Embracing Breakfast

I am trying to open up my reportoire of cooking to include breakfast foods, as foreign as they are to me, it only makes sense as an early riser that I would actually embrace breakfast foods in all their glory. But I digress, as a child (ask my parents) I pratically refused to eat breakfast foods, (except for toast,  hashbrowns and the occasional biscuit and gravy); however if we were dining out I almost assuredly would order a cheeseburger or maybe even spahgetti, gasp! My dad used to comment "That's Un-American." He would grumble and I would happily eat dinner for breakfast.
Well my tastebuds have actually matured and I won't go as far as to say breakfast is my favourite meal, but I have embraced pretty much all things breakfast, even eggs if they're smothered with cheese, bacon, etc. I like belgian waffles particularly with berries and nuts, omelettes, and pretty much everything breakfasty. So with that said french toast has never been one of the things I even enjoy as a breakfast convert, so I set out to find a recipe that would enable me to enjoy it.
Pain Perdu:  french for lost bread, meaning it would have been thrown out if not for the ultimate save of the french toasting. I got the recipe from one of my favourite sites Allrecipes, and made a few tweaks to make it my own:

Pain Perdu

Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or orange juice
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 12 thick slices day old french bread, brioche, or challah

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, milk, brandy and orange zest. Beat until thick and foamy. Pour mixture into a shallow pan. Soak bread slices in the mixture for 2-3 minutes on each side until they are thoroughly soaked through.
2. Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Lightly spray griddle with cooking spray. Cook the bread slices 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Serve hot.

I put butter and sifted powdered sugar over the top, syrup might take away from the orangy goodness. The happy french toasting conversion has commenced.

Que' Magnifique!