The Little Red Hen, Rumpelstiltskin and Mrs. Butterworth

Artistic expression goes beyond fine arts. Everyone has an outlet to express their artistic creativity. Dom’s art is his cooking; the main ingredient is the canvas while vegetables, herbs, and spices are his paint palette. While I enjoy cooking, writing is my creative outlet. I find that my best ideas come from a stream of consciousness: the continuous flow of thoughts that combine to make a good story.

Several days ago, as members of the Foodbuzz Tastemaster’s program, we received a loaf of Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax bread. We sampled the bread in sandwiches and then toast. The bread is dense and nutty with only 100 calories per slice. One of the ingredients that gives the bread a unique flavor and texture is flax seed. So in preparing to write this post, my mind wandered from the Little Red Hen who grows the wheat and makes her own bread, to Rumpelstiltskin who spun flax into gold.

Also, this past weekend Dominic (our oldest) and I attended the Mrs. Butterworth's Family Breakfast Ball held at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Colorful tables with spring flowers and balloons were set-up for a huge pancake breakfast to introduce Mrs. Butterworth’s Spring Collection of decorated syrup bottles that kids can dress up with downloadable outfits to make meal time more fun. 

So, now you are asking yourself, what do the Little Red Hen, Rumpelstiltskin, and Mrs. Butterworth have to do with one another! Well, the answer is easy: 



French Toast
3 eggs, slightly beaten
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup milk
Dash of nutmeg or cinnamon
6 slices Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax bread
4 tablespoons butter
Mrs. Butterworth’s Original Pancake syrup

Mix the eggs, salt, sugar, milk, and nutmeg in a shallow dish or pie pan. Soak the bread in the mixture until soft and saturated, turning once. In a heavy skillet melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter  and cook 3 pieces of toast at a time, flipping each piece of French toast over after the bottom reaches a very light, golden brown. Continue frying until the second side turns a pale golden brown as well.

Keep cooked pieces of French toast warm in a 250 degree F oven while you cook the remaining pieces of French toast. Serve warm with your favorite pancake syrup and enjoy!