Christmas 2009 Recap and my Dad's French Toast

We really had a great Christmas in Austin and in Houston.

On Christmas day, we opened gifts together as a family. Here is my dad opening up one of five watches. He got one for every day of the week.

My beautiful mother opening up the new Tim McGraw CD. That reminds me, I need to ask for a copy of it.

Brad and Jim had to open these gifts together.

Jim is trying to figure out what it is.

Oh! He gets it. It's a counter size kegerator that keeps a pony keg cold and you serve beer through a tap.

Brad is still trying to figure out what it is - or reading the details on the box.

For lunch we went to my mom's parents' home, and you guessed it...she made Grandmamas Stuffing. It's my favorite thing on the Christmas table!

My Pa-Pa.

My Uncle Jeff. (He's single!)

My Dad's mom, Grammy.

My mom made her Deviled Eggs.

I made a creamed spinach dish.

There was also this beautiful fruit salad.

All served on my grandmothers Christmas plates which I really love.

My grandmother's mantle looked so festive. She made us each a stocking and stuffed them with Starbucks gift cards. Perfect for my "Soy-Pumpkin-Spice-Latte-with-Whip" obsession.

The smoked turkey made by my Uncle Johnny, a shining star on the table this Christmas.

Honey baked ham too.

Drum roll please. My favorite - Grandmothers Stuffing! I made this last year, see her recipe here.

Here are my babies after a bath. They took off out of the bathroom and ran around outside in the sunshine. Madeline looks like a poodle model here as she swings her wet ear around to look at the camera.

Cole just wants to play with his new toy, a stuffed flea.

That looks just kills me.

Now, onto my Dad's French Toast. I always ask for it when I'm in town. I grabbed my camera and shot away as he made us all breakfast.

He makes his own cinnamon sugar mixture first.

He uses white bread, a couple of eggs, milk, butter, pam and his cinnamon sugar mixture.

In a wide bowl my dad beats about three eggs with a cup of milk. There is a perfect timing to the way he dunks the bread. The first slice of bread goes in, then it gets flipped right away, then the second slices goes and gets flipped. I call it the ballet of the home slice.

Next, he sprays a non-stick pan that is heated to medium-high with some pam, then places the slices in.

Just after they begin to brown, he flips them.

Mmmm... this smells so good, reminds me of growing up in their house. I love his French Toast.

See, I would never have done this...but my dad, the French Toast expert, uses his spatula to press the slices.

And he repeats the process, two at a time until everyone has a plate.

When they come out of the pan and onto the plate, each person gets to sprinkle the toast with cinnamon and sugar and top with a pat of butter.

Serve with syrup and dig in.

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Now! Just to mix you up a little bit, I have another French Toast recipe that was given to me by a friend in San Antonio. He swears by this recipe, and although I haven't tried it yet I wanted to share it with you. Here are the ingredients and method, in Nestor's own words:

• Texas Toast sandwich bread or any other thick cut (tip: try to buy it some days or a week prior)
• 3-4 eggs (tip: pour on a rectangle Ziploc container-the ones used by most companies for ham.)
• Salt-to taste... less than a 1/2 teaspoon for sure-to taste
• Whole or 2% fresh milk (tip: pour enough milk to make the egg mix look a "light yellow" color. all depends on how much of egg taste you like on the toast)
• 1-1 1/2 teaspoon of sugar-to taste (white or brown, I use white)
• Cinnamon-use shaker and put as much as you want up to your personal taste, you can always add directly to the bread loaf when cooking
• Vanilla-if using pure vanilla 2-3 drops should be enough, if using imitation use close to a teaspoon

Ok, mix should be ready.... taste it and make adjustments as necessary

Set your range to mid-low temp. (I set it up at 3) You want enough heat so that when you put the toast you can hear a low sizzling but do not over heat because it will burn the outside but it will not cook the inside. Also, I use PAM... spray and dry up excess with a paper towel.

Now, cut the bread slice in half in order to create "triangles" and cut some fresh strawberries.

Use a semi-flat plate in order to pour the mix just enough for two triangles-one at a time(do not dip in mix bowl as bread will get too soggy (mojado).

Ready!!!!

Take a slice and put into your semi-flat plate (do not let sit-just turn fairly quick to each side including the new third edge).

Put on pan (salten) and let it cook for approximately 1 minute per side until toasted or golden brown.

After both side have been cooked, stand up slice in order to cook the new edge.

Take out and let it site for a minute, do not serve right away.

Add butter to taste, add domino (white powder) sugar, add syrup, and don't forget the strawberries!

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Thanks Nestor!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday, a merry christmas and a happy new year.