I love food blogging because I love food and love sharing good recipes with good people.  But there are some things about this chosen hobby that sometimes drive me crazy!

It’s mostly the photographs.  Such as the two featured on this post.  To take them, I first had to find a spot that was had a lot of natural indirect sunlight, had to pick out a background and strangely went with this neon green poster board.  I figured I could maybe turn it a different color with editing but since I’m using a really cheap editing program, that didn’t work out.

Anyway, I picked the front porch (my neighbors probably think I’m crazy but I photograph food on my porch without batting an eyelash!), plopped down the poster board and the plate on top of it, drizzled on the syrup and immediately turned on my camera, hoping to catch the slide of the syrup onto the plate for optimal salivating effect.  As soon as I selected the macro setting on my uber-cheapo camera (cheap is how I roll if you haven’t  already gathered that by now), my camera informed me it was out of memory.  Doh!  Forgot to put in the memory card.  I go stalking into the house and snap it up and run back out to hopefully catch the last of the syrup dripping from the toast onto the plate.  I turn on the camera, and it informs me the battery is low before it dies.  Doh!  I go tearing through the house, lamenting that my toast will now be stone cold by the time I eat it and the syrup will be in a lazy puddle surrounding it on the plate instead of dripping gorgeously down onto it, to find an extension cord so I can plug in my camera and drag it out the front door with me.

I scream at Dennis to help me find an extension cord while I try to locate my charger.  Where is it? Arg!!!  Cold French toast!  I finally find it, and get my own extension cord because Dennis is still elbow deep in dish water (bless him, my studly dishwasher!), plug the sucker in and drag it to the front porch.  I finally get the pics, now hating the crazy neon green color of the background but not wanting to take any more time to switch to a white or black one, and then start eating the French toast in desperation while still crouched in front of it on the front porch.  Just a normal pre-meal ritual for this scatter-brained food blogger!

So about this French toast.  Usually I keep it simple when it comes to making French toast.  Beat the eggs, add in some milk, soak the bread, sprinkle on cinnamon while it cooks, and drown it in syrup on my plate.  I wanted to try something different and I have to say this turned out fantastic!  (It was still warm when I ate it, thankfully, but I think I still would have loved it cold!)  The orange and banana are really highlighted by the rum and freshly grated nutmeg.  I had mine with sugar-free syrup (I know, the horror!), and I actually liked it better than the taste I had of my husbands with pure maple syrup because it overwhelmed the flavor of the French Toast itself, which I found a travesty.  This might be the one case where I recommend using pancake syrup, instead of the real stuff.  Forgive me!

Banana & Orange French Toast

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 fresh mandarin orange (also called clementines or Cuties)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup fat free milk
2 teaspoons rum or 1 teaspoon rum extract
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg, divided
4 slices bread
2 small bananas
Syrup for serving

Heat a skillet over medium while you prepare the egg batter.  Grate the zest from the orange into a bowl.  Slice the orange in half and squeeze juice into bowl.  Add the eggs and whisk until smooth, then beat in the milk, rum, and 1 teaspoon of the nutmeg.  Spray skillet with cooking oil, then soak bread thoroughly in egg mixture before placing on hot skillet.  Cook two minutes per side or until cooked through.  Unless you use a griddle, you will most likely have to cook the French toast in batches of two.  Place two pieces of French toast on two plates, slice one banana on top of each plate, sprinkle remaining nutmeg over each and top with syrup.  Serve hot.

Serves 2

Per serving (calculated without syrup, and using Nature’s Own WhiteWheat bread at 50 calories a slice): 317 calories; 10 g fat; 47 carbohydrates; 7 g fiber; 17 g protein; 9 Points Plus.

Recipe by Veronica Miller