How many names DOES this food have?

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 8, 2013, at 6:34 PM, Brenda Lester wrote:

> I remember Hillary Clinton talking about this years ago. I cannot
> remember what she called it. I'm from Georgia, and I've never
> heard of it before.
>
> bl

My daughter (Connecticut), who enjoys the dish, calls it eggs in a hole, I think.  Maybe eggs in a/the nest as an alternate form.  But definitely not toad in the nest.  My wife (Connecticut) volunteered eggs in a basket as an alternate form, no toads.  As for me (NYC), I call it bread with a hole in the middle of it that you put an egg in and then you fry it all up.  I don't think that name will catch on, though.

LH
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> ________________________________
> From: Dan Goodman <dsgood at IPHOUSE.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Thursday, August 8, 2013 4:59 PM
> Subject: How many names DOES this food have?
>
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goodman <dsgood at IPHOUSE.COM>
> Subject:      How many names DOES this food have?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From a post on a social site:
>
> The results of my informal poll of y'all and of my in-laws, about what
> you call eggs fried in the hole in a piece of bread, and where you came
> from:
>
> Kentucky - eggs in a nest, toad in the hole
> Maryland - toad in a hole
> Michigan - egg in a frame
> New Jersey - egg in the hole
> New York City - Georgia Eggs
> Oregon, NE - toad in the wall (the extra pieces of bread are toad's eyes)
> Philadelphia/New Jersey - eggs in a basket
> South Dakota - one-eyed sandwiches
> Texas, central - house on a hill
> Texas, south - Popeye eggs
> Toronto - toad in the hole
> Internet, cookbooks, and unspecified - ox-eye, egg in a basket, Gypsy
> Eggs, Egyptian Eggs, Toad in the Hole
>
> The Kentucky ones are from my mother-in-law. My own mom grew up in West
> and North Texas and doesn't recall ever eating the dish until I found it
> and started cooking it.
>
> edit: Also, my father-in-law reports that they called it French toast!
> We made sure to clarify with him that you didn't dip the bread in the
> egg, but fried an egg in the hole. I've forgotten where he grew up, though.
> --
> Dan Goodman
> Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.
> http://dsgood.blogger.com
>
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