Friday, April 9, 2010

Breakfast of Vampires

by Cassondra Murray

What do you eat for breakfast?



I’m having a series of breakfast crises, so in lieu of therapy, I’m doing a survey.

I have a love-hate relationship with breakfast.

When breakfast is right, it’s REALLY right. When breakfast is wrong?

Dis. Gus. Ting.

When I was a kid, I always ate breakfast. Some of my best memories were of early mornings.

My mom took her first job at a local factory when I was three years old. My grandparents lived between us and town, where she worked. So we’d get up and she’d shuffle me off in my pajamas, with whatever pile of toys and books I wanted for the day, and she’d drop me off at MotherGrant and DaddyMike’s house for the day and she’d be to work before seven .

Yes, I see mouths dropping open and looks of disbelief all around the lair, but it’s true. There were times in my life when I was forced to wear the burdensome cloak of a daywalker. Crime against nature, but there it is.

So anyway, she’d pull into the driveway, we’d pile out of the car with my gargantuan load of necessary accoutrement, and head for the back door. Cows were already mooing in the barn lot. I stood by the back door as mom reached for the handle. She pressed the button on the latch of the ugly gray aluminum storm door. She pulled. It opened just a crack, and the heady scent wafted over me.

Bacon.

Not just any bacon either. I knew from whence this bacon came.

Every now and then Daddymike would be running late, or mom would be running early, and I’d get there before he started breakfast. Daddymike would pull out the butcher knife, give it a few swipes across the whet stone, and off to the smokehouse we’d go.

The smokehouse was dark and the smell was heavenly. Cured meat. Big hams lay on the rough-hewn benches in piles of salt mixture. Other hams and sides of bacon hung from the rafters. He’d cut a chunk off of one of the sides of bacon and back to the house.

Slice the meat. Rinse the salt off. Plop it into the cast iron skillet. And aaaaahhhhhhhh!

There came the smell.

Now when I see eggs at breakfast, I make the sign of the cross and get queasy unless there are copious amounts of gravy to hide them. But Daddymike made perfect eggs. Fried eggs, over medium well plus. (That "plus" is extremely important. Not well done. Not over medium well. Over medium well PLUS a little.) Buttered toast. And coffee. Yes, it was instant, but at that time it was nectar. Diluted by half a cup of milk and a whole bunch of sugar.

By that time MotherGrant was up and about, setting the table, getting the house running for the day. We sat down to eat together. MotherGrant gossiped about the neighbors. I did this every day for years. And my love of breakfast was set.

After breakfast I followed DaddyMike to the barn to milk his three cows. I played. I climbed trees. I played. I ran. I played. I rode my tricycle. I played. I watched Captain Kangaroo. And I played. All the way up to lunch. Then again all the way up to dinner. That breakfast gave me energy in abundance.

The memories of those breakfasts with DaddyMike and MotherGrant haunt me.

Because I can’t get them.

There's the whole "nobody fixes eggs the way DaddyMike did" issue. Bacon comes from the grocery store now, and still smells wonderful, but not like his bacon.

I have searched for other fulfilling breakfast food, and I’ve gone through some stages. I had my Cheerios phase. I had my Captain Crunch phase. I had my egg sandwich phase (lots of jelly to hide the egg) and my bagel phase. In my college days I had a cold pizza and coke phase.

Recently I’ve been traveling down south a lot with a woman who loves fried catfish for breakfast with eggs and grits. I admit, it’s pretty darn good.

In my search for breakfast fulfillment I paused at the front bar, where a few Bandits were taking breaks from the writing caves deep in the bowels of the lair.

“Joanie,” I said, “What do you eat for breakfast?”

Joanie said, “Good or bad day?”

Clearly, this could get more complicated than I thought.

“Okay, Joanie, Good day.”

“A cup of cheerios, and a cup of skim milk.”

I was aghast. “What the heck makes THAT a good day?”


“Bad day,” Joanie went on, “is scrambled eggs, bacon, shredded hashbrowns, a biscuit with sausage gravy. And a Diet Coke.”

Hmmmm. That sounds much closer to a GOOD day to me.

Except for the Diet Coke. *shudder*

“Okay, I said, “Nancy, what do you eat for breakfast?”

“Well my goal is a bowl of Raisin Bran with the serving size specified on the package, skim milk, and coffee with half and half.”

I frowned. “You are not right.”

Donna broke in. “I usually have a cup of Raisin Bran cereal, only I use one-percent milk, I won’t drink skim.” (YES! *Cassondra pumps fist for the very slight gain toward the good-tasting ground of whole milk*) “But,"Donna said, and paused to glance at Nancy who raised one eyebrow, "my favorite breakfast is half of a banana sliced in a bowl, topped with a handful of granola, a cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt, and sliced strawberries and blueberries. “

"Okay I am down with this idea. A parfait. I could go with that...except for the no-protein part. Yogurt does NOT count as honest protein. Yogurt is an interloper. A late-arriving fake. It's hoity toity. And I say that all y'all are a little twisted.” Now Donna has her eyebrow raised.


I have one last hope from the people in the bar. My evil twin. Jeanne.

Jeanne did not hesitate. “Three eggs, scrambled firm. A bowl of Cheerios with whole milk and a bagel with cream cheese. If I’ve got it I’ll eat bacon. Oh and there’s usually a decaf, venti , skim, with-whip mocha involved.”

Hallelujah and THANK GOD!!!! My evil twin comes through again.

“Yes, "Nancy said, but you’re having breakfast at one in the afternoon.” She points at me with that same eyebrow raised even higher. I can see that she’s considering buying a cross-shaped necklace to wear at all times.

“FINE FINE. Okay. It’s true. I am a vampire. But why should I be breakfast-penalized for this?”

And you see, I am penalized. I tend to stay up very late and sleep late. Then I want breakfast. Almost all restaurants turn off the eggs and bacon and turn on the burgers and barbecue by the time I’m up and have had coffee. By that time, any form of biscuit has turned into a reasonable imitation of a hockey puck. And I’m sorry, but I just don’t want spice for breakfast. No ketchup. No complicated sauces. Nothing fancy. No gourmet concoctions in cute heart-shaped ramekins. No mushroom quiche. These foods I mention…they are challenging. I do not want to be challenged by my breakfast.

The world makes breakfast for daywalkers. And I am not one.

And I cannot, under any circumstances, manage cast iron skillets and slow-cooking eggs within the first three hours of waking. To consider such a thing could be a threat to national security. Or at least to the dog and the FedEx guy, who tends to arrive in the mornings. I am not a morning person.

So recently I have been gravitating toward catfish because it’s available even after noon.

But I have to admit, it’s lacking. It’s not DaddyMike’s breakfast.
DaddyMike’s breakfast was comforting, filling, full of energy and not challenging. The ultimate breakfast.

Recently I’ve been logging some long hours and trying to increase my writing output –I mean double or triple it. I have decided that I need breakfast. My books need breakfast. And since I no longer have DaddyMike on this realm, I need help.

What do y’all eat for breakfast?

Eggs? Bacon? Sausage? Toast or biscuits?

How ‘bout potatoes?


What did you grow up eating for breakfast? Do you still like that? Or have you switched? And if so, is it a diet you’re on? Or has your taste changed?

Are there certain breakfast foods which are traditional in the area or country where you live, or where you grew up?


What's your favorite breakfast ever?

Help me, Bandits and Buddies. What’s a vampire to do? (And no, blood is not an option. It's far too challenging for a morning meal.)

118 comments:

Jane said...

