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TOASTS

Toasts are uniformly and properly regarded as a breakfast dish, and when properly prepared are wholesome, nutritious, and appetizing, and far more conducive to health than the fried mushes and griddle cakes with which so many are prone to appease their appetites.

Zwieback should be used as the foundation of all toasts, although ordinary toasted bread can be used. In toasting bread, do not expose it to such fierce heat that the bread will be burned or singed. Singed bread is not toasted bread. Again, the fire should be hot enough to more than simply dry the bread. It should be toasted as far through as possible, and should be crisp and brittle, not hard. In using zwieback for toast it may be moistened by hot milk, if for cream, gravy, or egg toast; or with hot salted water, if for fruit. In either case the toast should be dipped quickly in and out again so as not to absorb too much liquid and become mushy. Under this head a few kinds of toasts will be given, inexpensive and otherwise. While it is not an exhaustive list, it will include sufficient to suggest others equally good.

MILK TOAST

• Milk, 6 cups.
• Flour, 1 heaped teaspoonful.
• Butter, 1 tablespoonful.
• Toasted bread or zwieback.

Heat milk and butter in a saucepan over the fire; when boiling, add salt and flour, moistened with a little milk. Let it boil, remove from the fire, and dip into this slices of toasted bread or zwieback. Pour what remains over the toast, cover, and send to the table hot.

CREAM TOAST

• Cream, 6 cups.
• Zwieback.
• Milk.

Heat cream to boiling, dip slices of zwieback into hot milk for an instant, place on saucer, pour hot cream over, and serve.

AMERICAN OR FRENCH TOAST

• Eggs, thoroughly beaten, 3.
• Salt.
• Butter.
• Milk, 3 cups.
• Sliced bread.

Beat the eggs thoroughly and add the milk and a little salt. Slice light bread and dip into the mixture, allowing each slice to absorb some of the milk. Then brown on a hot, buttered griddle or thick bottomed frying-pan. Spread with butter, and serve hot.

BOSTON CREAM TOAST

Toast two slices of bread, trim and cut in two lengthwise, making four pieces. Place these evenly on top of one another and cut again cornerwise, into long triangular pieces. Arrange artistically on a platter, and serve with cream sauce.

NUN'S TOAST

• Hard-boiled eggs, 6.
• Flour, 1 teaspoonful.
• Butter.
• Hot buttered toast.
• Finely-chopped onion, 1.
• Milk, 2 cups.

Put the butter into a saucepan, and when it begins to bubble add the chopped onion. Let the onion cook a little without color, then stir in the flour. Add the milk and stir till it becomes smooth. Then put in the eggs which have been sliced and let them get hot. Pour this mixture over neatly trimmed slices of hot, buttered toast. Season with salt.

NUT GRAVY TOAST

Dress moistened toast with nut gravy as given under sauces.

PRUNE WHIPPED TOAST

• Prune pulp, 2 cups.
• Sugar, 1 tablespoonful.
• Eggs, whites, 4.

Beat the whites very stiff and stir in the hot prune pulp and sugar. Serve on slices of zwieback which have been dipped in hot water.

PRUNE TOAST

Prepare as for apricot toast, using prune marmalade.

DATE TOAST

Prepare as for prune toast, except that the dates should be steamed, not boiled.

PROTOSE TOAST

• Minced protose, 2 cups.
• Eggs, 2.
• Sweet cream, ½ cup.
• Salt to taste.

Mix and heat thoroughly; when boiling hot spread over slices of

• Toasted bread.

Dipped in hot salt water, and well buttered. Take

• Hard-boiled egg, 1,

Cut in halves, remove yolk, and fill hole with

• Currant jelly,

And place on top of the protose.

NUTTOLENE ON TOAST

Mince half a pound of nuttolene very fine, put in a well-oiled saucepan, and fry over the fire till a delicate brown. Great care must be taken to prevent scorching; shake the pan often. Make two cups of rich cream sauce well seasoned with butter sauce, and desiccated cocoanut. Strain this over the nuttolene, and serve a spoonful on warm toast. This makes six large portions.

BERRY TOAST

Any canned fruit, as strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc., may be used for toasts. Strain off the juice, boil, and thicken with corn starch to the consistency of cream. Stir in the strawberries and reheat till the berries are well heated through. Serve as other fruit toasts.

BANANA TOAST NO. 1

Peel and rub some nice bananas through a fine colander; sweeten and beat up with a little cream, and serve on moistened toast. Serve cold.

BANANA TOAST NO. 2

Take the desired quantity of bright fruit juice, as strawberry or cherry. Boil and thicken with corn starch. Into this slice some ripe bananas. The juice should not be too thick, but just so that the banana will appear suspended in the juice. Serve on moistened toast.

DATE TOAST WITH WALNUTS

Prepare same as date toast, then serve with walnut meat on each corner and one in the center.

TOMATO TOAST

Dress moistened toast with tomato sauce, as given under sauces; or use strained tomatoes thickened with flour or corn starch.

ASPARAGUS TOAST

Prepare as for stewed asparagus. Moisten and butter a piece of toast, lay four or five pieces of asparagus on it, pour a spoonful of white sauce on the bottom end of the stalks, and serve.

APPLE TOAST

Fresh stewed apples, rubbed through a colander and sweetened, make a nice dressing. The apples may be flavored with lemon, or mixed with grape or cranberry sauce. When the apples are put in the colander, the liquid may be poured into a saucepan and boiled into a syrup, and the toast moistened with this. Serve a spoonful or two of the apple sauce over all.

APRICOT TOAST

In making apricot marmalade, save the juice by itself and boil it down into a syrup. Moisten the toast, pour over some of the syrup, and some of the marmalade over all.

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