we called them "name toast," because my goofy mom had letter shaped cookie cutters, and you could get the toasts in your initials (or your whole name if you were really hungry)! we make tons of shapes, since cooking in my family is time to hang out together and be silly. snakes, dragons, fire hydrants- it's all fun. my boyfriend grew up calling them stained glass windows (huh?). you can make the scrambled eggs pretty easily by whipping the egg in a bowl with milk, salt, pepper, spices (dill) or whatever you like, then pouring it in. alternately, we had them as "french name toast" where you mix a bowl of eggs with vanilla, milk or cream, cinnamon, etc, dip the frame pieces and the cut outs in the mixture, and griddle-fry them like french toast, with the center full of either the sweet french toast egg, plain fried egg, or scrambled with savory spice egg. my brother used to eat them with mayo on top- not as bad as you would think, but really, i can't recommend it.

i was so nervous about this brine- my husband chose the recipe, and when it was hot it smelled AWFUL! i let it cool, and it smelled a little better, but just a little. i made just a turkey breast (though it was huge!), so i brined it about 12 hrs, then roasted it with butter and maple syrup glaze (martha stewart has a good recipe). my husband's fave holiday is thanksgiving- he took me aside to say it was by far the best turkey he's ever had. not bad for the vegetarian chef!