Hi Cassondra,
I love breakfast. I even make myself wake up earlier so that I don't leave the house before having breakfast. As a kid I ate oatmeal or cereal before heading off to school. Now I can't live without the greasy breakfast of eggs, bacon and buttered toast. On special occasions I will have pancakes.

mariska said...

Hi !
Breakfast is the main thing that i have to make first thing in the morning :)
usually we have Nasi Goreng, or Fried Rice.
but if I become so lazy, i just eat cereal same as What my son has :)

or maybe, we have a pan of brownie and a glass of milk for breakfast..that's good !

Helen said...

Well done Mariska have fun with him

Cassondra
What a great blog as we all know breakfast is the main meal of the day and I do have breaky everyday. When I was a kid we had 3 types of cereal cornflakes rice bubbles or weet-bix and in winter Mum would make us porridge and we would have that with lots of brown sugar and milk and there was always toast with vegemite. When I first got married breakfast cereal or cheese on toast was our breakfast and on Sundays I would do bacon and eggs and there is always coffee or tea (made in a pot with tea leaves) these days I have weet-bix with light white milk and coffee sometimes I have toast and in winter I still love my porridge. If I am staying up at my sisters place my brother in law will put the BBQ on in the morning and we have sausages egg bacon and tomato with toast lots of it with lots of butter and then some toast with vegemite and of course coffee I do love these special breakfasts but I have them few and far between there should be more of them if I wasn't so lazy of a morning LOL. Actually I bought bacon and egss while shopping today and maybe we might have them on Sunday morning for a treat.

Have Fun
Helen

PinkPeony said...

Hey Cassondra!
I loved your story!And I can SMELL that bacon!

I'm not an early morning person. Sometimes, I just have coffee and a banana. Maybe a Lean Cuisine. When I was a kid, my parents worked and when I woke up, my Chinese nanny would get me ready for school. She'd make anything I wanted for breakfast. So, if I wanted a hot dog and root beer, that's what I got. My favorite was won ton soup. Mom kept frozen won tons in the freezer. On Sunday mornings, my dad would take me to the bowling alley. While he practiced, he'd let me buy my own breakfast at the snack bar...a large Coke and an order of fries.

When I have the time, I do like to make a big breakfast. We're having English breakfast (without the blood pudding) for dinner tomorrow night. Beans on toast!
Congrats, Mariska!

Tawny said...

It depends on what time of year it is :-)

Winter - oatmeal with walnuts and raisins.

Spring/Fall - scrambled egg with cheese and soy sausage on a whole wheat english muffin with a bowl of fruit

Summer - fruit with yogurt

All, always, accompanied by vast amounts of unsweetened iced tea :-D

I adore breakfast. If I'm having it for dinner (quite often, I do - just did last night as a matter of fact) its usually more elaborate, but in the morning its as burn-the-house-down safe as I can make it since it takes a good hour of ingesting tea for me to actually wake my brain *g*

Kim in Baltimore said...

Thanks, Cassondra, for the delicious post! Breakfast food in Hawaii reflects the diverse cultures in the islands.

Last Saturday, RWA’s Aloha Chapter hosted Jill Marie Landis for a workshop. She hopped over from Kauai and we enjoyed an early breakfast at a local greasy spoon. Jill and I ordered Hawaiian Sweetbread French Toast. Other menu items included:

Loco Moco
Hamburger patty over the rice served with two eggs and gravy

Mahimahi & Eggs
Fillet of mahimahi served with two eggs

So come on over to Hawaii for Breakfast!

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

Cassondra, you don't have a Bob Evans, I Hop, or Tudor's anywhere? I would die. I love potatoes but am not a big bread person but I can eat a Tudor's buttermilk bisquit with nothing but butter (butter, not margarine) and be a happy camper. Next time you come this way find a Tudor's, they are everywhere. They quit serving at 2:00 in the afternoon you might have to get up an hour or two early but it is worth it.

If I make my own breakfast it is better of course, (except I can't make bisquits as good as Tudor's), I make fried eggs, bacon (preferably Applewood Smoked-thick sliced), shredded hash browns (have to have taters), sausage gravy and bisquits. Girl, I can make some serious gravy, really. Hmmmm, can you see that I am a totally starch person.

Deb said...

Good morning, Cassondra!

I eat two or three eggs every morning, scrambled or fried. I know, cholesterol alert.

When I was a girl, Gram (and Gramps) had all of the family out one Sunday a month for Pancake Night. There were buckwheat, blueberry, corn (corn in the batter), and potato (chunks of potatoes in the batter) pancakes. Then there was the syrup: maple, boysenberry, blueberry. Unfortunately, I cannot make a decent pancake so can't carry out that tradition, but I can do waffles.

We are a breakfast family, breakfast-at-night, that is. My husband makes the BEST omelettes, so that is Choice Number 1. Homemade waffles, eggs, and bacon. Sausage and gravy over biscuits. I finally got the gravy down---hardly a lump. Then, of course, fried potatoes with any or all breakfast menus are a must.

Gillian Layne said...

Joanie, come sit by me on a bad day. I'm all about diet coke in the morning.

Cassondra, I gained three pounds just reading this post. My Mom has pretty awesome ideas about breakfast, which include eggs, toast, fried potatoes with onions (come to mama), fruit salad, orange juice, bacon, and coffee for Dad. Normal coffee. No latte, no sugar, no decaf. Starbucks confuses him greatly.

I'm all about a plain omelet (which with my dreadful kitchen skills usually turns into scrambled eggs) and lots of salsa. Yum, yum! And hot tea. Or iced coffee.

We do breakfast for dinner on a pretty regular basis around here, too.

Cassondra said...

Congrats Mariska!

Cassondra said...

Okay, nobody panic. I am up and it is not yet 9 Eastern time. But it's okay. I'm on the road. I'll be gone from about 10 to 3 today, so if I disappear, I did not get too much sunlight and explode or anything. I'm just driving and off the internet.

Cassondra said...

Hey Jane!

Cha-ching! Another chick who likes BREAKFAST!!! We ate oatmeal or cereal on Saturdays when there was no school. Sometimes I still make oatmeal with strawberries in it. Yummm. And other times on Saturdays Mom would make pancakes. Slurp.

Cassondra said...

Mariska said:

usually we have Nasi Goreng, or Fried Rice.

Wow. That's interesting. Is there anything mixed in with the rice? When I hear "fried rice" I think of Chinese or Japanese fried rice mixed with a bit of scrambled egg and maybe some veggies. I would assume yours is a little different though?

Kirsten said...

Hey Cassondra, I have one question about that breakfast story -- they had you drinking COFFEE when you were a little child? No WONDER!! (*Kirsten smiles as it all becomes clear*)

Okay, seriously, I adore eggs and bacon for breakfast. But I'd definitely give up the bacon for some fresh bread, crusty and toasted, with loads of butter. And if I can use the toast to sop up the gooey yellow of my over-easy egg, even better.

I also adore potatoes. Cassondra, before you to go bed, try roasting some baby reds with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then use them in the morning in a scramble with eggs and veggies (I am partial to broccili and spinach), or you can go mexican and add some beans. So tasty, easy to cook, and not even bad for you!

Cassondra said...

Helen said:
If I am staying up at my sisters place my brother in law will put the BBQ on in the morning and we have sausages egg bacon and tomato with toast lots of it with lots of butter and then some toast with vegemite and of course coffee

Yummmm!!! Well..except for the vegemite. I've had that a couple of times and I admit that I don't like it. Vegemite must be an acquired taste?

I do love these special breakfasts but I have them few and far between there should be more of them if I wasn't so lazy of a morning LOL. Actually I bought bacon and egss while shopping today and maybe we might have them on Sunday morning for a treat.



