The recipe is from Pepperidge Farm, which uses its Cinnamon Swirl Bread; but if you can’t find it, you can use any cinnamon or cinnamon-raisin loaf.

Prep time is 15 minutes, chill time is 1 hour or overnight. Bake time is 45 minutes, so if you do the prep and chill in advance, all you have to do is wake up and preheat the oven.

RECIPE: BAKED FRENCH SWIRL TOAST

Ingredients for 8 Servings

Baked French toast is like bread pudding. Photo courtesy Pepperidge Farm.

We love all the Pepperidge Farm swirl breads. Photo courtesy Pepperidge Farms.

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Place the bread cubes and cranberries into a lightly greased 3-quart shallow baking dish.

2. BEAT the eggs, half-and-half and vanilla extract in a medium bowl with a fork or whisk. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Stir and press the bread cubes into the egg mixture to coat. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

3. BAKE for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Serve with the butter and syrup.
 
IS FRENCH TOAST FRENCH?

Nope! Here’s the history of French Toast.

Beyond all the open face turkey sandwiches with gravy, triple decker sandwiches and panini are:

 
But our favorite is a turkey, cranberry and stuffing wrap. Just spread cream cheese, mayo (especially chipotle mayo) or leftover dip on a tortilla, pile on the leftovers, roll and eat.

You can do the same with lettuce wraps. Variations on a theme:

Spread out a wrap and pile on the turkey and fixings. Photo courtesy SheWearsManyHats.com.

“A flat wrap allows you to incorporate more ingredients without the mess,” he says. “Everything from side dishes to sauces can be used to create a Thanksgiving-themed wrap.”

Here are Chef Leo’s top ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers in a wrap:

If you’ve got time to fill before or after Thanksgiving dinner, have a poetry jam.

Have guests compose their own poems, or print out some of the many at TeachingFirst.net for recitation. Here’s our choice:

A THANKSGIVING DINNER
by Maude M. Grant

Take a turkey, stuff it fat,
Some of this and some of that.
Get some turnips, peel them well.
Cook a big squash in its shell.
Now potatoes, big and white,
Mash till they are soft and light.
Cranberries, so tart and sweet,
With the turkey we must eat.
Pickles-yes-and then, oh my!
For a dessert a pumpkin pie,
Golden brown and spicy sweet.
What a fine Thanksgiving treat!
 
It could become an annual tradition, with judging and chocolate turkey prizes.

WISH YOU A JOYOUS THANKSGIVING!

This heritage turkey breed is the Bourbon Red. Photo by Matt Billings | Wikimedia.

 
Check out the rest of the tips. While some require advance prep, it will be next Thanksgiving before you know it!
 
  

Here’s a spot-on holiday gift for anyone who loves bacon. Bacon jam is a sweet and savory combination that adds a little something extra to most of the foods you eat—breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

You can spread it on toast or waffles at breakfast, enjoy it on a sandwich, serve it as a condiment with your protein at dinner or mix it into the pan juices to create a delicious sauce. Enjoy it as a cheese condiment.

For entertaining, use it to make quick canapés with a bit of cheese, meat or poultry.

While you can make your own bacon jam (a link to our recipe is below), you can also buy it.

Stonewall Kitchen makes theirs from cane and brown sugars, apples, shallots and yellow onions, vinegar and bacon. We had a taste at a trade show earlier this year and put it on our list of stocking stuffers.

An 11.75-ounce jar is $7.95 at StonewallKitchen.com.

A delicious sweet and savory jam. Photo courtesy Stonewall Kitchen.

Here’s our own recipe for bacon jam.