I love breakfast. I’m pretty sure I love breakfast because my mom was a strong proponent of the most important meal of the day. I don’t think there was ever a day where my mom was too late or too busy or too tired to make sure I had something to eat in the morning. The late, tired or busy may have dictated how complicated breakfast may have been. For example, there were a few mornings were I would have a glass of Instant Breakfast because it was quick and filling. I may have even asked for that type of breakfast on many occasions. I also remember another quick one: toast and hot chocolate. There were others though, long cooked oatmeal, eggs and hashbrowns, omelets, pancakes or french toast. Long story short, I have my mom to thank for my breakfast habit. I never leave the house without breakfast. It could be something quick like a bowl of cereal (although less likely since the diabetes incident) or a cup of yogurt with some granola to long cooked oatmeal (a favorite) or scrambled eggs and veggie sausages.
Mitch isn’t much of a breakfast eater. He’ll get up and go for hours before finally making himself something to eat. Fortunately, he is not perpetuating this terrible habit with Izzy. She usually nurses with me before I get out of bed and then will go back and snooze a bit more. Once up for the day, she’ll be hungry within the hour and Mitch is ready with a bowl of rice cereal and a jar of fruit.
I’m looking forward to mornings where we can eat breakfast together, when Izzy is a little more self-sufficient and can feed herself. I will continue the tradition my mom started with me and instill the habit of breakfast. I think I will tend to the higher protein, lower carb, no sugar breakfasts for us such as scrambled eggs or oatmeal. On special occasions such as birthdays or Christmas morning, I’ll splurge just a little with pancakes or french toast. I found a fabulous Special Occasion breakfast recipe today when I was flipping through the March 2009 issue of Ladies Home Journal
French Toast Fondue
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
3 large eggs
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
8 1-inch think slices soft French bread cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup apricot jam
2 tbsp orange juice
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, milk, eggs, 3 tbsp butter and cinnamon. Gently toss bread in mixture until coated well. Spread remaining butter on rimmed baking sheet. Add bread cubes in a single layer and bake 12 to 15 minutes. Use a spatula to remove baked cubes from pan and serve immediately with dipping sauce and toppings. To make apricot dipping sauce, combine jam and orange juice and microwave 1 minute; stir to smooth. Use chopped nuts, fruit and coconut for toppings.
This recipe sounds like the final result will be a little messy, but a lot of fun. I love the idea of a “fondue.” This may be the start of a new Christmas tradition. 
We got a Christmas Tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. A little early perhaps, but I wanted to have it before Mitch’s family came to visit. We went to the Guardsmen’s Lot, which was a little odd. The “lot” was inside a giant warehouse at Lower Fort Mason. The lighting was strange and the floor was slippery, wet concrete.
I’m used to an outdoor lot with bright lights so you can see the tree you’re picking out and sawdust on the dirt floor. The only carried one type of tree, the Nobile Fir, and I wasn’t much impressed. The were all very wide–too big of a footprint for the place I had in mind for the tree. I was about to give up and suggest we go to Delancy, but Mitch called for me. He found the perfect tree!
The guys working at the lot were great (they’re also kinda hot)! They put the tree in a net, lifted it on the roof of our car and tied it securely in place. They knew we had tie down hooks near the tires. How cool is that!
I was trying to remember what we used to eat for dinner the night we picked out our tree when I was a kid because I wanted to recreate it for Izzy, but I just couldn’t recall. We ordered pizza and I figured that’s a pretty awesome tradition.
A few days later, it dawned on me. We used to go to Sam’s Hof Brau on Broadway in Oakland for dinner before going to Santa’s Coliseum to get our tree. Since Sam’s is closed now, we’ll go to Tommy’s Joynt next year for dinner before picking out our tree.
Our tree has a combination of handmade and store bought ornaments. I love how it looks, although it doesn’t smell like a tree is in the house. I’ve been simmering orange peels and cinnamon sticks to give the house a festive smell.
I just finished making these ornaments for the tree. It took me over a week! I’m still not used to the interruptions that come from such a tiny human.
Kirby loves the tree very much. I love how his eyes are glowing as bright as the lights.
