The man and I have a new favourite snack - eggs and bread! Crusty bread rolls that go from freezer to oven (not homemade I'm afraid!) and a side of eggs. It's breakfast, a snack, a light supper - whatever we want it to be at any time of day. My husband always has a chuckle when he suggests a snack and I come up with the eggs and bread snack that we can't get enough of! But it always manages to hit the spot. That got me thinking about that other well-known, very popular egg-and-bread dish - French toast! So our latest Comfort Food feature will be dedicated to French toast that I've been scoffing since I was much tinier than I am now. I guess I've always liked the egg and bread combo!
I think I might have been about five when Mum first made French toast for my sister and me. I was a very fussy eater and it was very difficult for my mum to get me to eat anything. I'd never finish meals and would only ever pick at my food. However, when I first tried French toast it was definitely love at first bite! I couldn't get enough of this yummy fried bread. It was quite good for my parents because growing up, we didn't really have a great deal of money, so Mum must have been thrilled that the one thing I wanted to stuff my face with was as cheap as... well, a loaf of bread! French toast was very much a firm favourite in our house when I was growing up, not just with me but with all of us.
The difference is that the French toast my mum made for us was always a savoury version, and it was generally served as a snack although we did sometimes have it for breakfast. But it was years later in the late nineties, when I visited America for the first time that I tried the sweet version of French toast which is how most people know it, served alongside bacon or sausages and eggs. And it is almost always served for breakfast - unless you're wolfing them down at Denny's at 11pm which was something The Man and I used to do a lot of when we moved to Portland, OR! As an American, he'd been eating French toast his entire life - well since he was old enough to eat anyway!
But he'd never tried French toast savoury style, and he couldn't wrap his head around the idea of, what he essentially perceived to be a breakfast food, that was served at any time of the day - which in my home, it was! Personally I think he's been missing out all these years! And furthermore, I really don't remember anyone else making French toast during my childhood days other than my mum. If if you grew up in eighties' Britain and you ate French toast by the bucketload, then please let us know. You can also try out the recipes for my mum's savoury French toast, and my husband's sweet cinnamon French toast here. Check out the recipes in our French toast post.
Enjoy!
We're getting very close to the end of Neighbours' thirty seven year run - and we are dreading it! If you've seen the trailer for the final few months of the popular Aussie soap, you probably had a lump in your throat when Jackie Woodburne (Susan Kennedy) very poignantly says, "It's time to say goodbye." Oh we know, Jackie, we know! If only we didn't have to. No doubt there'll be floods of tears when the final episode airs.
Some faces we didn't think we'd see back on Ramsay Street including the ghost of Jim Robinson.
But if there is one bright spark on a rather dismal horizon, it will be the crop of familiar faces that will be returning to Ramsay Street to mark the end of the iconic show. Over the last few years, Neighbours have done a brilliant job of bringing back characters from the soap's hey day: Clive Gibbons, Jane Harris, Dr. Beverly Robinson, Melanie Pearson, and more recently Glenn Donnelly. And now Neighbours have really outdone themselves by giving us the comeback of all comebacks - the eternal king and queen of Ramsay Street, Scott and Charlene! I'll be honest - never in my lifetime did I think I would ever see the most legendary couple in soap back on our screens. I'm sure I speak for fans everywhere when I say how grateful we are to Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue for making our dearest wish come true, even though they have said for years that they would never return. Thank you guys!
And I apologise to all Nostalgia Pie followers in other countries where Neighbours has never been shown, who haven't the foggiest what this soap opera is all about, as during the next few months in the lead up to the end of show, there will be a plethora of Neighbours' posts coming up. We want to share in happy, nostalgic memories of the show as Neighbours goes out with a bang.
And a whole lot of sobbing no doubt!
It's freebie time again - with my own scattiness being the inspiration behind it the idea!
I could eat, drink, sleep, breathe nostalgia all day every day. And even now I'm still coming across new musical artists I'd never heard of, movies and TV shows I've never watched, books I've yet to read and so on. Then there's all the retro channels and stations I keep hearing about; businesses that deal in vintage and retro, nostalgia-based social media groups I'd like to join - the list goes on. The problem is that when I want to check all these out, the names of all the above has totally gone from my head! I'd like to say it's because I'm getting older (or maybe not!) but the truth is I've always been like this so it's just me being me!
So I decided to create a wall-planner type-thing - the Retro Entertainment and Leisure Reminder - where I can jot down all the things I need to to be reminded about, and then I need never worry about missing out again - or frustrating myself! For those who aren't as bad as me and don't need a visual reminder pinned up on the wall, you can actually download it to your computer and add the info you need. For those who are printing it out, I've also included a version of the planner that uses less colour to save on your printer ink, giving you the option to use coloured card or paper if you want that extra colour. Plus go ahead and laminate it so that it's reusable. Us? Extravagant? Never!
The Retro Entertainment and Leisure Reminder planner is free but it's only available to Nostalgia Pie members. If you're a member, head over to the Free Printables page. And if you haven't already signed up to join the community, you can do so now. That's free too!
Photos: YouTube, Pixabay and Angel's own.
Blog graphics: Angel Noire
While I only ever catch the odd episode of Neighbours now, there was a time when I was glued! So I really cannot wait to see this whole host of old faces back on Ramsay Street. Especially Kylie, Jason and Guy.
And now Mike Young is coming back. That's so good!
Cannot wait for the French toast article. It's one of our favourite things to make for a lazy weekend brunch. And the kids really get stuck in with prep too.
Cannot wait to catch the first glimpse of Scott and Charlene. Nostalgia at its best!