24-Hour Alienation

I’m too out of touch to know if Radiohead have set any of their videos at one of the 425 24-hour fitness gymnasia that litter this nation, but if not then they are missing a trick. Row upon endless row of muppets engaged in more-or-less frenetic repetitive motions, a vast amount of time and energy expended to absolutely no purpose, a giant labful of brightly clothed hamsters on methamphetamine. There is something massively dispiriting about the whole sorry venture of sweating out that unnecessary but frankly delicious slice of French toast; not in and of itself, but in the industrial scale of the enterprise and its faceless seriality.

Only the new office doesn’t have an on-site gym like the old one did, and I do eat rather a lot of French toast. And so should you. And just to mix things up a bit, here’s a recipe:

Several slices of bread
8 fl oz milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
a pinch of salt
unsalted butter for frying
maple syrup or similar

Blitz the milk, egg, sugar, flour, vanilla essence and salt together in a blender and pour into a dish. Take thick slices (3/4 inch-ish) of bread and dip/soak both sides in the mixture, then fry in a little unsalted butter, about a minute per side (looks mottled brown but not burned, like a pancake I suppose). Pour over the syrup and enjoy.


Rachel and Ethan, so tiny in the woods.