French Toast Recipe of the Month- October

This is an oldie but a goodie...Strawberry-stuffed French Toast. Although the photo is of the strawberry version, almost any fruit works, even oranges (that's a 'Creamsicle' if you remember those from when you were a kid).

It really works best with 'berry' fruits like strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, etc.

Ingredients (for each serving, double, triple, etc as needed):

2 slices of bread (Pepperidge Farms cinnamon swirl is a good choice, but any thick white bread will work, too)
1 tbsp cream cheese (more or less)
4 tbsps strawberry jam (or the flavor you like)
2 lg strawberries, slice one into pieces, fan slice the other for garnish
1 lg egg
2 tbsps milk, cream or half & half (your choice)
sprinkle of cinnamon (if you use plain bread)
splash of vanilla (if you use plain bread)
dash of sugar (if you use plain bread)
butter for cooking
powdered sugar for garnish

For the 'sandwich':

Spread cream cheese and 1 tbsp of jam on one slice of bread. Place slices of strawberry on top of cream cheese & jam. Place second slice of bread on top.

For the batter:

Mix egg & milk together in a small casserole dish (big enough to fit the sandwich into). If you are using plain bread, add the cinnamon, vanilla & sugar to the egg mix. Stir.

To cook:

Heat fry pan or griddle. Melt 1 tbsp of butter. Put sandwich in egg batter, turn to coat both sides & edges. Place sandwich on hot griddle or pan, cook until golden brown on one side, then flip sandwich and cook other side as well. Use a lower heat or turn to keep from burning. Object is to heat the filling as well as brown the outside.

Heat remaining 3 tbsps of jam until just warm. Plate sandwich, pour jam over the top, sprinkle with powdered sugar and add fanned strawberry for garnish.