Origin of toast dates back 30,000 years to ancient Egyptians. The word toast orgionates from Ancient Rome and Greece:  tostus: meaning ‘to dry’ or ‘scorch’.  To give a toast refers to the toast that used to be put in wine to better the flavor, to reduce acidity.

“Unbuttered toast is a substance half complete and to be forced to eat it in that state is necessarily to feel deprived” John Thorn

Toast might be like paper dolls.  The ones that you would pop out of a work book.  You have a selection of bodies.  All different in appearance with updo hair or long flowing locks.  They are all in their underwear.  Next to the dolls you have piled the clothes.  Dresses and pants, blouses and skirts.  Accessories such as hats or bags.  You start dressing.  You mix and match.    You go simple or pile on every piece of clothing available plus a dog.  The personality of the doll shifts with every outfit.  Some look good in the pants while others favor a dress.  It is a game of finding the right fit among a multitude of options.  This is the game of toast.

The bread is your doll.  We have a variety to choose from, from the most basic slice of white buttermilk bread to a more dense rye.  You could use the oatmeal cottage bread or a slice of sourdough.  A brioche perhaps.  Maybe the dark pumpernickel or a cinnamon raisin.  The English muffin too.

The toppings are your clothes.  Butter is like dressing your lady in the simple slip.  It is basic and comfortable.  It is the essential toast accompaniment and nothing truly compares.  Toast is nothing without butter and no matter what you end up putting on your toast there better be butter first.  The combination of a crisped and toasted piece of bread with a melted warm butter creates, what I would call, perfect symbiosis.  The dry toast acts as a sponge, soaking in the rich nutty butter, morphing the rigid slice of bread into a pliable, moist and delicious snack for any time of the day.   The toasted bread is nothing more than a vessel for the flavor enhancing fatty butter that unites and transforms the the bread into nothing short of perfection.  A collaboration of the highest regard.  Toast in it’s classic state is simply toasted bread and butter.

From this point you can get creative.  A mood might dictate your choices.  Maybe you toast simply what is available in the bread box.  Maybe you want sweet, perhaps you want savory.  The time of day might encourage your decisions.  Is it morning toast or toast before bed?  With coffee or tea?  Is it part of a meal or a snack on it’s own?  Every aspect of making toast is a choice that maybe you don’t know you are making.  Toast is the most simple and basic culinary creation.  

“I have trouble with toast.  Toast is very difficult.  You have to watch it all the time or it burns up.”  Julia Child 

My childhood mornings were about burnt toast.  I’m not sure I know one mother who can solely focus on the toast in the morning kitchen when there are twenty other things that need to be done.  So the toast goes in the toaster.  The handle is pressed down and the ticker starts ticking.  Then the juice is squeezed, the eggs are scrambled, the bacon is fried and the toast is burnt.  Wait, what?  Oh yes, the toast is burnt because no one was paying attention.  So you scrape off the burn or flip it to the least burnt side and spread it with the soft butter from the counter.  Everyone develops a taste for burnt toast.  Otherwise, things get testy in the kitchen.

“ I never had a piece of toast,   Particularly long and wide,  But fell upon the sanded floor,  And always on the buttered side” James Payn

We have talked about butter.  But what else?  Jam.  Jelly.  Preserves.  This becomes seasonal I suppose.  The berry jams of strawberry, raspberry and blackberry.  Maybe an orange marmalade or concord grape.  I usually don’t like a big spread of jam.  I like just enough to thinly coat the melted butter.  It is a nutty and sweet combination applied best to a toasted buttermilk bread or thick slice of brioche.  

Now honey.  I went down a rabbit hole about honey on toast and found myself in front of a thousand bees trying to understand where honey comes from.  The honey butter combination is delectable and almost naughty in it’s sweetness.  Nectar from the gods they say and if it doesn’t stop you in your tracks for a moment of pure morning bliss then you probably didn’t do it quite right.

Peanut butter toast.  Peanut butter does’t equate to butter so I reiterate what was said before: you must put real butter on first.  Then you can smooth over a nice heavy smear of creamy peanut butter.  I find this to be best on a toasted English muffin.  

