HERE'S THE MEAL DEAL: A BREKKY BONANZA
“Breakfast!”
The first meal of the day is about to get interesting.
I can hardly wait.
Yes, the holidays are a breakfast bonanza at my house and nothing is off limits.
A mile-high turkey sandwich oozing cranberry sauce is the star attraction of Dec. 26, National Turkey Sandwich Day. Other highlights of the seasonal breakfast menu will include chocolates, chocolates, and nothing but chocolates. You know you're going to eat them all; might as well get a running start, right?
Morning coffee will be swirled with a candy cane as surely as a crunchy candy cane qualifies as roughage. A bowl of stuffing and pancetta-laced brussels sprouts make a perfect start to the day. Pie — mincemeat, pumpkin, pecan — with a generous portion of healthful dairy — whipped cream! — must meet at least some of the Canada Food Guide criteria. Shortbread gets shortchanged as a breakfast food. Surely, they can't be any worse for you than Cocoa Puffs, so bring 'em on.
Ever since I was a kid I've puzzled at what qualifies as acceptable western breakfast food. Where was it written that breakfast had to be made up of cereal, eggs, toast, or pallid little pastries? What was wrong with minestrone, a Rueben sandwich, or even a tossed salad? I'll take a traditional Japanese breakfast over an Egg Mcmuffin any day. Venerable New York Times food journalist Mark Bittman calls jook, a rice-based Asian breakfast soup, a “type of Chinese risotto” and an admirable hangover cure.
Breakfast at my house has always been a very Catholic experience. Fried green tomatoes were an autumn favourite to make use of late bloomers that would never grace a salad. My mom used up last night's rice in rice pudding; eggs, milk, grain — what's not to like? When he was a kid, my brother came home from dinner at a friend's house bewildered by what was offered for dessert — rice pudding. In his estimation, it was like being served Weetabix for dessert.
And then there was porridge. Yes, a bowlful of wallpaper paste that I would push around until I was late for school. My dad had his porridge with kippers, which I thought was an abomination that permeated my clothes. What's worse? My mom would dye our porridge green on St. Patrick's Day and red on Valentine's Day. The only thing worse than wallpaper paste is green wallpaper paste. And — shades of Oliver! — Valentine's Day was the only time we got a spoonful of strawberry jam on our porridge. Today, I actually crave porridge and usually have a container of cold soaked oats at the ready in the fridge.
Growing up, I was somewhat ashamed of the breakfast menu at my home. Friends had a boutique of sugary cereals in their cupboards to choose from. Their Eggo waffles sounded exotic and delicious to me. Pop-tarts? Unimaginable luxury! My mom made soda bread in coffee tins and the jam was — alas! — homemade. Why, oh why couldn't we have Wonder Bread, uniform, spongy and sensationally pale? I used to dream of being made a ward of the state in the certainty I'd finally have access to splendours of Jif peanut butter and store-bought jelly.
Kids judge each other with an exacting laundry list of categories. My dad can beat up your dad; we have three TVS; I can stay out past 9 o'clock … breakfast was an area of inescapable peer review. Best not to deviate from the norm. Your lunch kit was also up for scrutiny. If you had goods worth trading — cookies, Sunny Delight, chocolate bars; in a pinch, a granola bar — you shot up in social value.
I had an apple.
Now that I'm so much taller (and somewhat wider), I've discovered that cold pizza, a wedge of birthday cake, leftover Chinese food or anything vindaloo provide a remarkable incentive against sleeping in. And can you think of any good reason not to have a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast? Neither can I.
Race you to the kitchen! Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. Her garden is her major distraction during COVID-19. She writes on The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION FOR READERS:
What do you eat for breakfast? Anything that qualifies as idiosyncratic?
Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at thebooklessclub@gmail.com. We will print some next week.
RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:
How have your values changed over time? What qualities do you most admire? From childhood, I was raised with strong beliefs regarding “right” and “wrong.” I still live with many of these values and hold them dear. What has changed is that I now believe that listening to others is essential. Perception truly is everything, and I realize that it is easy to assume we know what others think unless we take the time to listen deeply. If I can step aside and do this, often my “opponent” will open up to me and share thoughts that surprise me and deepen my understanding. Even if I don't change my position, I will have learned something and often improved a relationship. And — sometimes, (God forbid!) I may actually find that I was wrong!
In the end, communication is healing. In our world of increasing polarity, isn't better communication what we desperately need?
June Hall
My values around eating habits and food have changed significantly. I admire healthy living and taking care of your health; health is wealth.
In eating habits, though what you eat is important, even more important is when you eat, why you eat, how you eat and how much you eat.
In this context, not eating late in the day has been the most dramatic change. These simple values have profound effects on chronic diseases like diabetes. COVID has further firmed this value. As the saying goes, “Food is thy medicine and Medicine thy Food.”
Arun K. Garg
Your questions will prompt a lot of soul-searching.
I arrived in Vancouver 55 years ago, as a single white male, raised in privileged societies of India and Africa, with values focused on rugby, parties and fast cars. Today, I place my highest value in understanding what makes people do what they do.
So: Yes, my values have changed.
Qualities that I admire are: the ability to dig down and discover the “whole truth,” an appreciation of “history” (including our statues) and, lastly, the understanding that nothing is certain and “accounting for probability” is wise.
Thanks; you made me think.
Fred Turner
Loved the Richard Feynman column. Original thinker, indeed. He solved the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster with a simple demonstration involving a glass of ice water. And during World War II he was indispensable to the Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. His overseers wanted him gone because his hobby was safe-cracking. Let's just say that this project involved lots of papers kept in safes.