Making French Toast - A Family Activity

Making French Toast is not hard to do, but I wanted to do a blog on this as it is one of those easy and fun things you can get the kids to 'help' with. I had three very young kids over for lunch today after fetching them from school. On the way home, they assured me they were not hungry and would not eat. When I told them that they would have had to make their own food, they were very keen to eat after all. Let me share a couple of ideas with you to make this fun and manageable.

It is entirely optional, but I like to add some fresh herbs to the egg. Here I have some garlic chives, a few basil leaves and spring onion. All of this will be chopped up before being added to the egg. Older kids find it great fun to help with the chopping and the smaller ones like to pick the fresh herbs from the garden.

Each child gets their own bowl and they get to open the eggs in these. Expect to find shells in the egg. This is why each egg should be opened separately in the bowls. This way you can fish the shells from the egg without the other eggs getting in the way. It is good exercise for kids to learn to open eggs and one should give them an opportunity to do so. Keep a cloth handy!  Each child gets to add a little milk to their eggs as well as a pinch of salt. They then pinch the herbs between fingers and add that as well. Older kids may be encouraged to add crushed garlic and/or chili to their eggs. You may even want to encourage them to come up with their own suggestions and discuss the pros and cons of each in turn.

Let the kids whisk the egg mixture well and empty each child's individually into a flat baking dish. They can take turns here and older kids can be expected to wait for younger kids as they should have mastered patience already.

Place the slices of bread in the egg mix and let it soak for a few seconds. Turn and let the other side soak as well.

Heat some oil or butter in a pan and turn the heat down to medium. Put the soaked bread in the pan. Teenagers can be trusted with this activity, but younger kids should not be allowed to work with warm oil on the stove top.

Turn the bread when it becomes a little more stable. Do not get sidetracked by the little ones and forget to turn the bread, as I have done here!

Once both sides are done (test the middle to make sure it is no longer soggy), turn the bread out on a serving plate.

Everyone has their own ideas for perfect toppings, but I had the kids squeeze syrup onto their warm bread and then sprinkle grated cheese over it. This is always a favorite with the young ones. Everyone ate their bread and two of them even asked for seconds! Not bad for kids who were convinced they were not hungry.

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Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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