Breakfast Options

What's for breakfast?

This morning I went retro while the Kansas Woman munched on her favorite breakfast cookie smeared with cream cheese.

Before cereal became popular, my mornings began with a bowl of oatmeal, my mom taking advantage of its variety.

She added brown sugar with cinnamon, or brown sugar with walnut or pecan bits and raisins.

When my sister came along, there was a bump in the popularity of Cream of Rice, but I couldn't add enough to make it palatable.

Grits remain a staple of breakfasts but is only a ghost of authentic locally ground grits.

The nearest mill was our family business just down the hill on Dog River. There is nothing left of Phillips Mill, and only a few remember where it stood. The grits that came from that mill had texture and a distinct “corn flavor,” sort of like hominy.

The mush sold as grits today is milled to be easily and quickly cooked.

While I was having oatmeal or grits, the KW was having Cream of Wheat.

Cream of wheat is more popular in the west than the south, and it is just finely ground wheat kernels.

Some people don't eat breakfast at all, and many children grow up without breakfast, and that is a pity. Breakfast gets your machine going again and ends your longest fast of the day from bed time until noon.

Last week I had something for breakfast that looked like a corn dog.

A wooden stick was jammed into a link of sausage, dipped into pancake batter and deep fried.

I can't recommend it. For sausage, it isn't very good, and the pancake part was rubbery. Only the wooden stick didn't disappoint.

There was a breakfast benefit last month. It was an all-you-could-eat fundraiser for a donation. They tried to keep the waffles warm by keeping them in a slow cooker.

The result was an elastic slab of warm dough that didn't inspire folks to go back.

My grandparents on both sides processed their own meat. They salt cured hams, shoulders, bacon, sausage, then left them hanging while the smokehouse was was filled with smoke for a few days.

Both grandmothers made the largest meal of the day at breakfast. Fried pork chops or fried chicken with biscuits and gravy was the common breakfast, and my father said that his mother could go from choosing a hen to having it on the table in an hour.

Lunch was breakfast leftovers and supper was cornbread and buttermilk.

Oatmeal is a good go-to for breakfast, but I like some variety such as homemade granola.

Whatever you plan to do for breakfasts, you have me thinking about tomorrow.

Waffle time.

joenphillips@yahoo.com