Photo: Heather Tallman
This meal was almost all locally sourced: bread from the Scholar's Inn Bakehouse, syrup from Burton's Maplewood Farms, eggs from Rhodes Farm and raspberries from Zink Berry Farm.
Family-time for my family is often the time we share around the table. We try to slow down, enjoy each other’s company, share stories and have deep discussions. That may sound fake and trite but we really do.
Meal times, and particularly breakfast, seem to be the only time we can hold court with our children and actually seem to hold their attention. From theology to sports, our conversations run the gamut, sometimes running far longer than the meal lasts.
I never want that moment, the one when my 12-year-old is listening with rapt attention to what I am saying, to end. Like a storyteller at the library he hangs on my every word.
This week’s breakfast was cinnamon French toast with spiced raspberry syrup. (I also made omelets, but those were an afterthought.) Breakfast went on for a few hours as we didn’t have any real plans for the day and like I said, I wanted to prolong the moment.
Cinnamon French Toast With Raspberry Spiced Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 large loaf Challah bread (or Brioche if you can find it), thickly sliced
- 1 dozen eggs, 8 whole eggs and 4 whites, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup half and half (or skim, but I wanted it to be rich)
- 3 small containers raspberries, washed and dried
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sugar (to taste)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Cooking Directions
- For the French toast: in a large bowl, add all of the ingredients minus the bread). Beat until incorporated. Dredge each slice of bread in the batter and cook on a hot griddle, 2 minutes on each side or until done.
- For the raspberry syrup: Add the ingredients to a heavy saucepan. Bring to a light boil on low heat for 15 minutes. (I strained the sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds but this is optional.) Allow to thicken on low heat for another 15 minutes, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon before serving.
This meal was almost all locally sourced: bread from the Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse, syrup from Burton’s Maplewood Farms, eggs from Rhodes Farm and raspberries from Zink Berry Farm.
