Sunday, December 03, 2006

Sunday Brunch

When we were first going out over 30 years ago, I’m not sure if we enjoyed sex or cooking together more. As good as the sex was, we made some dynamite gourmet food, specializing in brunch.

I woke up today thinking about food. I was mentally taking inventory of all the leftovers in the refrigerator that I could turn into brunch. We seldom eat together because I am usually an early morning person and I live with someone who is definitely nocturnal. But miraculously we got up around the same time today and we were both hungry.

I always like a fruit salad, so I sectioned a pink grapefruit, peeled some clementines, and threw in some red raspberries for color and because I love them.


It turned out we had some good leftovers:
– Mashed potatoes got mixed with sauteed onions and Italian parsley and shaped into little patties to slowly brown in light olive oil.
– Cooked but now cold asparagus donned some leftover reconstituted Hollandaise sauce.
– A couple of pieces of Texas-style Jewish brisket were heated up.

My husband showed up to make his absolutely perfect poached eggs. These eggs don’t come out of little cups, but are free-form in boiling water with a little white vinegar added. The whites are cooked, but the yellows are warm and runny. Just a dab of Hollandaise sauce on top.

A whole-wheat bagel toasted and split between us. Hot brewed coffee and breakfast was served.

Did I want to read the paper? No thanks, I just wanted to eat and savor every mouthful.

The only difference between gourmet breakfast as 20-somethings: My husband said, “Don’t give me too much of that brisket.” To which I replied, “Why? Are you afraid of getting fat?” Yep, that was it. We never worried about calories or grams of fat back then. My philosophy is to take a break from these thoughts from time to time and just enjoy eating. It is one of the real pleasures in life!

Back to Cheerios and green tea tomorrow...

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just eggs & toast this am. apple or granola bar the rest of the week.

6:09 PM  
Blogger Reya Mellicker said...

I think we should ALWAYS enjoy eating. Looks delicious! Y U M!!

6:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Free form poached eggs, asparagus, mashed potato cakes - passing my plate!

I'm with reya - I always enjoy eating.

7:00 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

OL -- You sound pretty disciplined. I'm glad you at least have one day to enjoy eggs and toast.

Reya -- I think we should start a campaign for guilt-free eating in a country that has become obsessed with counting calories, carbs, and grams of fat. How can you possibly enjoy your food if those numbers have to get in your way?

Pauline -- I will cook you Sunday brunch any time you want to visit. In fact, I'll bet we would have a great time cooking together. Cooking is a bonding thing with whomever you're sharing the experience.

7:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now that sounds like fun! I love to cook, love to eat, and don't mind doing dishes afterwards. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve the kitchen :)

6:34 AM  
Blogger Mother of Invention said...

Great tantalizing post, Barbara! Breakfast is my favourite meal and I love sausages! The only time I have them is if we go out for breakfast. Too bad it's all such high cholesterol for me, but I agree with you taking a break from it now and then. (I vote for more now than then if I had a choice!) Do you do meals on wheels to Ontario?!

7:14 AM  
Blogger bulletholes said...

Aw, man, Potato pancakes and Asparagus w/ Hoolandaise and its been a long time since i seen a perfectly posched egg- I love em on Corned Beef Hash or Waffles- you made my tongue hard!!!
(can I say that?)

3:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nope - it was not that i was worried about getting fat. it was because we ate so much the night before and i'm just not used to such big breakfasts anymore!

4:37 PM  

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