See???? It's just too much to roll out of bed and immediately start cooking I think. I don't know that I'll ever be in a state of mind to do that. Helen, you're awesome if you get up and fix that for your loved ones on Sunday.

Kirsten said...

So we here in Portland have a reputation for being horrible coffee snobs, and...well...it's all true. We brought ground coffee on our road trip so we didn't have to face the possibility of bad road coffee. I gave up a lot of things when I was trying to get my migraines under control, and there were some dooseys on the list -- fresh bread, sweets (including ice cream!), chocolate, alcohol. But the worst was trying to give up coffee. I will even drink decaf. It's not about the caffine. It's about the ritual. It's about wrapping your hands around a fragrant cup first thing in the morning and taking a good, long sniff.

And besides, what else am I going to drink when I'm eating my donuts?!

Christie Kelley said...

Ahh, breakfast...my favorite meal too. When I don't have to fix it.

Unfortunately, most mornings it's half a bagel and coffee or a cup of oat squares and skim milk. But I love to go to iHop and have their pancakes and eggs. That doesn't happen much now because they closed our iHop to put in a Walgreens. Like we need another pharmacy.

Now, I do make eggs and pancakes myself sometimes but it tastes better when someone else makes it.

Thanks, Cassondra. Now I'm hungry!

Cassondra said...

Pink Peony,

Sounds like you grew up with somewhat non-traditional breakfasts. French Fries...YUMMM.

You make English Breakfast? I NEVER had that when I was a kid. Never had blood pudding. Ew. Never had beans on toast. Might have to look into that...

Cassondra said...

Tawny said:

I adore breakfast. If I'm having it for dinner (quite often, I do - just did last night as a matter of fact) its usually more elaborate, but in the morning its as burn-the-house-down safe as I can make it since it takes a good hour of ingesting tea for me to actually wake my brain *g*


SEEEE???? Me too!!!! Pancakes? Who on EARTH could manage to get a skillet just the right amount of hot to cook pancakes right when they hadn't already been up for four or five hours.

For me it's coffee. And the older I get, the more I need of it to climb out of the coffin in the mornings. Recently I've been needing a LOT of it. Maybe I need to look into the possibility of an espresso machine.

Cassondra said...

Kim in Hawaii said:

Loco Moco
Hamburger patty over the rice served with two eggs and gravy

Mahimahi & Eggs
Fillet of mahimahi served with two eggs

So come on over to Hawaii for Breakfast!


Oh, interesting choices! The hamburger patty--is it highly seasoned or just plain? And is the rice some special kind?

Filet of mahimahi sounds fantastic! As does the sweetbread French toast.

Cassondra said...

a.k.a. Dianna wrote:

Tudor's buttermilk bisquit with nothing but butter (butter, not margarine)

YES!!!! *High Five*

Cassondra, you don't have a Bob Evans, I Hop, or Tudor's anywhere?

No I Hop. *hangs head* It is a sad state of affairs. Never heard of Tudor's. Bob Evans is in our town I think, and I've been there once but did not really like it. I don't know why. For some reason it just seems...I dunno...sort of...sterile I guess....

The biscuits with gravy always come on their own separate little plate. The eggs on another, perhaps with the bacon, or it all comes on separate little plates. I understand why they do that, as some people do not want their gravy touching their eggs or bacon touching their biscuits. Still, it leaves me sighing for DaddyMike's breakfast.

Andrea said...

Hi, Cassondra!

My answer resembles Tawny's--it depends on what time of year it is. On cold mornings, I want a warm breakfast, either oatmeal or eggs, bacon, etc. And on warm mornings, I like cereal or fruit, etc. All accompanied by coffee with either half & half or peppermint mocha creamer. :)

One thing my family and I love to do is have breakfast for dinner about once every two weeks. In that case, we go all out with eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, and toast. Yum!

p226 said...

The best breakfast I have ever seen is a series of photos circulating the internet. Some enterprising and brilliant person tied aluminum foil and bacon to the barrel of an MG3 machine gun. They then brought it up to temperature by firing the machine gun, and cooked the bacon. I can think of little in the world more awesome than a machine-gun-cooked bacon breakfast.

Cassondra said...

Deb said:

We are a breakfast family, breakfast-at-night, that is. My husband makes the BEST omelettes, so that is Choice Number 1. Homemade waffles, eggs, and bacon. Sausage and gravy over biscuits. I finally got the gravy down---hardly a lump. Then, of course, fried potatoes with any or all breakfast menus are a must.

Oooooo, YUMMMM! And another yum on the pancakes! But I see that you do not attempt this in the mornings. Hmmm. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Cassondra said...

Gillian Layne said:

My Mom has pretty awesome ideas about breakfast, which include eggs, toast, fried potatoes with onions (come to mama), fruit salad, orange juice, bacon, and coffee for Dad. Normal coffee. No latte, no sugar, no decaf. Starbucks confuses him greatly.


Uh....*raises hand*....I'm a poor homeless girl who needs to be adopted. Pay no attention to anything you might hear about me sleeping in an coffin. That is pure speculation. I won't cause much trouble and pick up after myself....

Cassondra said...

Kirsten said:

they had you drinking COFFEE when you were a little child? No WONDER!! (*Kirsten smiles as it all becomes clear*)


Well? Yes. In truth it was the equivalent of warm coffee ice cream, what will it being mostly sugar and milk, but yes, yes they did. Perhaps that is what happened to me.

Either that, or they dropped me on my head.

Cassondra, before you to go bed, try roasting some baby reds with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then use them in the morning in a scramble with eggs and veggies

*drool drips from corner of mouth*
OMG. That sounds like some kind of breakfast heaven.

Hellie Sinclair said...

I did not enjoy breakfast as a child. I'd eat weird stuff--that I *preferred*--like mushroom soup out of the can.

I don't think Mom was a good cook and she was the one who cooked most days of the week. But on Saturdays, the day of the week I would eat breakfast, Dad cooked. We'd have bacon (jowl, actually, and it's heavenly), biscuits, gravy, and sometimes pancakes.

The perfect breakfast is chicken-fried steak w/ gravy, bacon, hashbrowns, and 2 eggs over-easy (runny). Toast on the side, not that I have room for it. Perfect after you've gone drinking all night and you eat before you go home. No hangover.

My friend Holly used to work at a short order cook, so she makes to die for hashbrowns and the most perfect eggs--basted eggs, which has the runny middle but the whites set perfectly. And I like bacon much more than is good for me.

I also like yogurt, fruit, and granola--but it's not real protein. *LOL*

Cassondra said...

Kirsten said:

I will even drink decaf. It's not about the caffine. It's about the ritual. It's about wrapping your hands around a fragrant cup first thing in the morning and taking a good, long sniff.


Hallelujah ! Amen! *waves hanky* THIS is what it's all about. The smell. And the ritual. Ritual is very important in the morning. Morning ritual, where I am concerned, is a safety precaution for all who know me. Don't try to engage my mind before coffee has passed my lips. It isn't safe.

And I carry a quarter pound of good coffee with me wherever I go now. Bad hotel coffee is one of those approaches to hell which Jeanne blogged about this week.

Oh, and donuts! There is a nice, simple breakfast food with the appropriate degree of no-challenging deliciousness.

Cassondra said...

Christie said:

Ahh, breakfast...my favorite meal too. When I don't have to fix it.



This. This is it. My whole blog condensed into a sentence.

Cassondra said...

Andrea said:

On cold mornings, I want a warm breakfast, either oatmeal or eggs, bacon, etc. And on warm mornings, I like cereal or fruit, etc. All accompanied by coffee with either half & half or peppermint mocha creamer. :)



I am with you on the hot breakfast on a cold morning. Or if I'm going to be working outside or doing something strenuous. I want something that will, as DaddyMike would have put it, stick to my ribs.

