French Twist

French toast is absolutely wonderful. It's so easy, uses very few ingredients, works best with one or two-day-old bread, and can have so many variations. My favorite uses a whole wheat or multigrain sourdough loaf in a mixture of two or three eggs, milk, vanilla, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, cooked in melted butter and served with maple syrup.

This past weekend I happened to be in Eugene, OR. There is a fabulous bakery on 19th and Agate, close to the U of O, called the Eugene City Bakery. They have daily bread specials, lunches, sweets, and make a wonderful multigrain sourdough that my son adores. On my last day, I made it a point to stop in and get him a loaf, and I noticed they had day-old cherry chocolate sourdough bread as well, and it was half off. I couldn't resist. I had visions of chocolate-cherry french toast with a drizzle of bing cherry sauce, and a dollop of yogurt for breakfast the next day.

This morning, however, I went to get my last bag of summer cherries from the freezer and remembered that I had used them already. I figured the bread was probably sweet enough on its own, so I got a jar of spirited cherries* out of my pantry and served them on the side instead. We use yogurt instead of whipped cream to add a bit of protein to our breakfast and make it a little healthier.

If you're ever up in Eugene and have the chance to stop by the Eugene City Bakery, please do! They have wonderful things to eat, and after lunch you can stop in at Prince Puckler's Ice Cream for a scoop of house-made ice cream (the BEST!).

*Last summer I canned cherries from our backyard tree. I used a very light syrup and added a bit of Kirsch and vanilla vodka to each jar before processing. I am also a big fan of Trader Joe's Morello Cherries, which are wonderful straight from the jar, or you could buy frozen cherries and make a simple syrup to drizzle.