Breakfast and/or Brunch

Katie from Thyme for Cooking, the Blog, my compadre in many ways on gardening, eating, cooking and philosophy, has tagged me for the Brunch Meme. It it a first. No one has ever tagged me ever other than the real touch tag as kids. (do kids still play tag?) Thanks Katie! I will be interested in your feedback.

I DID grow up and still live in the south and brunch wasn't a big thing. Maybe, maybe not, you'll be surprised at what we serve, or like, for breakfast.

First, if I'm the cook for a crowd, it is usually made to order, short order cook style. I love to have bacon, sausage (we get great local sausage from southern pig farmers) and ham (country, of course) with toasted breads (local seeded multi grain), grits, the huz's favorite (we do a combo of local white and yellow), hash browns (my favorite). Muscadine jelly or raspberry or fig (yes homemade) is added for those with a sweet tooth (not me). And in-season fruit! If it's a big enough crowd, we'll make blueberry pancakes or pecan waffles.

A perfect breakfast for me (or brunch) is Smithfield country ham (better than any ham you can get, anywhere, ever!!!!), very thinly sliced and quickly sauté, a fresh egg from a neighbor, over well, on a sandwich with hash browns (the shredded kind), fresh sliced tomatoes, a slice of fresh picked fruit (whatever: strawberries, blueberries, figs, cantelopes), a cup of strong black coffee, dark roast. The huz would be quite different.

When entertaining friends, we like to make eggs Benedict, but we have friends that don't like 'Canadian' bacon so we substitute crab. An English muffin, crab cake, poached egg with freshly made hollandaise and a mimosa. Lately, we've been having sour cherry juice and champagne. It's yummy.

However, the truth be known, lately, we've been trying to loose some weight and unless we have guests, mostly we've been rotating breakfast; one day, hard boiled egg with fat free cottage cheese and yogurt and the next, an egg white omelet stuffed with Gwatney low fat sausage, sautéd with bell pepper, onion, garlic and low fat provolone cheese and topped with homemade salsa. Another occasional treat is our version of shit-on-a-shingle. Other breakfasts that I grew up on is fried salt fish but I haven't had it in years.

One more thing on breakfast. We found a wonderful diner in Burlington, called Larry's Highway 70 East diner. It is immaculate with a typical stainless steel and red interior and much Coke memorabilia. It is now being run by the second generation. They cure their own hams and grow make their own sausage. They serve home grown tomatoes with their breakfasts, in season, and make their own preserves, like pear and apple. Unbelievable in this day and age.

So who can I tag?

Jmom from In Our kitchen to get a Filipino/American/Southern twist to it. She just did an egg post but maybe has a different view of brunch.
Katie from Kaybrays Cooking my Entree Vous Friend and fellow foodie.

BTW: I love breakfast! I forgot about sweet potato biscuits. You can find the recipe on the website.

With Relish!