I have gone through my cold breakfast phases, but it's not my favorite now.

Cassondra said...

p226 said:

I can think of little in the world more awesome than a machine-gun-cooked bacon breakfast.

*sigh* This is just so typically....male.

C'mon now. Have you ever EATEN such a breakfast? What do you actually EAT in the mornings? I know that you function as a daywalker, but I've also seen you posting at 2 in the morning. You have vampire tendencies. Your input could help out the survey. What besides machine-gun heated breakfast would you like to eat?

Cassondra said...

Hellion said:

I don't think Mom was a good cook and she was the one who cooked most days of the week. But on Saturdays, the day of the week I would eat breakfast, Dad cooked. We'd have bacon (jowl, actually, and it's heavenly), biscuits, gravy, and sometimes pancakes.

This is key, isn't it? The breakfast cook has to know what he's doing. DaddyMike was actualy better at breakfast than MotherGrant. But both did a good job. I am not particularly good at cooking breakfast either, though I'm okay at some stuff.

The perfect breakfast is chicken-fried steak w/ gravy, bacon, hashbrowns, and 2 eggs over-easy (runny). Toast on the side, not that I have room for it.

Now that sounds like a stick-to-your-ribs meal!

Cassondra said...

Okay everybody. I have to hit the road to drive back home to Kentucky. I'll see y'all after 3 pm, so keep the lair rocking. And somebody fire up the grill, will ya? We could use some breakfast. It's really okay to show up with your shades on---too much light makes us vampires skittish.

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Oh, Cassondra, I am sooooooooooo with you on this! Except...I discovered not long ago, and thanks to some co-workers' pregnancies, that IHOP is open all night and will make this incredible breakfast at 3 am that you can take out.!! OH. MY. GOD!!!

I recomend the homestyle skillet, with home fries, bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese!

When my husband traveled for work, I often made breakfast for dinner for my kids. Worked forme, as I had probably been awake only a few hours! Buckwheat pancakes, (home made, no frozen crap from my kitchen), bacon, real maple syrup and slices of oranges. We all thought that was great!

These days, I've discovered something unusual, hospital breakfast. Before you call for the men in the white jackets to take me away, yes, I've had hospital food for over 30 years. Most places it sucks!! But the place where I work, the CEO was determined both the patients and staff would have tasty food and hired a chef to head his cafe! OH YEAH. I can stop by on my way out the door and order a bacon-egg-cheese breakfast burrito to go. The protein is such that it keeps me awake all the way home!

Hellie Sinclair said...

Now that I think on it. I think men as a whole cook breakfast better. I don't know what it is. I think it's because it has to do with grease and meat...women usually try to healthify it all, which screws it up. But if I start listing people I know who make good breakfast, most of them are men...and that's a comment on my love life either. *LOL*

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Ms. Hellion said:Now that I think on it. I think men as a whole cook breakfast better. I don't know what it is..

I'd have to disagree with you here, as according to my hubby and oldest daughter, my mother makes the world's best sausge gravy and biscuits. I have to take their opinion as this is one breakfast food I cannot tolerate. I do, however, love her bacon, eggs and biscuits, too! The woman knows how to make breakfast!

Mrs. P226 said...

Good morning Cassondra,
The only breakfast that I can stomach is a huge plate filled with old-fashioned peppered gravy and buttermilk biscuits and a lot, a lot, a lot of bacon :) It can be made better with some fresh from garden strawberry slices...

Barbara Monajem said...

Coke for breakfast, whether regular or diet, is just AWFUL. Cold pizza is....OK.

I'm definitely a daywalker, but I will eat breakfast at any time of the day or night. I love, love, love breakfast. Grits, any kind of potatoes (I LOVE corned beef hash, especially when I'm the one who made it), French toast, pancakes. Bacon, yumm. And eggs in many, many forms. I love them fried with spinach. Scrambled with tomatoes. Soft or hard boiled. Some kinds of omelettes - like the ones with asparagus and blue cheese. Sigh. And mushroom quiche? Sure. Any kind of quiche, warm or cold.

Weekdays during my childhood, we had cereal, toast, and eggnog (yes, every day). Weekends - egga, bacon, the works. Now and then supper would be pancakes with butter and syrup, followed by oranges to cleanse the palate.

Cheese French toast is one of my favorite foods - It's a cheese sandwich dipped in egg and fried like French toast. Make sure the cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar) is thoroughly melted, and eat with ketchup.

OK, enough said. This is making me hungry, and I have work to do.

Unknown said...

I love breakfast food but don't have it often! I stay up late and sleep late and then I cook at about noon because hubby works second shift and I cook a meal before he goes to work! Every once is a while I will cook breakfast on the weekends, but not often unless son comes home!

Susan Sey said...

Cassondra, I LOVE your posts. I always do. How can you take something as mundane as breakfast & turn it into a ode to your childhood, real bacon & the power of fueling up for the task at hand??

Now then, in term of breakfast, I eat a bowl of steel cut oats, chopped apple, crushed walnuts & cinnamon. No sugar--the apples are tart & gorgeous in there & it's enough.

Also, I cook the steel cut oats in a slow cooker overnight--I turn it into a steamer sort of. It's complicated but the oats never burn or get dry. They are creamy & heavenly.

My husband thinks this is the most disgusting thing he's ever seen. But what this breakfast lacks in beauty it completely makes up for in staying power. I am NOT hungry until lunch. :-)

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

GREAT post, Cassondra!

You are not the only late riser who LURVES breakfast! I lived on a farm when I was a little girl and grew accustomed to that hearty farm breakfast -- eggs, bacon AND sausage, biscuits and gravy, and most important of all CHOCOLATE MILK! LOL! I was finicky and the only way my mom could get me to drink my milk was to put Hershey's chocolate syrup in it. Guess what I still drink for breakfast whenever I can?!?!

Unfortunately, they don't normally serve chocolate milk (except hot chocolate) on a cruise, but the fresh squeezed orange juice almost makes up for it! Breakfast in the sit-down dining room is the only thing that gets me out of bed on a cruise. YUM!

My usual is poached eggs (I never poach them at home. Too much trouble!), sausage links, hash browns, fresh berries, a bagel and cream cheese. Oh, and hot tea with my OJ. BURP! No wonder I always gain weight on a cruise.

AC

catslady said...

Now that I don't work I don't get up in time for breakfast lol. So for lunch I have Activia yogurt and a glass of water with dark cherry juice and sometimes coffee. When I worked it was coffee and donuts (yum). But my favorite thing to do is go out for breakfast - homefries, over easy eggs, bacon and toast and coffee. As a child sometimes I got a fried egg or soft boiled and toast but usually cereal (unsugered lol). I refused to eat oatmeal ugh.

Pat Cochran said...

Cassondra, rather tasty blog today!
As a child, it was oatmeal or cereal on school days. Scrambled eggs plus all the go-withs on the weekend or maybe Huevos Rancheros with Mom's home-made tortillas. Yum!

Today I live as a night owl: up late, sleep late, NO BREAKFAST! When I get around to eating it is usually lunch time so I usually have lunch. I hope you find as
delicious a breakfast as the one
DaddyMike provided for you!

Pat Cochran

Beth Andrews said...

Cassondra, I love breakfast but I usually only eat shredded wheat with a banana *g*

But, if we're having a lazy weekend morning, I'll actually cook. My kids and husband adore bacon so that's on the menu but I prefer homemade waffles or poached eggs on one of those mini whole grain bagels - yum!

