Favorite Meal of the Day

IMG_7849

What’s yours?

I love them all of course, but breakfast is my favorite.  There is something so fresh and new about it.   I find it fresh, because my favorite consists of freshly baked bread, fresh and lightly salted butter, and fresh coffee which fills the downstairs with its toasty aroma.  It is new because it signals the beginning of a new day.

New isn’t actually accurate in my case, though, because I eat breakfast around 10 a.m.   I’m up long before then, to get my daughter off to school before 8 a.m, after her favorite breakfast of thinly sliced cheese, fresh fruit, bread, and Chai tea. I accompany her with milky tea, then once she’s out the door, I’m in my office working until, suddenly, I’m hungry.  No, I’m starving.

That’s when I indulge.  I make that big bowl of steaming coffee, slather bread with butter, dab on  jam (my current favorite is bitter orange marmalade that I made in February), and dunk the resulting “tartine” into the coffee. Bad manners, perhaps, but very French and absolutely scrumptious.

Weekend breakfasts vary because we take our time, and it seems that everyone wants something a bit different. We have the thinly sliced cheese, and whatever is fresh from the market, which always includes crackling fresh bread, perhaps spring rolls stuffed with crisp bean sprouts and shrimp or, lately, gorgeous juicy strawberries and milky fresh goat cheese.   The creamy goat cheese is perfect with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkling of Voatsiperifery pepper, or with a dab of jam, or with a dusting of vanilla sugar.  Slice berries on top of that and you’ve got a bit of heaven on a plate.

A recent post-market breakfast of fromage blanc with berries, pastries, fresh goat cheese and local strawberries.
A recent post-market breakfast of fromage blanc with berries, pastries, fresh goat cheese and local strawberries.

Which brings up another thing about breakfast.  It’s the only meal that is personalized.  While I’d balk at serving different main courses to different diners at dinner, I never flinch at the idea of different drinks and different tastes for breakfast. Everyone gets what they want, and it all comes to the table for a simple but glorious beginning to the day.

And you?  What do you have for breakfast?

You might also enjoy

NUTMEG, France, gold, expensive, French cuisine
Nutmeg, More Precious Than Gold

In the 14th century, a pound of nutmeg was purportedly worth three sheep and a cow; in the 17th century, the little, fragrant nut was valued higher than gold.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This