In the wee small hours of morning...

“How impressed I was, I remember well, impressed and over-awed by the magnificence of the breakfast offered to us. There was tea, in a great silver urn, and coffee too, and on the heater, piping hot, dishes of scrambled eggs, of bacon, and another of fish. There was a little clutch of boiled eggs as well, in their own special heater, and porridge, in a silver porringer. On another side-board was a ham, and a great piece of cold bacon. There were scones too, on the table, and toast, and various pots of jam, marmalade, and honey, while dessert dishes, piled high with fruit, stood at either end. It seemed strange to me that Maxim, who in Italy and France had eaten a croissant and fruit only, and drunk a cup of coffee, should sit down to this breakfast at home, enough for a dozen people, day after day probably, year after year seeing nothing ridiculous about it, nothing wasteful.” -- Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Such were the breakfasts at Manderley. Now if only we could get rid of the psychotic housekeeper...

I am not a breakfast person. When I wake up in the morning, my body craves three things: more sleep, a bath, and a cup of coffee, in that order. When I was younger, I could go all day without eating until dinner (which, in my old life, was around 9 in the evening), but now, I can probably do it until 3 pm, provided that I had 3 cups of coffee in the preceding hours.

A lot of people are surprised when they find out that I don’t eat breakfast (“but it’s the most important meal of the day!”) but the thing is, I was always in a hurry and I always blamed breakfast as the reason why my sisters and I were late to school. My sisters had to eat breakfast, and it took them forever to finish eating. Seriously, 90-year old grandmothers and civil service employees ate faster than them. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was skipping lunch too, as there was too much school crap to finish over lunch break. But that was short-lived because I got crankier the less rice I had during a day. The only time I ate breakfast on a regular basis was when I was on an internship, and catching up with my boss entailed breaking several Olympic track and field records. Not to mention that the cafeteria was the best in the country.

I don’t have any problem with actual breakfast food. I love having fried rice, tocino, sausages, and eggs (fried, scrambled, boiled, poached, you name it!). I love orange juice (especially with a little champagne mixed in) and lots of coffee with milk. Congee, and pancakes and bacon, and butter and marmalade and toast. I love going to diners and ordering corn beef hash and home fries. I hate cereal though – I hate it with a passion.

The thing is, I really need to re-learn the breakfast thing. My classes start a little late in the morning, which means, I will be pretty much pre-occupied through lunch till late afternoon. Then I have to do laundry! Last Tuesday, I tried to get a little bit of lamb stew down my throat at around 10 am, and I was miserable trying to scarf down the entire lot. For once, I wanted to throw up lamb. Lamb! So does anyone have any suggestions about how I can try to integrate breakfast in my life? I’m pretty prepared, with a couple dozen eggs, marmalade, bread, and a bit of ham (okay, 17 pounds of ham). How do I make peace with breakfast?