Christmas Breakfast

Although my family has many Christmas traditions we have never had a specific breakfast on Christmas morning.  We have specific Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners, and lunch is generally snacking.  Christmas breakfast has always been something hot and sweet.  We always eat after we open gifts, but it has changed from pancakes to waffles, to donuts, basically anything goes.  This year I made us baked french toast.  It was delicious and easy to make anywhere in the world that I have lived, so I thought I'd share it here.

Baked French Toast (Family of 6)

2 large Baguettes
14 Eggs
1 carton (1 Liter) Milk
1 Tbs Vanilla Extract (Or any extract you prefer.  It would also be good with almond or orange for example)
Cinnamon (to taste)
Cloves (to taste)
Nutmeg (to taste)

2 Casserole dishes
Mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Bread knife

The first thing you want to do is make sure the bread is stale.  That's right, stale bread.  You are going to make something similar to a bread pudding, so leave the baguettes out for a few days until they are hard.

Cut the baguettes into slices about 1 inch or 1 1/2 inches thick.  For presentation purposes and easy portioning it is best to use round slices. I don't use the end pieces simply because they do not look as pretty, but if you wanted to you could use the ends or cut the bread into cubes.  Take those slices and lay them side by side in your casserole dish.

 

In a mixing bowl crack and scramble all 14 eggs.  Mix in the vanilla extract, or any other desired extract.  Mix in spices.  Add carton of milk.  Mix all ingredients together.

 

Pour half of mixture over each casserole.  Make sure to put mixture over each piece of bread.  Let sit for a moment, then flip each piece of bread over.  This just makes sure that all the pieces are soaked through with the mixture.  This is what adds the moisture back into the bread and makes it tasty. This is what the casserole should look like:

These are the spices I used this time around.  I have made this casserole with only extract and cinnamon.  It worked just as well, but I thought since this was Christmas breakfast I should add the cloves and nutmeg.

 

I add an extra layer of cinnamon over the soaking casserole.  Then cover this and let it sit in the refrigerator over night.  This is very important.  This is what gives the french toast the custard-like center.

 

In the morning, while we were all opening gifts I baked the french toast covered with foil for about an hour, then uncovered, to make it slightly crispy on the outside, for about 20 minutes.  I baked it at 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I served it with butter and maple syrup. 

So that was our Christmas breakfast.  It was very simple and took about 10 minutes to prepare the night before, then in the morning it was no hassle.  I only checked on it once, and did not have to worry about it while we were around the Christmas tree.  Everyone loved it and everyone was satisfied with the amount they chose to eat.

Travel Tips

Because most of my life I have had the opportunity to live abroad I have discovered a few good tips for traveling.  There are the usual ones that everyone recommends: Don't fly wearing metal. Roll your clothes instead of folding them. Wear close toed shoes in case the plane goes down and socks if you don't want to walk bare foot on the airport floor (yuck). Make sure those shoes are easy to get on and off for security (so you aren't that person in line everyone hates). If your bag is too heavy start putting on extra clothes (yes, that can mean eight pairs of underwear, four pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, five shirts, a sweater, and your biggest coat). And of course it is always, always, always better to wait at the airport for three hours than to miss your flight, so know the way you are getting to the airport and plan for traffic, people!

There are less advertised tips, however.  My first and biggest tip to anyone traveling abroad is to try out the local language.  Most places I have been to truly appreciate it when you try their language, even if you butcher it.  When I lived in Georgia I tried my best to speak Georgian.  Although I had an atrocious accent and I am sure I mispronounced nearly everything people were very happy and surprised to hear me try their language.  It was the same in most countries I have visited or lived.  The more difficult the language, the more appreciated the attempt.

The main thing about traveling is to be adventurous! Take risks! Have fun! Don't spend your days cooped up in a hotel room.  Is that what you are traveling for? I'd bet not.  I'd be willing to bet that people who are traveling are doing so to see the world and gain new experiences.  So when you travel do that.  Get new experiences, go new places, try new things, and meet new people. Look at what local people are eating and drinking and doing, but don't just watch.  Try those things out yourself, it's worth the risk.

Third Culture Kid

Just a little about me.  I've decided to write this blog about traveling, living, and cooking overseas.  Most of my life I have lived outside of the US, which has led me to realize that we do things differently outside of America than when we are in America.

 I have grown up as a military brat, and therefore a Third Culture Kid, or for short, a TCK. According to Pollock and Van Reken, authors of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, "TCKs are children who grow up or spend a significant part of their childhood living abroad." (My mom and some of her friends read this book, you can buy it on Amazon)

Until I was in high school I did not realize that there were people going through the same confusion I was.  Although I love my home state of California, and my family that lives there, I never felt quite like it was "home." I didn't have stories about all of the people I knew since they were toddlers. I was always the new kid in school.  I didn't think the same way as my classmates, the world was much bigger for me.  It was mind-blowing for me that students in my North Carolina classroom did not believe that I spoke Japanese or hadn't lived in a house for more than two years.  Then I went to international school in Tbilisi, Georgia.  That's where I found out that there were other people who thought and spoke more like I did.  I was still different from them, they hadn't grown up on military bases, but I had more in common with the students at that school than any of my school friends in the US.

This realization made me happy.  I finally understood there was nothing wrong with the way I viewed things, but maybe other people think the way I look at the world is interesting, so that's why I'm doing this blog. I find a lot of people like travel tips, and I am full of those.  I find that cooking overseas can be different because ingredients aren't always available or affordable, so I have learned substitutes and local dishes that are similar.  Sometimes living overseas can be difficult, so I have learned a few ways to make the experience more enjoyable.  I hope you like the blog and that you find it helpful.