And for the sweet side, I love homemade scones or cinnamon bread pudding :-)

PinkPeony said...

Kirsten wrote...We brought ground coffee on our road trip so we didn't have to face the possibility of bad road coffee....

Ok. It's good to know I'm not the only person who does this. I always pack my coffee and a Melitta single cup filter when we travel. I need coffee in the a.m. before I face other humans. Hubby is the only exception.

Becke Davis said...

Growing up, I was the oldest of five kids. We went through milk like water, so it was mostly cereal for breakfast - sometimes dry, when we ran out of milk (which was often). I remember having Cheerios a lot, and I still prefer them dry to wet.

Now my regular breakfast is either tea and a low sugar Instant Breakfast or, more often, oatmeal with raisins and/or blueberries. If my sweet tooth is acting up I'll have granola, fruit and low fat yogurt.

I do love oatmeal, but if I had my druthers, I'd have eggs (over easy) (or a mushroom omelet), crispy bacon and rye toast for breakfast. Darn, now you're making me hungry!

Becke Davis said...

And, despite the way I made it sound in the last post, I still am the oldest of five!

pjpuppymom said...

Yummy post, Cassondra! I lived on my grandparents' farm during the week until I was almost four years old. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, butter (churned at the farm)...the whole works...every morning. Farmers worked up a formidable appetite!

I still love breakfast but I have to stick to a heart healthy diet so, nowadays, it usually consists of cereal with fresh fruit and yogurt. Saturday morning is my time to indulge my breakfast fantasies. On those days I'll make pancakes or waffles or french toast, topped with real maple syrup, and scrambled eggs. I love soft scrambled eggs cooked with Velveeta cheese and seasoned with garlic powder. Yummy!

My favorite restaurant breakfast is the pecan waffles at Waffle House.

Joan said...

Now in defense of Diet Coke for breakfast, I once read a survey that said drinking Coke in the morning is a very SOUTHERN habit!!!

I've also just gotten home from traveling and despite having some good scrambled eggs this AM have decided....I need MORE for supper!

Cassondra said...

Hi all, I'm back!

Off the road, finished with my trip, and back home. Now to hear more of what y'all eat for breakfast...

Cassondra said...

Suz said:

IHOP is open all night and will make this incredible breakfast at 3 am that you can take out.!! OH. MY. GOD!!!

I recomend the homestyle skillet, with home fries, bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese!


*hangs head* There is no IHOP here. It closed many years ago, before I moved to this town. As far as I know there isn't even one in Nashville. The one on Music Row, near where I used to work, is gone too. I will say that Noshville has the best breakfast in that town, IMO, followed closely by Pancake Pantry in the Village.

Just sayin...



But the place where I work, the CEO was determined both the patients and staff would have tasty food and hired a chef to head his cafe! OH YEAH. I can stop by on my way out the door and order a bacon-egg-cheese breakfast burrito to go. The protein is such that it keeps me awake all the way home!


OMG! That is the coolest thing I have ever heard. If I worked in a place with a chef, I think I'd just sell off my kitchen appliances, turn my kitchen into an office, and eat at work all the time!

Cassondra said...

Hellion said:

if I start listing people I know who make good breakfast, most of them are men...and that's a comment on my love life either. *LOL*

Oh SUUUUUUURRRRRE it's not. Wink wink....

Cassondra said...

Suz said:

....according to my hubby and oldest daughter, my mother makes the world's best sausge gravy and biscuits. I have to take their opinion as this is one breakfast food I cannot tolerate.

Suz, I LOVE gravy, but not particularly sausage gravy. I like just plain white gravy with a bit of black pepper. I use that to pour over my eggs and hide them. I honestly don't like eggs. I like them only if they're EXACTLY as DaddyMike made them, and almost nobody can do that. So any other eggs I hide under something else. Gravy, salsa, omelet-fixins, cheese, etc. But I like my gravy plain. So I would not be a good judge of this either.

And this is a whole new twist to the breakfast question...who makes the better breakfast--men or women????Perhaps we'll have to have a cookoff in the lair.

Cassondra said...

Beth said:

Good morning Cassondra,
The only breakfast that I can stomach is a huge plate filled with old-fashioned peppered gravy and buttermilk biscuits and a lot, a lot, a lot of bacon :) It can be made better with some fresh from garden strawberry slices...


OHHHHH yeah... I could so do this. bacon, strawberry slices and all. And see????? ANOTHER VOTE FOR NON-SAUSAG-EY GRAVY!

Cassondra said...

Barbara Monajem said:

Cheese French toast is one of my favorite foods - It's a cheese sandwich dipped in egg and fried like French toast. Make sure the cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar) is thoroughly melted, and eat with ketchup.


Never heard of Cheese French Toast. I might have to try this. It's just that the combination kind of warps my notion of breakfast a little. First because when I think of French toast, I automatically think of wanting syrup with it. And cheese wiht syrup? I'm thinking no.

And second because you said eat ketchup with it, and I'm just not certain I can embrace ketchup as a breakfast food. It's not that I'm against it or anything. Just that I'm not used to the idea.

Hmmm..I will have to consider these combinations.

Cassondra said...

Virginia said:

I love breakfast food but don't have it often! I stay up late and sleep late and then I cook at about noon because hubby works second shift and I cook a meal before he goes to work!

SEEEEE?????!!!!!! We nightwalkers are deprived! I think there should be just as many available breakfast choices for nightwalkers as there are for daywalkers, but there are not. The cooks at the local diner have been scowling at me when I ask for eggs with my catfish in the middle of the day.

This is wrong, this breakfast discrimination!

Thank you, Virginia, for having my back with this vampire breakfast discrimination thing. You have added more solid evidence to the cause. Now, if you could just add more BACON.

Cassondra said...

Susan Sey said:

Also, I cook the steel cut oats in a slow cooker overnight--I turn it into a steamer sort of. It's complicated but the oats never burn or get dry. They are creamy & heavenly.


OH! I really want to learn to do this Good oats are an art form, and there is nothing like them. The sorry-assed excuse for oatmeal I cook is a poor substitute. And I try. I REALLY try. But I've never seen steel-cut oats.

In that same vein, I cannot find any grits in our town which are not instant grits. THIS IS WRONG!

Although I did not grow up eating grits, I am made to understand that instant grits are an abomination to all that is corn. And they tast NOTHING like the grits I get in restaurants. So apparantly there is some secret handshake to gain entry to the grit-purchasing and cooking societies.

If anyone knows this secret handshake, I would pay well for it. Okay that's a lie. But I would pay.

Cassondra said...

Aunty Cindy said:

My usual is poached eggs (I never poach them at home. Too much trouble!), sausage links, hash browns, fresh berries, a bagel and cream cheese. Oh, and hot tea with my OJ. BURP! No wonder I always gain weight on a cruise.


OH, that does sound good!

But see, I have a tough time believing that breakfast makes me gain weight. Dinner, which I eat late in the day? Oh yes. But you get all day to burn off breakfast!

Joan said...

who makes the better breakfast--men or women????

Well, I can't do fried eggs very well (I blame a misshappened spatula) but my brother can! He also can replicate the "crispy edged pancakes" of our Mom....

Trouble is, he won't come over on my day off and make them for me!

Cassondra said...

catslady said:

But my favorite thing to do is go out for breakfast - homefries, over easy eggs, bacon and toast and coffee. As a child sometimes I got a fried egg or soft boiled and toast but usually cereal (unsugered lol). I refused to eat oatmeal

That sounds a LOT like the kind of breakfast I would enjoy! Although I would want my eggs a bit more done that that. And LOL on the oatmeal. I love oatmeal when it's done well, but as I said in an earlier post, can't find any oats which are not pre-prepped for quick cooking.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hellion said: I think it's because it has to do with grease and meat...women usually try to healthify it all, which screws it up.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Well, it would HELP if I actually COMMENTED on what HEllion said...

