Sunday, February 19, 2012

French Toast a la Wizenberg


Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life contains a recipe for French toast. It's her (late) father's recipe, and it's great.



We received an unexpected gift of a loaf of challah yesterday. So, naturally, I let it sit out, sliced it into 3/4 inch pieces, and fried it up:

3 large eggs
1 cup of milk
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla (I used the homemade vanilla we've been ripening since October)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground nutmeg

Vegetable oil
Slices of egg bread, about 3/4 inch thick

Instructions:

Whisk the first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish.

Heat a lot of oil over medium-high heat in a cast-iron pan. (Molly's instructions on this stick in my head. She wrote that you *don't* want to pour in oil, then swish it around until it coats the pan. You want to pour in oil and keep pouring until it covers the bottom. THAT'S A LOT OF OIL, FOLKS.)

When it's hot (toss in a flick of the egg/milk mixture. If it sizzles, you're good), put a couple of pieces of the bread in the egg/milk mixture. Soak 30 seconds on each side, then put them in the hot oil. Cook about 1 minute on each side. It'll get lovely brown crispy bits.

My challah was about 4 inches across and 3 inches tall. I could do three pieces at a time in my 10" pan. If you are using bigger bread, change your approach accordingly. You don't want to crowd the pan.

When the toast is done, remove pieces to a rack (I use my cake cooling rack) and let them cool a tiny bit before eating with maple syrup. My small challah made enough for two adults and one not-very-hungry toddler. They're crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and really very good.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Helmet. Check! Goggles. Check!

Whee! New gear!

Iain needs a helmet and goggles for his ski lessons. Charles looked around online and found these - check out the monkeys on his helmet.

It's all fun and games, Mom, until someone loses an eye. Think about it. I'm very, very serious.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Snow - I Wish We Had Some


Iain has discovered snowballs. Unfortunately, we've had so little snow this winter I fear his skills will atrophy. He's all about practice, though.


And he doesn't hesitate. Taking his photo? No problem! He'll toss that snowball anyway. He doesn't care.

Ha! Gotcha!

Srsly: where's our snow? Iain starts ski lessons in a couple of weeks and I think they'll have to ski on styrofoam peanuts.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Iain Loves Lego

100% Iain created. Sweet ride!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Interstate as Subway System


This map really simplifies the interstate system.
Check out the brief article at Lifehacker for more info and a bigger image.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Overheard

"Dude, you should put a colon here. That would be cool."

"Hang on. I just need to look up some conjunctive adverbs."

Srsly. People who claim that "this generation" can't read or write need to go stick their heads in a bucket.

UPDATE: And, today, I walk up to two boys, giggling madly, and find that they are amused by a campaign poster from the McKinley/Roosevelt ticket. Of 1900.