Thursday, March 18, 2010

Theme Thursday Breakfast

photo from TakeOutFox.com

Of all things I remember about my dad, it's his love of breakfast.  Breakfast was my father's favorite meal.  He made it every single day until he died at the ripe old age of 98.  Bacon and eggs, oatmeal with raisins and toast, sausages, egg & toast, biscuits with sorghum molasses and, best of all, pancakes.  Pancakes were our weekend treat.  We always had them either Saturday or Sunday morning.  He made them himself, often adding whatever fruit was on hand:  banana, apple, blueberry.  When I was little he made buckwheat pancakes a few times, claiming they were good for us.  We figured out real quick I was allergic to buckwheat.  I kept breaking out in hives.

Dad and Mother  loved sweet, ripe strawberries and peaches.  They cooked & produced fresh strawberry jam each Spring and fresh peach jam in early Summer.  We enjoyed fresh fruity jam all year long.  It was a loving contribution to the family feed.  I can still taste them.  Mother could never decide which on she liked best.  I think it was whichever was in season at the time.  

I have two favorite breakfasts when eating in a restaurant.  I love Eggs Benedict with a perfectly poached egg,  Canadian bacon on a crisp English muffin & a light, lemony Hollandaise.  I also love Chicken Fried Steak, particularly in the South where they always make it goooood.  Both are excruciatingly fattening. 

After having children, I made a point of making breakfast each day. First of all, they needed a healthy, hearty diet.  Second, I wanted to carry on that tradition, to have them remember those lovely, made-from-scratch breakfasts of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, hot cereal, toast, jam, fresh butter.  I am all about butter too.  

But that's another story...

31 comments:

Michael said...

Oh, that all sounds so wonderfully, fantastically delicious. how incredible impressive he was making breakfast to such a ripe old age. Weird hey, when here I am with no memories of either of my parents actually making me breakfast any time.

I feel like I just enjoyed this wonderful feats. Thanks for sharing. The photos are so yumm too.

Michael said...

Butter eh...?

Nancy said...

Lovely tradition. We had breakfasts like these on the weekends, but I always made oatmeal, cream of wheat, or something else as nutritious as they would eat.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Those pictures are seriously making me hungry now...

Anonymous said...

Mouth...watering...! Don't much care for the buckwheat pancakes myself...but get out that box of Bisquik mix...and those homemade jams...and chicken fried steak...and, and...aw heck! Great theme take here :)

Deborah said...

Just finished breakfast and sat down to read new posts, when I was confronted with that photo. Now you've made me hungry!!
Your dad's breakfast choices and his longevity are proof that some of us can get away with stuff we're not supposed to, and some of us can't!
It sounds like you had a solid, homey, upbringing with traditional values and all that goes with home-made jam. Actually this post reads a little bit like Garrison Keiller - I enjoyed it, Deb.

Brian Miller said...

mmm...love me some breakfast...i remember saturday morning breakfasts...even more i remember dad cooking on the gas stove while we were camping...and coffee off the open fire...thanks for the memories...

Tess Kincaid said...

I always order eggs benedict when I eat breakfast out, too! mmm.

DJan said...

I love breakfast too, but at my age (67) I can't eat all that stuff. I don't know how your dad did it! All that food would make me so fat I wouldn't be able to fit in my clothes. I never skip breakfast, though.

PattiKen said...

Oh, yum, yum, yum! Delicious breakfasts, delicious writing. And now I think I'll go see what's in the refrigerator...

Anonymous said...

It all looks so wonderful and delicious.but i think if i ate all that wonderful food at once id be getting very overweight and im trying to lose weight not put it on LOL.
But i love love love orange juice.
im new to theme thursday.
my blog at http://affamilycabral.blogspot.com/

Angie Muresan said...

You have beautiful memories. You've brought back some of mine. The traditions and rituals of breakfast are many and they all share one thing: love.

Christine H. said...

Butter is a very good friend of mine too. Those are luscious looking breakfasts.

CM said...

I try to make a good breakfast on the weekends for my DH and kiddos. They love scrambled eggs!

Angie Muresan said...

Nutella is the best! It is a chocolate and hazelnut spread. It tastes like the inside of the Ferrerro Roche hazelnut chocolates. Perfect with jam, fresh berries, and even peanut butter. My idea of heaven, and you can buy it at any grocery store.

Gladys said...

I already ate breakfast and now I'm hungry again.

California Girl said...

Angie: Thank you for that info. I appreciate your quick reply.

Anonymous said...

its been a while since I had a proper breakfast...

Baino said...

Oh I hear you. Eggs Benedict is my absolute favourite with spinach or smoked salmon even better. My Dad was the Sunday Breakfast Guy. For years before we had children, all four siblings would come home on Sunday mornings for a fry up although my mum made the pancakes!

Unknown said...

Your pictures are AWESOME!
I really like your idea of a healthy and hearty breakfast!

Wonderful TT post!

Happy Thursday!
Happy TT!

Did you know that I am now hosting a new meme?

Find out more Blog of the Week Please join us for the WEEKEND FUNNIES. Week #2 is this Friday to Sunday (March 19-21).

See you there?

hugs

shakira

Jaime said...

i should not be reading these posts while hungry. those pics are making my stomach growl.

my mom always used to make us apple pancakes. she still makes them for me when i visit :)

Dreamhaven said...

We were lucky enough to have several sugar maples on our property and tapped them in the spring. Loved that fresh maple syrup.

Nanc Twop said...

absolutely lovely!

p.s.
Can I be adopted?

Tom said...

me too! we're up too early for a big breakfast, but we like having breakfast for dinner occasionally!

Mrsupole said...

This last year I discovered chicken fried steak when we go to restaurants. I mean I have tried it before, but for some reason I keep ordering it when we eat out. It just is so yummy to me now. Weird how for so many years it was just "okay". I haven't had it for breakfast yet, mostly because I love bacon with my eggs and steak just seems to go with dinner not breakfast.

So lucky you are to have those memories and to have had your dad for as long as you did. 98 years is amazing.

God bless.

Unknown said...

I love pancakes and I still remember the breakfasts my father took us to at IHOP. He loved pouring all the syrups on his pancakes.

sewa mobil said...

wow delicous breakfast
i feel hungry now

Tanna said...

CG: You made me hungry!! Amazing that you dad enjoyed such sumptious breakfasts and lived to 98! And, they say eggs, sausage, bacon and butter are bad for you! Ha!

Eggs Benedict is my fav, too! =)

Susan said...

I woke up starving at 4:00 a.m. and this is not helping at all. Looks like I'll be making a big breakfast for the grandkids this morning!

Homemade strawberry jam or preserves is so easy, you should try it. There's nothing like it in the stores, that's for sure!

will said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marguerite said...

Oh, I could go for one of these scrumptious looking breakfasts, right now! Truly a treat and the homemade jams sound wonderful, too. Maybe it really was your Dad's secret to living, to age 98!