Which is, I agree...grins. Women (or most of them) try to "healthify" things.

Nope. Won't work with breakfast.

Cassondra said...

Pat Cochran said:

Today I live as a night owl: up late, sleep late, NO BREAKFAST! When I get around to eating it is usually lunch time so I usually have lunch. I hope you find as
delicious a breakfast as the one
DaddyMike provided for you!


AWWWWW, thanks Pat! And see???!!! You are another who might well fit into the obvious niche market for really good breakfast all day. ;0)

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Mariska! The GR must like fried rice for breakfast! Grins. I love leftover fried rice for breakfast. Our local Asian restaurant makes what I call "kitchen sink fried rice" - it's got shrimp and pork and beef and egg and peas and everything in it.

YUM! Good for dinner or breakfast.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Susan, I love you, and I love my husband, but I abhor both of your choices for breakfast.

Oatmeal = UGH!!! No matter how you adulterate it, it's just...ugh.

Cassondra, I ADORE grits. Yum, yum, yum. I'll make them now and again, but since I'm the only one who eats them....sigh...I don't make them that often. The only time I ever want a "runny over easy" egg is with grits. Scoop that yellow part into the eggs, butter, salt...YUM!!!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Kim in Hawaii, I wanna come have breakfast! Grins. Sound's slurpy.

Cassondra said...

Beth said:

I prefer homemade waffles or poached eggs on one of those mini whole grain bagels - yum!

And for the sweet side, I love homemade scones or cinnamon bread pudding :-)


I LOVE waffles. And cinnamon bread pudding sounds heavenly! You can make that???!!! Is it hard to make?

Cassondra said...

PinkPeony said:

I need coffee in the a.m. before I face other humans. Hubby is the only exception.

Ha! I need it before I face humans too! But my husband is included in that! Snork!

Cassondra said...

Becke said:

I do love oatmeal, but if I had my druthers, I'd have eggs (over easy) (or a mushroom omelet), crispy bacon and rye toast for breakfast. Darn, now you're making me hungry!

So...why don't you have this? Too much trouble? Special diet? What? This sounds MUCH better than dry Cheerios to me. And I actually like Cheerios.

Cassondra said...

Becke said:

And, despite the way I made it sound in the last post, I still am the oldest of five!

Ahahahahahaha! I completely missed that. Read right over it. (grin)

Cassondra said...

PJ said:

Breakfast was eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, butter (churned at the farm)...the whole works...every morning. Farmers worked up a formidable appetite!

Yes they did. And it's interesting to me that I was thinner, healthier and in better shape then than I have been since. And DaddyMike cooked the eggs in bacon grease! Hey! Maybe that's the secret to awesome eggs!


I love soft scrambled eggs cooked with Velveeta cheese and seasoned with garlic powder. Yummy!

No soft-scrambled for me, but that concoction does sound like a good way to disguise eggs. Garlic powder--slurp.

My favorite restaurant breakfast is the pecan waffles at Waffle House.

Steve used to take me out to Waffle House when we were dating (I was a vampire then too, so it was the ONLY thing open). I always always ALWAYS had the pecan waffles. They were my absolute fav. Now though, the Waffle Houses around here are so full of smoke that it's unbearable. He's allergic, and it bothers me too. So we don't go. :0/

Cassondra said...

Joanie said:

I've also just gotten home from traveling and despite having some good scrambled eggs this AM have decided....I need MORE for supper!

You go Joanie!

And no mushroom quiche or heart-shaped ramekins for you.


To everyone: Joanie told me about a Bed and Breakfast she visited where every breakfast was some kind of foo-foo food in a heart-shaped ramekin. Thus, the reference in the blog today.

Cassondra said...

Oh but I am still grossed out by Diet Coke for breakfast.

Actually I'm grossed out by Diet Coke in general....

Cassondra said...

Joan said:

Well, I can't do fried eggs very well (I blame a misshappened spatula) but my brother can! He also can replicate the "crispy edged pancakes" of our Mom....


This is so interesting! How did he learn to cook breakfast? And those pancakes sound great. I like crispy edges, light and fluffy centers.

Cassondra said...

In response to Hellion, Jeanne said:

Which is, I agree...grins. Women (or most of them) try to "healthify" things.

Nope. Won't work with breakfast.


*nods head in agreement*

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Tracy Garrett's hubby makes a frittata to DIE for! Seriously, a bunch of us went to visit them one weekend, and this thing had grated baked potato fried in the bottom of the skillet, topped with an egg, cheese and veggie mixture! Served with mixed fruit, toast and mimosas...oh yeah, he can do breakfast!!

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

I love leftover fried rice for breakfast. Our local Asian restaurant makes what I call "kitchen sink fried rice" - it's got shrimp and pork and beef and egg and peas and everything in it.

YUM! Good for dinner or breakfast.


Yaknow, for some reason I just cannot get into the idea of this. Fried Rice for Breakfast. Blech. It's something about that Asian sauce they put on it....Just can't see it.

Cassondra said...

Suz said:

Tracy Garrett's hubby makes a frittata to DIE for! Seriously, a bunch of us went to visit them one weekend, and this thing had grated baked potato fried in the bottom of the skillet, topped with an egg, cheese and veggie mixture!

OMG!

Served with mixed fruit, toast and mimosas...oh yeah, he can do breakfast!!

*drool drips off chin* OMG that sounds heavenly.

And here's another example of a guy being a wonderful breakfast cook. Hmmm...I could maybe form some theories about that....

Nancy said...

Mariska, congrats on the rooster. I hope you keep him busy and out of trouble

Cassondra, I think lack of sleep is affecting your memory. Of course I do not need to buy a cross for protection. I have my personal force field. Duh!

My favorite ever breakfast--usually consumed when out--is scrambled eggs, fruit, a small pastry of some kind, and maybe cereal (with SKIM milk) and/or yogurt if I don't expect time for lunch. I like my eggs over easy but with all the white part entirely cooked, no gelatinous goopiness to mess up the yolk. Since restaurants rarely accomplish that without breaking, and thus cooking into yellow Play-Doh consistency, the yolk, I just go with scrambled, the safer option.

My dad sometimes made pancakes and bacon or cinnamon rolls and bacon on weekend mornings. Those were nice smells to wake up to.

My sometimes weekend breakfast per the dh, who introduced me to this, is "egg in the middle." You'd like it. He cuts a circle out of a slice of bread (whole wheat), puts the bread and the cutout in a frying pan with butter, breaks an egg into the hole, cooks it, and flips it so the egg is not sunnyside up. And then cooks ALL the white part. I have that with turkey bacon (yeah, I know you purists are groaning, but we all make our little choices). Fried bread, a fried egg, and fried quasi-bacon. Yumm. And his waffles are terrific.

But my usual is the raisin bran and milk because it's quick and it holds me until lunch!

Gillian Layne said...

Ah, Cassondra, don't hate the poor little Diet Coke. He makes me so happy and AWAKE in the morning. :)

Susan, I'd be mighty grateful if you'd post just how you make those steel cut oats in the crock pot. I have a bag, but they only have stovetop instructions. And I have read before that overnight is the best way, but I don't know the oats to water ratio to try.

Joan said...

Bro learned out of necessity. BUT...I will say he does Mom proud on those pancakes.


And no mushroom quiche or heart-shaped ramekins for you.

Mushrooms!?? Ohhhhhh....you think that's why it was gray????

I know....I do NOT as a rule eat gray food....esp. gray food with no taste.

