Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Toasting the toaster: Not-so-trivial facts and figures Toast resources Recipes and more information Toaster Museum Foundation Buy and sell vintage toasters View a cartoon of comedian Heywood Banks singing "Yeah, Toast!" (Right-click and choose "Play") while reading the lyrics to the song.

Sometimes simple pleasures are the best pleasures: Consider the slice of toast.

Simply by holding some bread near a flame, you get a crunchy, golden-brown treat as the sugars in the bread caramelize under the heat. What hot meal is easier?

If you're in a breakfast mood, butter and honey, or homemade jam, or cinnamon and sugar make a down-home treat perfect for Mother's Day.

Spread with peanut butter and jelly, it becomes a comfort food. Quartered and brushed with olive oil before toasting in the oven, that bread becomes crostini, a sophisticated party snack topped with bits of smoked salmon, goat cheese, roasted red peppers or anything else that can be eaten with one hand while balancing a glass of wine in the other.

And while you can spend a fortune on toppings, the toast itself will cost you about a dime.

In part because of that simplicity, versatility and affordability, toast is one of America's favorite breakfast foods. And with Americans abandoning low-carb diets and beginning to embrace whole grains for their vitamins and fiber, more people than ever might be poised to give toast a few more crumbs of affection.

General Electric D-12, the first toaster patented in the United states (1909). Click photo for larger image.
A four-slice Toastwell, circa 1940. Click photo for larger image.
A Hotpoint Gazelle with Art Deco styling, circa 1930. Click photo for larger image.
A Sweetheart Toaster, with heart-shaped swinging door. Click photo for larger image.
A European toast rack. Click photo for larger image.

Already, the average American household spends 35 hours a year making toast, according to the Grain Foods Foundation. And in a recent poll for the group by Harris Interactive, about 10 percent said they would rather eat toast in the morning than have sex. Another 52 percent preferred toast in the morning to candy, 38 percent wanted toast more than chocolate, and 29 percent chose their toast over a relaxing bubble bath.

One comedian, Michigan resident Heywood Banks, has even made a career out of using a toaster as a percussion instrument as he belts out the song "Yeah, Toast!" Some people will laugh at anything.

Toast has enjoyed its favorite-food status since it was invented more than 5,000 years ago by the Egyptians, who also invented yeast bread that rose. With yeast bread came fast-growing mold, making toast not just tasty but necessary to preserve the bread for trips.

And with yeast bread and toast came what else but toasters, of course.

The first "toasters" were multipurpose forks, which also were used to roast meat over fires, according to Eric Norcross, president of the Toaster Museum Foundation. But by the 1700s, a swiveling toast rack had been invented that stood next to the fireplace and could be turned to brown both sides of the bread.

Such an implement, Mr. Norcross said, was only for people who had enough space and extra money to purchase an item used for a single purpose -- much like the first electric toasters, which first appeared in 1905. While today, about 90 percent of American households own a toaster, it was both a rarity and an oddity for its first few decades of existence.

"When electric toasters appeared they were signs of opulence and luxury appliances at the time, and of course electricity itself was a bit of a status symbol," said Mr. Norcross, who is keeping his collection of about 700 toasters in his home while he looks for a museum interested in adding them its collection.

Not until the pop-up toaster was invented in 1926, and pre-sliced bread became available in 1933, did toasters become popular, however. Banks gave away the appliances as incentives to open accounts, and a pop-up toaster became the "in" wedding gift for young married couples.

These toasters reflected the design principals of their eras -- 1930s toasters have an Art Deco feel, while toasters of the 1940s and 1950s have a streamlined quality popular in the homes and cars of the time.

"Because of the high-end nature of the appliances, they retained a sculptural quality, so they'd be on display more than a little white box you'd shove back into a corner of the kitchen," Mr. Norcross said.

In terms of attractiveness, toasters -- like much of American design -- went through a long dry spell in the 1970s and 1980s. An avocado-colored boxy toaster that plugged into the cigarette lighter of a car or RV was an unfortunate highlight of the era.

