Breakfast in America

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” We were taught this in school. But the meal on the breakfast table can be as varied as Americans themselves.

A traditional American breakfast would be eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee. The eggs are sometimes fried and sometimes scrambled. The bacon might be substituted by ham. Toast might be a biscuit in the southern states with butter, jam, honey or molasses. The second most favorite juice for breakfast is apple juice followed by grapefruit and grape juice. American coffee has a reputation around the world as being very weak. French people have commented that it’s like coffee flavored water. However, it is a beloved beverage here and starts off most mornings with milk, sugar substitute or straight out of the pot black.

Other breakfast variations are usually some type of bread served with maple syrup. Pancakes are a favored choice with a pat of butter. Next would be French Toast: bread dipped in egg and fried up in a pan until the egg is cooked. Then it’s topped with nutmeg, cinnamon or powdered sugar. An omelet is a breakfast food in the states. There are many combinations but my favorite is a Spanish Omelet with tomato, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms and salsa! Hot cereals are great on cold mornings. Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat are filling and good for you, but a bit tricky to get kids to eat.

Then there is the busy parent and almost-late-for-the-school-bus kid breakfast: cold cereal. I’m sorry to say most of what is on the grocery shelf is a box full of pricey nothing! In fact, it is almost child abuse in a box. Many cereals have little more than flour and sugar as substance. But kids are seduced by cute TV commercials and tend to nag Mom until she gives in and buys a box of “Sugar Doodles” with a prize inside! I’m guilty of this myself!

Today at our house we usually have lighter breakfasts of yogurt, fruit or bagels. We save the traditional foods for holidays and special occasions. However, some of my happiest memories are the Saturday mornings my husband would make banana-pecan pancakes for me and my infant son. It was a family breakfast tradition this American family started 25 years ago.