Yeah, those heart shaped ramikins. Quiche one morning (not gray), apple compote the next, some type of grits sculpted into submission.

By the third day I was SCREAMING for "bacon and eggs!!! My tourist tennis shoes for some bacon and eggs!!!"

Joan said...

Of course I do not need to buy a cross for protection. I have my personal force field. Duh!

THAT'S why the Holy Water was repelled!!! LOL

Christine Wells said...

Love the blog, Cassondra! You have led such a varied and interesting life. Bacon from the smokehouse? Mmmmmm

Most of my childhood I had cereal (not the sugary kind) and/or toast with jam or Vegemite (lots of butter and a teeeny tiny scrape of the Vegorama, thanks. I tell this to all my American friends who want to try the stuff. A little Vegemite goes a long way!)

Now, I tend to have a healthy fibre-packed cereal with skim milk and a few dollops of yoghurt. And a tall glass of water. Sigh. This is after a jumbo cup of coffee, without which I cannot make it through a morning of two boys yelling and fighting.

If we go out for breakfast, I love Eggs Benedict with spinach and smoked salmon or a good creamy Bircher muesli. Pancakes often disappoint me so I don't have them unless I know they're going to be good. Oh, and the local cafe does this amazing banana bread toast with honeycomb butter. Mmm

Does it say something about me that I can go on about food this long?

Congrats, Mariska!!

Laurie Logan said...

I don't often eat breakfast unless it's a peanut butter apple or a banana. I stay up late most nights and sleep late, and cooking is too much trouble when I first get up. I usually settle for my low carb version of a mocha latte. A little later though, I love a veggie omelet - the more veggies the better. If I cheat on my diet, I'll go for a pumpkin muffie from Panera Bread. :)

Fun post!

Joan said...

muesli.

Yanno Madame I had this over in Ireland. I attributed its fabulous taste to the cereal/nut/fruit combo...finally figured out it was the WHOLE milk! I was eating cream!

I've never found a good one here in KY...maybe if I went to one of the health food groceries.

Sigh...but the whole milk here would not be from Irish cows....the magic would be gone.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Diet Coke is the breakfast drink of CHAMPIONS!!!

Grins.

Second only to Coffee, which is the Nectar of the Gods.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Ohhhh, Christine....Eggs Benedict. SLURRRRP!

BTW, my DH is the breakfast king on the weekends too. He makes stupendous coffee cake (family recipe) usually on Saturday and pancakes or waffles on Sunday. Mmmmmmm.

Along as it's not first quarter, when it's the weekend....
Life. Is. Good.

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

My dad sometimes made pancakes and bacon or cinnamon rolls and bacon on weekend mornings. Those were nice smells to wake up to.



OH, those ARE heavenly smells. And I've seen that little bread/egg trick. I think it was called "eggs in a basket" and it was a favorite of Steve's at one time. I've never eaten it though, because the runny egg yolk grosses me out usually. I just don't like the taste of runny egg yolk. Blech.

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

My dad sometimes made pancakes and bacon or cinnamon rolls and bacon on weekend mornings. Those were nice smells to wake up to.



OH, those ARE heavenly smells. And I've seen that little bread/egg trick. I think it was called "eggs in a basket" and it was a favorite of Steve's at one time. I've never eaten it though, because the runny egg yolk grosses me out usually. I just don't like the taste of runny egg yolk. Blech.

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Nancy said: "My sometimes weekend breakfast per the dh, who introduced me to this, is "egg in the middle." He cuts a circle out of a slice of bread, puts the bread and the cutout in a frying pan with butter, breaks an egg into the hole, cooks it, and flips it so the egg is not sunnyside up."

Hey Nancy, I used to make this for my ex! Never heard it called 'egg in the middle.' I always called it 'egg in a frame' but the ex, for some unknown reason, called it 'toad in the hole.' URG! I don't think I've ever cooked it since we split up, probably because I couldn't stand the name!

The other thing I always LURVED for breakfast was homemade jam. My grandma made THE BEST berry jam in the world! I myself can make a tasty apricot/pineapple, and usually give the jars away as presents.

AC
who really CAN cook but usually choses not to

Cassondra said...

Gillian Layne said:

Ah, Cassondra, don't hate the poor little Diet Coke. He makes me so happy and AWAKE in the morning. :)

OH, all right. I won't hate the Diet Coke. For you. I will not drink it though. However, I will get testy if there's any hint of perkiness anywhere near me. Awake is good. Perky? No.

Susan, I'd be mighty grateful if you'd post just how you make those steel cut oats in the crock pot. I have a bag, but they only have stovetop instructions. And I have read before that overnight is the best way, but I don't know the oats to water ratio to try.

*raises hand, waving* Yes yes! Me too!

Cassondra said...

Joanie said:

Mushrooms!?? Ohhhhhh....you think that's why it was gray????


Yeah, that's what I'm guessing.

And I'm with you. Food should not be gray.

Cassondra said...

Madame said:

If we go out for breakfast, I love Eggs Benedict with spinach and smoked salmon or a good creamy Bircher muesli.

OMG that sounds sinful!

I had completely forgotten about Eggs Benedict. That used to be my favorite brunch on Sundays when Steve and I were dating. One of the really good restaurants here in our town was too expensive for poor young dating couples like us, but they did brunch on Sundays for a really good price, and it was to-die-for. Eggs Benedict was what i always chose.

Cassondra said...

Laurie said:

I don't often eat breakfast unless it's a peanut butter apple or a banana. I stay up late most nights and sleep late, and cooking is too much trouble when I first get up.

Now see? Yet another vampire having to go without a real breakfast because of the daywalker-prejudiced world. It is more widespread than I thought.

I usually settle for my low carb version of a mocha latte. A little later though, I love a veggie omelet - the more veggies the better. If I cheat on my diet, I'll go for a pumpkin muffie from Panera Bread. :)



I do like omelets, but I have a hard time finding one that I LOVE. One that does not have either too many veggies for the amount of egg, or not enough cheese to disguise the egg or isn't greasy or....well, I guess omelets are a skill of another kind, and not everyone has that skill I suppose....

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

Second only to Coffee, which is the Nectar of the Gods.

And of the Vampires--at least of the ones who dare to be seen in the daylight now and then.

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

BTW, my DH is the breakfast king on the weekends too. He makes stupendous coffee cake (family recipe) usually on Saturday and pancakes or waffles on Sunday. Mmmmmmm.


OOOOOOhhhhh. Maybe he'll make one of those for the lair one day! ;0)

Joan said...

Hey Nancy, I used to make this for my ex! Never heard it called 'egg in the middle.'

My Mom called in "Chicken in a Basket"...she usually used scrambled eggs though :-)

Cassondra said...

Aunty Cindy said:

The other thing I always LURVED for breakfast was homemade jam. My grandma made THE BEST berry jam in the world! I myself can make a tasty apricot/pineapple, and usually give the jars away as presents.

Oh, MotherGrant made the BEST blackberry preserves and jams. That's still my favorite.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Homemade Damson Plum Preserves, and Pear preserves with cloves in them....O.M.G.

NOTHING compares. Nothing.

Ohhhh, and homemade apple jelly on fresh cat-head biscuits. (For those of you not familiar w/ the Southern colloquialism, cat-head biscuits are biscuits "big as the cat's head")

Or fresh honey on said biscuits.

Or molasses on biscuits....

Oh, lordy, I'm going to have to make biscuits this weekend.

Joan said...

Jeanne,

I've been craving biscuits since seeing another passenger in the airport with a cup that had "Biscuit World" on it.

Biscuits.....with sausage gravy!!!

