French Toast

According to Wikipedia

French toast (often known as eggy bread in most of the UK - the exception being Scotland, pain perdu in French, pain doré in French-speaking parts of Canada) is a popular breakfast food in North America and Europe.

French toast is made with bread and eggs; some common additions are milk, water, or orange juice to thin the eggs, sugar, and spices such as allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Vanilla may also be added to the egg mixture. In restaurants throughout Canada and the United States, the bread is usually thick white bread made especially for use in French toast; when made at home, regular sliced bread is often used. Although often served as a sweetly spiced dish in the United States, others prefer a savory version, seasoned with salt and pepper instead, or even topped with a melted slice of cheese.

The Truth about French Toast!

My Grandmother invented it back in 1795 when she came to Canada.

She needed a fast nutritious meal for her husband and kids one day after a hard morning working in the fields. so she dreamed up Genuine 100% Canadian French Toast. Back in those days they gave the meals foreign names to make them seem better. But Grandma knew better. She just made the best meals.



First you gather the tools and ingredients. All you need is bread, milk, eggs and cinnamon.





You lightly oil the frying pan, or use cooking spray such as Pam. Then put three eggs in a bowl. That is enough for one person. Since I was alone today that is all I used.





Add milk.





Stir vigourously to thoroughly mix the milk and eggs.





Sprinkle in cinnamon to taste. Or add whatever spice you like or even leave it out.





Preheat the frying pan to medium. Then drop a slice of bread into the bowl and soak thouroughly with the egg and milk mixture.





Turn the slice over and soak the other side.





Put the soaked bread slices in the frying pan and cook for about one minute to a minute and a half.





Turn the slices and cook the other side for about another minute to a minute and a half.





See how they are golden brown now.





On the table I show three possible toppings. The first, on the right , is Genuine Canadian Pure Maple Syrup. This is pure heaven. In the middle there is a jar of Jabuticaba Jam. See the previous post about making the jam. On the left is Brasilian Honey made by Flavio Carvalho. See our Blog Mel do Brasil for more about the honey made here in Águas da Prata.




Now we are ready to eat.





I chose Maple Syrup first. I don't think it is available in Brasil. We brought this treasured bottle all the way from Canada.





The next slice was covered in honey. What a fabulous treat it is too.





The third and fourth slice were covered in Jabuticaba Jam. Very delicious!!!





There was enough egg and milk mix left for two more slices. The excess mix is just poured on top.





Notice these slices look rich in egg and milk mix.





These last two slices were covered in Jabuticaba Jam.


So there you have it. A very simple dish that only took about ten minutes to make. If you have more people dining just add more eggs and milk.

French Toast makes a lovely breakfast or lunch. It also goes great with sausages or bacon.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this simple Canadian meal.



Photos by Urso Branco

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Canadian made Jabuticaba Jam

Today we had a revolutionary change in Águas da Prata. Urso Branco made Brasilian Jabuticaba Jam. The is that beautiful jam made from the Jabuticaba Berries grown in our yard and all over Brasil. See our other Blog Amazing Jabuticaba for more information and a video about making the Jabuticaba Jam.

So this is not 100% Canadian, It is more like 98% Brasillian with a 2% Canadian content. Urso Branco made it under that watchful eye of his wife Judy, the expert (she made it twice already).

Here are step by step instructions to make Jabuticaba Jam (Geléia de Jabuticaba). All you need is the berries and some sugar and an empty jar with a screw top lid.




First gather as many berries as you want. We only intended to make 1 jar this time so we had a small amount of the berries. By the way, if you don't live in Brasil, Tough Luck! Come and Visit us to make your own Jabuticaba Jam.





Put the berries in a pot.





Use your fist to smash the berries.





Cover the berries with water.





Now boil some other water in a small pot. We will use it to sterilize the jar.





Pour the boiling water into the jar and the lid. Swish it around, dump it out then set the jar aside.





Now boil the Jabuticaba berries.





Every so often take a sample and see if it is getting dark.





When it is dark enough it is ready for the next step. The juice should have thickened enough to drip slowly from the ladle or spoon.





Pour the juice from the berries into a sieve over a pot.





Don't press unless you feel you must. Just dump the skins and seeds.





Now you have a pot with delightful juice ready for the next stage.





Pour it into a glass bowl and mark where the juice comes up to in the bowl.





Pour the juice back into the pot.





Get a bag of crystal sugar.





Put it into the bowl up to the mark you made with the juice. This doesn't have to be exact. I just used three fingers on the side of the bowl. That was close enough.





Put the sugar into the pot with the juice.





Stir well to mix the sugar into the juice.





Now boil it!





Stir occasionaly.





Bring it to a vigorous boil.





It may take 5 to 15 minutes depending on how much juice you have. Then take a small pot or a ladle and scoop the juce from the pot.





Pout it into the sterilized jar. Then cover immediately.





It should look exactly like this. Let it stand for two to three days to thinken.


Now you are ready to serve the finest jam you ever had. It goes nice on toast.

So if I can make it you can too! Try it.

I guess this process will work with most berries. Try it an let us know how you make out.




Photos by Urso Branco

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Potato Salad - The Brasileira way

What could be better on a hot summer day than that old standby Potato Salad (Maionese).

Potato Salad (Brasilian style) is the first meal Judy's grandmother taught me to make. Her grandmother invented Maionese and it has become a Brasilian favourite ever since. Every Brasilian Family makes this meal at least once a week in the summer!!

Here is how to make 100% genuine Brasilian Maionese and all the trimmings. It is simple, economical and tasty.

Now you can make it too and compare it with Canadian Style.







Pick the potato(es) of your choice and peel it along with carrot(s).





Cut them in small pieces to cook faster.




When cooked mash the potatoes.





Add some mayonnaise to help mix the mashed potatoes.





Add the chopped (not too small) carrots.





Chop some onions.





Add to the mix.





Mix it all together.





Add some peas.





Add some chopped green pepper.





Mix well.





Take a can of tuna. (in water is best)





We added half the can here because we were making a small maionese.





Mix thoroughly.





We used a different brand of Mayonnaise but that doesn't matter. Use whatever you normally use.





Put in the bowl and mix well.





Now put a layer of mayonnaise on top and spread all over.





Now make a crater in the middle. The potato beside the dish shows the type we used.





Peel a tomato, thick, and coil it up in the crater to garnish the dish. Add parsley for colour.





Now put the finished dish ion the refrigerator to chill it.





Here is the finished dish along with "Eggs on a Horse". That is what Brasileiros call eggs on steak.





Now the table is set for a lovely summer lunch. See the cucumber on the plates too.


This is a great dish to compare with the Canadian version.

Recipe Variations.

Potatoes - use any type you like
Veggies - add any type you like
such as: Cucumber, Green Onions, Tomatoes, Peas, Corn, Cabbage, Carrots, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, etc.
Just be sure to chop them into small pieces.
Use whatever Mayonaise you like. I select very low fat, ultra light for health reasons.
Garnish with Tomato and parsley.
Add tuna (in water is best).
Let stand in the Refrigerator to blend the flavours.


As in the Canadian version you can add whatever pleases you and use as much or as little of any of the ingredients as to your taste. This was a small dish to serve two. If you have 30 or 40 of your best friends over for lunch just make more of the same.

If you do have a big party it would be fun to make both styles so they can all enjoy Canadian and Brasillian cooking.

Now it is your turn to make the maionese. Try it and let us know how you like it.

Judy was the chef here and Urso Branco just took photos! He was also chief taster too!



Photos by Urso Branco

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