'em, and nary a piece of shell would appear.

But that was a long time ago, before the aches, pains, and stiffness of age changed things. Alas. Now I think it an accomplishment to crack one egg one handed.

The fact is, pre-cracking eggs really is part of the whole mise-en-place thing. If you get everything ready as part of the prep stage, actually cooking isn't difficult at all; nor time consuming for that matter.

Thanksgiving was grand, Cathy. For the first time in years we stayed home, just the two of us.

Downside is that I don't make a turkey, not just for two. Was going to make a grouse, but discovered that the one I thought was in the freezer actually was a chicken. Don't know when we ate that grouse.

So I went and bought some game hens instead. Roasted them with a fig/sausage/cornbread dressing; butternut squash polenta; and, of course, my world famous cranbery compote. For starters we had dates stuffed with gorgonzola, followed by an essense of celery consume. Dessert was a simple chocolate/raspberry panna cotta. Homemade bread, of course, to accompany the meal.