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

Oh, lordy, I'm going to have to make biscuits this weekend.

OMG. I had managed to avoid the biscuit cravings until you said cathead biscuits. Nobody around here called them that, but I know what they are, and as soon as you said that, I flashed back to cutting one apart. Just the right golden brown-ness on top, steam escaping from the cut, fresh butter pooling as soon as you swipe it into the center and then biting into it..so soft it literally melts in your mouth.

MotherGrant cut her biscuits out with something that resembled an old beat-up tin can. (My mom cut hers with a heavy, thick drinking glass.)When all of the cuttable biscuits had been cut out, she'd pile the bits of dough together into one bastardized biscuit folks around here called the "Johnny Biscuit."

I dunno how it got that name. It wasn't pretty, but I liked it because it tended to get a bit crispier on top.

Susan Sey said...

Cassondra wrote: OH! I really want to learn to do this Good oats are an art form, and there is nothing like them. The sorry-assed excuse for oatmeal I cook is a poor substitute. And I try. I REALLY try. But I've never seen steel-cut oats.

Oh, easy peasy. Just grab the steel-cut oats from your grocery store (usually in the health food dept, just reg oats chopped instead of flattened).

Toss one cup in a bowl with 4 cups of water. Then put this entire bowl into the insert of your slow cooker before you go to bed at night.

Add water to the insert until it comes up to within a couple inches of the rim of the bowl, effectively turning your slow cooker into a steamer.

Put it on low for 8-12 hours (depending on when you go to bed & wake up.)

Come morning, you'll have a big old bowl of creamy, delicious oatmeal. It's enough for 4 bowls, really, so I put the other three servings into individual tupperwares & eat them the next three mornings.

Toss 'em cold into a bowl, add some extra water & hit 'em in the microwave for a few minutes & good as new.

Yum. :-)

If you try it, let me know how it goes!

Susan Sey said...

Joanie wrote: Now in defense of Diet Coke for breakfast, I once read a survey that said drinking Coke in the morning is a very SOUTHERN habit!!!

I'm with you, Joanie, though I'm a yankee through & through. (Born in MI, tried TX for 3 yrs, wound up in MN. If my state doesn't border Canada, I'm juuuuust not comfy.)

It's especially lovely on a road trip. A nice, icy fountain drink with that caffeinated punch is just the thing when you have to make tracks before the sun's up. Breakfast of champions, no doubt.

Cassondra said...

Susan said:

Toss one cup in a bowl with 4 cups of water. Then put this entire bowl into the insert of your slow cooker before you go to bed at night.

Add water to the insert until it comes up to within a couple inches of the rim of the bowl, effectively turning your slow cooker into a steamer.


So...wait....like a pyrex mixing bowl?

No milk? No sugar? No salt? Nothing? How are they different (when cooked) from the flattened oats? Are they more flavorful?

I will absolutely look for these!

Susan Sey said...

Gillian wrote: Susan, I'd be mighty grateful if you'd post just how you make those steel cut oats in the crock pot. I have a bag, but they only have stovetop instructions. And I have read before that overnight is the best way, but I don't know the oats to water ratio to try.

Done! See above!

Cassondra said...

Susan said:

It's especially lovely on a road trip. A nice, icy fountain drink with that caffeinated punch is just the thing when you have to make tracks before the sun's up. Breakfast of champions, no doubt.

Okay, I can go with the nice icy caffeinated punch thing....but I want REAL COKE. NOT Diet Coke. REAL. COKE.


Diet Coke. Blech. It is evil.

Susan Sey said...

Cassondra wrote: So...wait....like a pyrex mixing bowl?

Yep. Whatever fits in your slow cooker insert. I use a white ceramic corningware bowl that's exactly the right size. I wouldn't recommend metal, though. I don't know if the oats'll react to aluminum or what have you.

No milk? No sugar? No salt? Nothing?

Nope. Think of them as a blank slate. You dress 'em up in your bowl. Lots of people like brown sugar & raisins, milk, bananas. I have a friend who sprinkled really high-quality chocolate chips in hers. I have another friend who swears by crunchy peanut butter & bananas. I personally like the apples/walnuts/cinnamon combo.

How are they different (when cooked) from the flattened oats? Are they more flavorful?

No difference flavor wise, but texture-wise they're much creamier. Think porridge rather than traditional oatmeal.

Cassondra said...

Thanks! I will look for some steel-cut oats this weekend! It sounds easy and I bet it tastes awesome.

Unknown said...

Cassondra, I love bacon and eggs cooked for the evening meal and I do fix it every now and then but hubby doesn't like to have it then, he says its breakfast food. If you can find a Denny's restaurants around any where they serve an awesome breakfast any time of the day!

Cassondra said...

Virginia said:

If you can find a Denny's restaurants around any where they serve an awesome breakfast any time of the day!

You know what? I had completely forgotten about Denny's! I dunno if there's one still here or not, but there used to be one out by the interchange. I never go on that side of town really. I might try this.

Joan said...

Diet Coke. Blech. It is evil.


No, Diet Big K is evil! As is gray quiche

Becke Davis said...

Cassondra - I'm all about the low-cal and high fiber these days, fighting a constant battle of the bulge.

I had a funny thought - I remember sometimes when we were kids the milk would be gone but somehow there would be ice cream in the freezer. I remember putting strawberry and/or chocolate ice cream on rice crispies, and it was darn good! As you can tell, we didn't exactly eat health food. I'm trying to do better - won't buy bacon, but if I'm in a restaurant, all bets are off.

Gillian Layne said...

Susan, thank you! I'm so excited. I put it all together in about two minutes. Can't wait to see how they taste tomorrow. Steaming never would have occurred to me. I was just going to dump the whole thing in a pot. I'm so glad I waited to try them.

Cassondra, you are right--real Coke is king. My folks treat it as medicine--you always have Coke in the house, because you always need Coke with aspirin for a headache. Or coke for a stomach ache. Etc, etc.

My new favorite drink now is diet peach tea.

Cassondra said...

Joanie said:

No, Diet Big K is evil! As is gray quiche

Okay I cannot disagree with either of these. I don't like diet drinks at all.

Cassondra said...

Becke Davis said:

I remember sometimes when we were kids the milk would be gone but somehow there would be ice cream in the freezer. I remember putting strawberry and/or chocolate ice cream on rice crispies, and it was darn good!

I bet it WAS good. Kind of an ice-cream rice-krispy treat.

Cassondra said...

Gillian said:

Cassondra, you are right--real Coke is king. My folks treat it as medicine--you always have Coke in the house, because you always need Coke with aspirin for a headache. Or coke for a stomach ache. Etc, etc.


Well, I have never taken Coke with anything for a headache, but I have used to to settle a sick stomach before. LOTS of times. Coke or 7-up or club soda.

Gillian, let us know how the oats turn out!

limecello said...

Whoa - had trouble commenting all day O_o
Anyway sadly I don't usually have breakfast- a granola bar if I'm lucky.
But... I love the fancy ones. Belgian waffles. Steak and eggs. :) Pancakes! I made these amazing ricotta pancakes that were as light as air. <3
And brunch! Mmmm

Christine Wells said...

Cassondra, yes, Eggs Benedict is wonderful, and who can be bothered making hollandaise at home, so it's always a special treat when I go out. Often if I'm at a place that serves breakfast all day I have it for lunch.

Jeanne, how lucky are you that your dh makes such yummy breakfasts!

Joanie, I will see if I can dig up a bircher muesli recipe for you. The really decadent ones use cream as well as milk, but if you want a healthy alternative, I have one that uses orange juice, no fat yoghurt, cinnamon and roasted pistachios. Mmm.