Folks don't say “it's the best thing since sliced bread” for nothing. And that’s because bread is quite amazing. Yes, it's great for sandwiches, but there's oh so much more you can do with this fabulous food than just slather it with mayonnaise and load it with cold cuts.

This world-wide staple is a food that's not only delicious, it has a few task-related uses as well. Take a look at some things you can do with bread besides make a sandwich, that I found on www.cafemom.com.

1.

Here’s a pioneer remedy for removing a splinter from your finger. Place a piece of bread soaked in a little milk on the splinter and wrap it tightly with a bandage. Let it sit overnight, and by morning the splinter may be drawn out of the skin.

2. Prevent those stinging tears when chopping onions. Just place a piece of bread in your mouth and notice how the onion fumes have no effect.

3.

Pick up broken glass. Hard-to-see tiny pieces of glass can be grabbed with a piece of bread much more easily than with a paper towel or cloth. Just press the bread over the broken glass that you’ve swept together and blot. The bread picks it right up—every last little shred and piece. (This works like a charm.)

4. Remove grease stains from clothing. Roll the inside of a piece of white bread into a ball and rub this over the stained cloth. The stain will often lift right out. This technique is also said to work on walls and other surfaces. (I confess I have not tried this, but I intend to. Just curious—have you heard of this or every tried it?)

5. Rescue burnt rice. When you overcook rice you can banish that nasty taste by putting a slice of white bread on top of the rice while it's still hot and covering with a lid for a few minutes. Presto—rescued rice. (I know this works!)

6.

Soften stale, hard cookies. Simply put a slice of bread in with your cookies, and they will soften up. (Another technique I’ve tried that works well.)

Now here’s one more use that we actually eat. We hold an annual Labor Day brunch for the neighborhood and a dish that is always asked for is Baked French Toast. Aunt Annie would traditionally serve this at our family Christmas day breakfast and it became an instant favorite. She said she loved it because it was so quick and easy to make and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Quick and easy for sure. Eventually, when my sister and I were tall enough to reach the top of her counter, she assigned this dish to us. That’s my kind of recipe—preparation you can hand off!

Since then I’ve seen this recipe lots of places. For instance, the website, Babble, (www.babble.com, which is a Disney site) has a version called Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Baked French Toast. Maybe you have your version as well?

Like many popular brunch entrees, you can make it up the night before, then place it in the oven the next morning. Well, in case you don’t have your own version, or in case you’d like to try something different, here’s Aunt Annie’s favorite baked French toast recipe. It takes about 10 minutes to prep and approximately 45 minutes to bake:

AUNT ANNIE’S BAKED FRENCH TOAST (Yield: 4-6 servings)

butter for greasing pan
1 loaf stale bread (challah is best)
5 eggs
3 heaping tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus more for topping (we always use Ceylon cinnamon)
pinch sea salt
2 cups half ‘n half, plus 1/4 cup as needed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9″ x 9″ baking dish and set aside. Remove crusts and discard. Cut loaf into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange slices in the buttered baking dish so that each slice is at a slight angle. Use scraps to fill in the corners. In a large bowl whisk eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. Slowly drizzle in the half ‘n half, whisking continuously. Add the vanilla extract. Pour mixture over the bread slices. Use a slotted spatula to gently press bread down into the eggy mixture. Add up to 1/4 cup more half ‘n half if the bread soaks up all of the liquid. (If making ahead, cover dish and refrigerate. In the morning, remove dish from refrigerator and let sit as oven preheats. Bake French toast for 45 minutes or until the bread is set and the top is a light golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, and more cinnamon if desired. Serve with warmed syrups, softened butter, and whipped cream.

Baker’s Note: If we have them, we’ll also add roughly chopped pecans. Divine!

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