Cinnamon sugar dusted on a buttered buttermilk white bread toast is something of childhood.  Although I remember a time a few years ago in San Francisco when I ordered a slice of cinnamon sugar toast in a small bakery cafe, along with a  hot chocolate and whipped cream.  The toast came out but I waited an extra thirty minutes for the hot chocolate because the guy behind the counter was hand whipping a huge bowl of whipped cream for me.  Tortuous to watch, I nearly told him to stop, but the effort he put in was so thoughtful I couldn’t imagine it all going to waste.  He kept whisking and I ate my thick slice of toast with sugary cinnamon and melted butter and looked out the window at the fog coming in off the ocean.  

You could also be just as happy with a simple cinnamon raisin toast with melted butter.  The sourdough version I make is the perfect combination of sweet and sour, with nutty butter.  That is a quick and easy breakfast on the go or a nice evening treat with tea before bed.

My foray into avocado toast was when I was fifteen and had traveled to Australia for the first time with a family friend.  I stayed with her family in Sydney.  My first morning I shyly wandered into the kitchen and was served a plate of toast with avocado and another slice with Vegemite.  Every morning was the same.  Every morning toast with avocado and toast with vegemite.  For the three weeks of breakfast toast, I never became accustomed to the vegemite, but found the avocado comforting.  

The Oatmeal Bread toasted makes for something sweet. It is perfectly delectable with just butter and a sprinkle of salt.  On occasion I will drape a slice of havarti cheese across the butter and let the two melt together.  This has a Danish feel to in texture and flavor.  The cheese on rye is lovely too and is on point for a Scandinavian breakfast fare.  One could take it further and melt the cheese a top a slice of tomato with dill or chives.

Then there are other savory options:  sourdough toast with egg, sautéed mushroom toast, toast with cheese and bacon to go with tomato soup.   It goes on and on.  

I guess when it comes down to it though, it really is just as simple as a toaster, some butter and a slice of good bread.

This recipe comes straight from the Beard on Bread Book, by James Beard from 1973. It has a hundred bread recipes for home kitchens. Although I haven’t gone through them all, a few have stuck out throughout my childhood, such as the english muffin loaf, the whole wheat caraway loaf and this Buttermilk White Loaf. It is fast and easy and light to toast. Most people, now a days, shy away from a white loaf but it still has it’s place in the kitchen. Especially if children are involved. Below is a quick run down of supplies and a basic video tutorial to guide you through the one day, speedy process of making a buttermilk loaf.

INGREDIENTS:

2 TABLESPOONS DRY YEAST, 1 TABLESPOON SUGAR, 1/2 CUP WARM WATER, 4 CUPS ARTISAN ALL PURPOSE FLOUR, 1 TABLESPOON SALT, 3 TABLESPOONS MELTED BUTTER, 1 1/2 CUPS BUTTERMILK, ADDITIONAL FLOUR IF NEEDED

PROCESS:

Combine the warm water, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Let sit a few minutes to activate the yeast. Add the salt, melted butter, buttermilk. Add the flour gradually as you stir with a wooden spoon. Knead until all the flour is incorporated. If the dough is still sticky, add a bit more flour. Place in a greased bowl and let rest until double in bulk.

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Once the dough has doubled, shape it into a loaf and put it in the pan. Let rise until double in bulk.

Bake at 375 degrees F until golden brown. 30-40 minutes.

Frances gave me a pair of toast tongs for Christmas. I had never used a pair. Instead, when a piece of toast would get stuck in the toaster I would do the one thing we are not supposed to do. I would stick a knife or a fork in the toaster to try to get it out. Metal in the electrical appliance is really testing my luck. Now, I have toaster tongs made out of bamboo. They are delightful.

I wondered how easy it would be to make a pair. I did some research and found that for a good pair of tongs you need to know a wee bit of wood working and have some tools. I neither had the tools or the skills so I fell back on the most basic craft store version and gave it a whirl. Below is a quick evening tutorial.

I will note: One pair worked and one pair didn’t. For obvious reasons. As cute and easy as the clothes pin tongs were, they were absolutely uselss.