Leftovers

I'm really not much of a breakfast person. Well, let me rephrase that - I'm not really into breakfast foods. I admit, I loooove me some turkey bacon, and I'll enjoy a nice hot bowl of yellow grits, or nice cold bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, but that's about it (and on a side note, I prefer eating Honey Nut Cheerios at night). Whenever I've tried to force anything else down my throat, half if it stays on the plate, especially pancakes. There's only one place I've ever been, where I actually enjoyed the pancakes, and that's Gateway Diner in Albany. I'm sure there may be better elsewhere, but I'm not all that interested in finding out.

Because of my aversion to breakfast foods, I've often avoided the meal altogether, or grabbed a bagel, if i was the only thing available. The only times I enjoyed a breakfast meal, even when I was growing up, was when that meal consisted of whatever leftovers I'd had for the previous night's dinner. I'm really not sure who dictated that the first morning meal of folks in the U.S. should consist of eggs, toast, and some sort of grainy thing, but it seems pretty restrictive to me. I decided to do away with that, and eat whatever I wanted, from here on. Gets a bit difficult when eating at a dining establishment before 11a.m., but I don't do that very often, because it's always disappointing.

I'm not sure why so many people, who don't like breakfasts foods, either force them down anyway, or avoid breakfast altogether, when they really don't have to. I've seen entire forums filled with questions such as "is it okay to eat pasta/fried chicken/any other non-breakfast food for breakfast, or must I stick with Cream of Wheat?" These are written by grown folks, mind you, who shouldn't have to ask for anyone's permission to eat anything, at any time of the day, yet they do just that.

I have a novel idea - eat whatever you want, at any time of day you want. If you want an omelette for dinner, go for it. Chicken florentine first thing in the morning? Be my guest. And don't forget - it's perfectly okay to eat dessert before a meal - I do it all the time.

My breakfast for today? Hot and sour soup.

Yum.