In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla.

Place bread slices on a cookie sheet with a 1 inch rim or in two 9 x 13 inch baking dishes.

Pour egg mixture over bread to soak, coating well. You can turn the slices to make sure they are well coated. Some of the egg mixture will remain in the cookie sheet/dish but with soak up as it sits.

Cover cookie sheet/dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight of for at least 4 hours.

Prepare syrup the night before or in the morning before cooking the french toast. Just combine the syrup ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Set aside or refrigerate until serving.

In the morning, melt some butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add bread slices to pan and cook 3-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remember, these are thick slices of bread so they will take some time to cook all the way through.

Serve french toast with the warm caramel syrup along with sweetened whipped cream and strawberries. Serves 4- 8.