But in the 1990s and early 2000s, designers weren't loafing around. Architect Michael Graves has added an affordable toaster (which retails for about $35) to the line of colorful retro appliances he has designed for Target stores. And on the other end of the pay scale, many well-to-do home cooks have become infatuated with high-end toasters such as the Dualit -- a stainless steel and plastic commercial toaster with a sleek, rounded shape that retails for about $320.

"There's always something for people who want to pay more," Mr. Norcross said.

OPEN-FACE KIDS' STAR-SHAPED TOASTED CHEESE

• 2 slices white or whole wheat bread
  
• 4 slices mild cheddar cheese
  
• 1 star-shaped cookie cutter, about 2 1/2 to 3 inches across

Place 2 slices of cheese on each slice of bread and toast in a toaster oven or regular oven until cheese is melted.

Remove from oven, place on a cutting board and cut into stars with the cookie cutter.

FRENCH TOAST

• 3 large eggs
  
• Pinch of fine salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 5 to 6 slices fresh challah
  
• Confectioners' sugar, maple syrup or jam for serving

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, and vanilla

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 9-inch frying pan over a medium flame until melted. Working with 1 piece at a time, turn 2 challah slices in the eggs so that it soaks the bread. Put both slices in the pan.

Cook until lightly browned on one side, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn with a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes, or until browned on the second side.

Serve up those 2 slices immediately and continue cooking, using 1 tablespoon butter for each batch, until you've used all the bread and egg. Serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar or with maple syrup or jam.

Serves 2.

THE TOAD IN THE HOLE

This recipe and those that follow were developed by Ted Allen, the food and wine connoisseur who stars on Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" for the Grain Foods Foundation.

• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 4 slices firm white bread, centers cut out with a small water glass or cookie cutter
  
• 4 eggs
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 bread slices with the holes already cut out along with the cut-out circles and fry until golden-brown. Flip with a spatula, add one egg to each hole and cook to desired doneness. Repeat with the remaining two slices of bread and eggs.

Remove the egg toast to a plate, garnish with chopped parsley, salt and fresh pepper and the toasted circle tops and serve at once.

LEFTOVER TURKEY SANDWICH

• 2 thick slices of challah bread, toasted
  
• 2 thick slices leftover roasted turkey
  
• 2 tablespoons leftover cranberry sauce
  
• 2 tablespoons leftover mashed sweet potatoes
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage

Lay the 2 slices of challah toast side by side.

Spread the cranberry sauce on one slice, spread the mashed sweet potato on the other slice and sprinkle both with the fresh sage.

Place the turkey on the cranberry side, invert and place on top of the sweet potato side.

Cut on the diagonal and eat.

CROSTINI

• 1 good-quality baguette
  
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut baguette into thin slices on an angle, lay slices on baking sheets and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake until the crostini are beginning to brown and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes.

Serve with some or all of the following dips and spreads.

Makes 30 to 35 pieces.

SPREADS

To 2 cups of thick or strained yogurt you can add the following:

• 2 teaspoons of curry powder and 1/4 cup mango chutney for an Indian variation to serve with seeded rye toast.
  
• 1/4 cup honey and 1/2 cup fresh raspberries lightly crushed on whole grain toast.
  
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil on toasted Italian semolina bread.
  
• 1/4 cup olive tapenade and halved fresh cherry tomatoes or oven-dried tomatoes on toasted French bread.

OVEN-DRIED TOMATOES

• 2 pounds Roma or plum tomatoes
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, marjoram or oregano
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise, then squeeze them, cut sides down, over a sink to get rid of the seeds. Place them, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and herbs and drizzle with the olive oil.

Put the tomatoes in the oven and let them dry out very slowly until the flavor has concentrated and they're wrinkly but still plump, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Let them cool, then use immediately or pack them in a jar with olive oil to cover; they will keep for up to 2 weeks.