Breakfast Memories With Grandma

Breakfast literally means.... to break the fast.... as in.... when you sleep you are fasting... when you wake up, you need to refuel the body to break the fast and start your metabolism going.  Even tho I myself am not a 'breakfast person'....I have woken up to the wonderful smells of breakfast my whole life.

As a child, and all the years of growing up, I would spend the night with my Grandma or my cousins as many times as my Mom would allow.... and it is hard for me to remember a single weekend that I didn't spend the night with my Grandma or at my cousins or my cousin Debbie spending the night at my house.  My Mom, my Aunt, and my Grandma all made breakfast every single morning.... my Aunt even made a HUGE breakfast on Sunday mornings before church, AND would stick something in the oven to be ready for Sunday Supper after church!  But it's the breakfasts at my Grandma's house I remember the most... she just made the absolute perfect fried eggs!!!  It is very rare that I ever eat a fried egg and when I do... it has to be hard fried for an egg sandwich... but my Grandma made the most beautiful fried eggs that even I wanted to eat them.

When I spent the night at Grandma's house... the smell of fresh coffee and frying sausage would chase all the dreams out of my head and I just had to get up so that I wouldn't miss watching her cook breakfast.  She was like a ballerina dancing through breakfast preparations... it was just a wonderful sight to behold!  I can still hear the sizzle of the sausage as it fried.... slowly... nothing could be rushed... the sausage was NEVER burnt or overcooked, but had the perfect searing on the outside and juiciness on the inside... it HAD to be "Old Folks" sausage... she never used anything else!  If I woke up early enough... I would actually get to watch her slice the sausage into patties from the roll that was wrapped up in cloth casing.... it too had such a distinct sound as she would slice through it.

When the sausage was near perfection... but not quite done... she would then begin frying the eggs and making the toast.  She used a small teflon skillet... on low heat... and when the eggs were done... flipped over once... they were the prettiest eggs I have ever seen!!!  The whites of her fried eggs were pristine white... never ever any brown or rough edges, and when the yellows were cut with a fork, they would ooze and flow over the whites like syrup over pancakes.... the toast of course was used for sopping every bite of those eggs off the plate!  Watching her make breakfast is like being at Waffle House and watching the cook do his dance... except Grandma did everything in slow motion.  She would serve breakfast on white corelle dishes... and the sounds of the knife and fork being used made it's own song!

There was a sweet rhythm to breakfast at Grandma's.  Grandpa would be in his white tank tee-shirt and dress pants (skinny belt) and would be sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper,  Grandma would be wearing one of her many pretty house robes with matching slippers... Grandpa would be totally silent, absorbed in the newspaper... while Grandma would chatter away to me as she cooked... explaining in great detail the how's and why's of her cooking (because I would be asking a thousand questions and was always under foot mesmorized by her cooking dance)... she always made a pot of lipton tea that she would share with me... adding lots of sugar to my cup...  the tea would be served from a dainty tea pot, poured into the white tissue thin corelle cups... which I personally think added to the poshness of it all... and once she had everyone served... including herself... she would then sit down and daintily place her napkin over her lap before she ate and savored her own breakfast and read the paper... cover to cover!

That was a typical everyday breakfast for her and Grandpa... which they HAD to have a real breakfast to start their day off... never just grabbing a muffin or danish... it HAD to be a hot breakfast.  On weekends when our entire clan would jaunt down to "The Cabin"at Rough River... then she would bring out the whole shabang breakfast that would include homemade biscuits, gravy, sliced tomatoes, grits/cream of wheat, and bacon to the eggs and sausage.... it was a break-FEAST!!!!

Whether it was the typical everyday breakfast or the weekend breakfeast.... no meals were ever hurried affairs... they were sit down gatherings with lots of conversation and enjoyment of the food prepared.  I'm soooo grateful for these memories and all those meals shared with my family.  I recently inherited one of my Grandma's small teflon frying pans, and I have made it a personal quest to make her "perfect" fried eggs and sausage.  I'm determined to follow in her footsteps and be the BEST Grandma ever... just like she was to us.  I think she would be proud of my beautiful eggs I have finally mastered in her teflon pan!  MISS YOU SOOOOOO MUCH GRANDMA!!!