Grade A Medium Amber

I found a loophole.

My breakfast menu yesterday:

Tomato Juice
French Toast
Maple-flavored Sirup

With visions of corn syrup and maple extract, I opened the cookbook to the recipe for French Toast - or Fried Toast, as it was also still known in 1945. And what to my wondering eyes did I see? "Serve hot. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or serve maple sirup with the toast."

Hooray!!! The real stuff! Nectar of the gods! That's all the permission I needed. My grade A medium amber was out on the table quicker than you can say "Maple Sirup." And what a difference it made... The French Toast was pretty good. It was a very basic recipe. No vanilla, no sugar, no fancy additions like nuts or coconut - just eggs, milk, and salt. The bread was supposed to be 1/2 inch thick and mine was not. It was just from a loaf of sandwich bread, so I had a lot left over. Were pre-sliced sandwich loaves sliced more thickly in that day, or was the recipe subtly calling for homemade bread? I had quite a bit of batter left over.

French Toast is a tough breakfast for the cook to enjoy as it should be eaten almost as soon as it comes out of the pan. When you've got several servings to fry up before turning off the burner, you've either got to wait patiently for the last of the Toast or try to eat while hopping up and down to the stove to flip a few more pieces in the pan. I've got lots of extras so this will be my menu for at least another day or two. Bring on the Maple Sirup!

By the by, I think I figured out why the month o' menus in the back of this cookbook rely on Corn Sirup (sometimes flavored) for Griddlecakes or French Toast. The section is titled, "How to Feed a Family of Five on $20.00 per Week." Corn syrup is definitely easier on the pocketbook than the real stuff.