Saturday Morning Breakfasts

Breakfast has always been in important meal in my household. When I was young, there were times in our lives where breakfast was the best meal of the day. Since there were five of us in the house, we each got to choose our favorite breakfast one day a week. Then my Dad would produce it. We chose everything from simple oatmeal to eggs, biscuits and gravy. It was a wonderful time in our lives and I remember it fondly now, probably because I know what my Dad sacrificed to produce those breakfasts every morning while my brother and I were out delivering papers. As we got older, Carnation Instant Breakfast was the only thing we thought we had time for as we ran out of the house. I think my brother would have eaten hot dogs with cheese and popcorn every morning if he had the time to make it. And you can rest assured that I got the 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' lecture from my Mom more times than I could count. As a result, I was not allowed to leave the house without it. And now no one in my household is allowed to leave the house without it either.

As the boys have grown and we've settled in to our homeschooling life, peanut butter sandwiches are the standard fare around here. However, once a week (or more if Daddy is on vacation) we have a 'big breakfast', usually called 'brunch' as it takes so long to get it on the table. Eggs made to order for each person, bacon, sausage, biscuits (and sometimes gravy) or pancakes, muffins and toast seem to be the standard. Lately the one of the boys has joined Don and I as we work to get everything on the table. It makes for a nice family time and they get to eat the fruits of their labor - something that makes it taste extra good.

This past Saturday, the first of the new year, found all of us in the kitchen at the same time. Matthew was washing the dishes left from the night before when we all opted to play instead of cleaning, and Jonathan made the pancakes with Don's help. I worked at the stove making bacon and eggs. It was a great start to our day and our year. Everyone enjoyed it so much that it seems we'll be making the 'everyone in the kitchen together' thing a regular affair. Score one for family togetherness!