Toast of the World

I found nothing but good news on the toast front in New Jersey. They eat it up there in the traditional form, but also enjoy many variations. My brother-in-law is jewish, so I was excited to try some jewish cuisine. He presented me with a loaf of challah bread.

Challah is the jewish word for "bread designed to be a pain in the butt to slice". It was good bread, but it's true flavor came out when it went stale. With a little butter, romano cheese and garlic, we made it into croutons. Crouton is the jewish word for "little pieces of stale bread converted to toast". It was fantastic! They are particularly good on salad.


I've often pondered ways to join the wonderful taste of toast with the horror that is salad. These "crouton" things are just the thing that's needed to make salad edible. Frankly, I'm amazed that they are not for sale in the supermarkets. Seems like it would be a money maker.

The method they use to produce toast in New Jersey is very similar to the method they use in the heartland. New Jersey law requires toast to be made in a stainless-steel clad toaster that is "impeccably cleaned". This one is covered with fingerprints so would not be legal in NJ, but we used it anyway! Sure, it's dangerous, but we had no paper towels, and life without toast is no life at all. I blurred out my mother's fingerprints so the NJ cops can't use this photo against her. You can't be too careful in this brave new anti-toast pc world.