Weekend Breakfast

Yesterday morning, I got up early to help my mom make breakfast for everyone, something we don’t do terribly often, mostly due to lack of motivation. When I came downstairs, my mom had already prepared the pancake batter, and was getting ready to start, and she had already made coffee and had some music going. She was happy to see me, knowing I would help out, and seemed just a little surprised (since I’m not always great about getting up early, especially on the weekend), but we both seemed to be in fair moods. I got us both mugs for coffee and began pouring both of us cups, and she starting briefing me on our agenda for the morning, start with making pancakes with blueberries, then move to cooking the bacon, making the strawberry sauce for the pancakes, and making the scrambled eggs. My mom had the oven heated to the lowest temperature it would go to (about 215 degrees) with a cookie sheet sitting on the top rack so as she got done making the pancakes, she could just place them in there and they would stay warm. Our variety in what we’d be making reminded me of a part in Eating for Life, where it was discussing the importance of portions, but also in a way dismissing it in the same breath. “Now remember, Eating for Life is not ‘perfect.’ And it’s not necessary for it to be absolutely precise. Approximating portions is perfectly fine” (Phillips 74). I didn’t think too much more on it, figuring that it would probably end up pretty balanced, especially since we were going to have a good amount of important things like protein and fruit.

I watched her for a little while from a nearby corner, not wanting to get in the way, but wanting to remain available to help out. Then, she surprised me a bit, asking if I knew how to make pancakes, or if I was confident in my ability, and I told her that I didn’t really know how, that I didn’t have much practice, if any. This prompted her to tell me I was going to learn. A little nervous, I paid attention as she taught me, telling me what to look for to know if they were ready to flip or not, and her assurances that it really wasn’t that difficult, being mostly about timing. Finally, it was handed over to me, and I had to give it a go on my own. All in all, it went better than I anticipated, I messed up a few times, but not so bad that I couldn’t recover from it. I felt proud of myself, the entire endeavor going much better than I had originally anticipated, and when I got a fair amount cooked and stowed in the oven, my mom returned and took back over, ending up finishing off the batter.

She’d already gone ahead and made the strawberry sauce, and was prepping the bacon while I took a short break and listened as she briefed me as to what I was to do while she was showering.  We moved the pancakes out of the oven so we could use it for the bacon, and I started on the eggs, and she left me to it. When the oven got up to temperature I moved the bacon in and set a timer, finishing up the eggs and setting them aside around the time my mom came back down.

 

Waiting for the bacon, we decided to begin setting the table, another fairly uncommon practice in my house due to lack of motivation and convenience, none of us being too taken anymore with the idea. However, this reminded me again of a part of the book I’m using, where it talks about not preparing food, but a good practice once you’ve finished. “Now while the food is cooking, set the table, literally, with nice plates, silverware, glasses, napkins, etc. When you serve great food on a well-set table, it’s even better” (Phillips 77). Whereas we didn’t set the table in such a seemingly fancy way, we did all the same, moving the food that was done to the table, along with plates and forks and napkins. The bacon had almost finished, and my mom told me to go wake my brother, who was still in bed, not to my surprise. After a few more minutes, we all gathered at the table and began eating.

It turned out pretty well all in all, and it can be argued it isn’t, I guess this is sort of a tradition my family has, of randomly making a nice breakfast and eating together, and I enjoy it. What about you? Does your family have any (maybe unspoken) fun or slightly unusual traditions that you’ve noticed?

Citation

Phillips, Bill. Eating for Life. Golden, CO: High Point Media, 2003. Print.