I made this tonight for my husband and me. Was just without fresh tarragon and didn't miss it at all. Perfection! My husband laughed when he saw the recipe, saying that I always make the strangest things. Fooled him. We both thought it was delicious and filling. We had it for dinner. I love the author's cookbooks and am always happy to see his new recipes. Thank you!
loved your article vry good keep it up.
1
Orange juice, toast and sliced cheese? Not criticizing but that actually seems like a pretty easy breakfast for your mom to put together. Nice that you appreciate it so much. Nowadays the younger set spend most of their time criticizing their parents or, at the very least, knocking them down to size so they themselves feel "good enough" because "good enough" is the new "good" in parenting.
Gosh I would not make any of these. Too rich, too unhealthy. I'd feel sick heading out the door. So yester-decade. I just don't eat that way anymore.
Fine, then don’t.
3
too much talk therapy too few recipes.
7
LOL. This whole article sums up why red states hate us. We eat porridge and sip espresso and fetishize breakfast and our "mum." We can't keep a bicycle tire inflated and "braise" eggs. Yet we feel guilty about not overachieving enough!
Pour your kid a bowl of corn flakes or scramble some eggs, give em a kiss, and let them go off to explore the world with zero guilt.
2
I heard the red states fetishize barbeque.
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Cut the guy some slack- maybe the writer is from the British Commonwealth. And espresso is not limited to blue states.
2
Nice reminder of busy mornings. Just FYI: you can make delicious overnight steel-cut oatmeal in a crock pot...
2
oh dear. this breakfast will mean five miles on the treadmill. but... I'm in.
1
Sounds like the author has Breakfast on lockdown -“sticky buns” sound soooo good.
although i do disagree with
“It does not help to know that others aren’t perfect parents; we still want to become one of them.”
imo that misses the point entirely. seeing the imperfections in other parents, esp our own, helps me love them more, and therefore love parenting more. it encourages me to be my own kind of parent, warts and all.
1
Lovely lovely
Start with a balance bike and take the pedaling out of the equation
I like a hash of caramelized onions, sweet potatoes and sausages for a weekend or holiday breakfast. A runny egg could be added if you so choose.
I learned to ride a bike when I was an adult. The instructors told us to keep the bike's front wheel pointed straight ahead of us to achieve balance. It worked for me and everyone else in the class. My $0.02.
4
Get the children involved in cooking. Max, at 5, is old enough to give meaningful help. If something awry with what he does just patiently explain what he should have done.
Will improve his skills. He will be proud to do "adult things" and actually contribute.
This is the age to start him on understanding that being a part of a family involves contributions. Of course, you will not use these words with him, but the lesson will sink in. A few years later it might be a struggle.
2
These breakfasts would keep me full for an entire day, and maybe that's a good thing. I have been trying to not eat dinner but instead calorie load in the mornings with a late afternoon supplement. I think it would be good to add more greens to the meal, something like spinach and tomatoes with feta on the side.
2
Adults get to eat whatever they want, whenever. Breakfast for dinner is a wonderful treat. Tamales for morning repast works for me. As long as there is coffee in the am I am good.
3
Dude. Taught my daughter to ride a bike in 15 minutes. Key is to remove the pedals and let her get balance. Push her around and let her coast with her feet up for about 10 min. Put pedals back on and now she's got the balance the rest just follows. It's teaching her to STOP that's tricky.
7
I like Flynn's direct approach: "Downstairs, porridge." He knows first things first. Enjoyed the article and it brought back sweet memories of my childhood and my mother's breakfasts with fresh orange juice or fresh orange slices, homemade biscuits, perfectly poached eggs, bacon or ham. Also of my dad teaching me in just one morning how to ride a bike. No training wheels, slight grassy slope, small push to start me off, couple of falls, and I was off and flying. Precious memories...
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and wonderful memories in the making.
10
I can't cook to save my life, but I was miraculously a pro at teaching my son to ride a bike. Training wheels on regular pavement for a while, and then double pad the child with two pairs of sweatpants and go to a field and just ride with you running alongside. The grass will slow the child down a bit so that they have to push harder an that will build some muscle, and the soft landing will minimize the fear while they learn. Enjoy!
7
Take the pedals off the bike and let him run his feet on the ground. He'll gain the confidence he needs and be riding in no time! And you'll have more time to cook and write great articles for us.
8
Having leisurely breakfasts has been indeed confined to weekends, holidays, and snow days. Trying to make the most of these opportunities to get family together around the table and talk about things other than traffic, I find that a good bakery to be a great help. I don't think it's fair to expect somebody to get up early and cook for 7+ people. Even less fair is to make people eat what somebody like me can cook. So the breakfast is coffee, tea (at least two kinds, with fruit one for the kids), tons of pastries (from everything bagels to things long since renamed as orange sticky monkey bread and custardy whatsit). Cream and regular cheeses, hummuses (hummi?), fruit preserves, and all manner of fresh fruit and veggies. Naturally, nobody is there to stop one from making eggs, frying bacon, etc. for oneself. Now, if a two year old insists on dipping tangerine wedges in hummus, we got it covered. Five year old wants to make a banana-bacon sandwich - by all means. Need extra blueberries to stick into your blueberry muffin - there you are. Now we can talk about important things: today's plans and last night dreams.
23
Hummi made me chuckle!
My perspective on riding a bike... "balance bikes" are counterproductive. Rapidly spinning wheels are like a gyroscope and help keep the bike and rider upright. With "balance bikes" the child can't accelerate to help with balance. In teaching my children and step grandchild to ride, I told them they would probably get some skinned knees, hands and elbows, all part of the learning process. (Didn't happen though.) I have to say, running behind a bike to make them think I was holding on was easier for me when I was younger.
7
Training wheels work really well,
a couple of days to a week should do it.
Next time there are left over mashed potatoes, this is automatic.
3
I highly recommend breakfast cookies! I make them on Sunday; they take less than ten minutes to throw together, then bake them and store for five days, if they last that long. They contain things like pumpkin, banana, flax, oats, cinnamon... healthy stuff, but delicious. Two of them with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk and you have a great weekday breakfast!
8
Don't own a microwave. I am worried about reheating plastic getting into my food.
For breakfast when my girls were young, I would make on the weekends cinnamon rolls, and other pastries and freeze them {even waffles to reheat in the toaster}. I always got up early {had to be at work at 7am with a long commute} and would squeeze the OJ, start the oven for reheating the rolls or set the stuff out for using the toaster. I taught my girls at an early age how to use the oven and toaster. Dad would supervise and I would head off for work.
Funny, but my girls don't have microwaves either in their houses!
2
Couldn't you microwave food in glass containers?
1
It's your choice -- maybe microwaves are not that popular in France? -- but they are perfectly safe. Just don't microwave stuff in plastic! I use glass dishes (like Corningware, which I believe is called "Arcoroc" in France.
2
Are you kidding? If Baconpro works it may be the best thing since Oreos.
1
after sleeping humans need something to get them going. first a cup of water to rehydrate. a small nutritious breakfast will work for most of us: a poached egg on real whole wheat mixed grains bread, 6 oz low sugar orange juice: less than 300 caloories. a poultry sausage, piece of toast and juice or a cup of plain real greek yogurt, 6 oz orange juice.
1
We are talking about pleasure here, not dietary needs!
1
Low sugar orange juice is just watered down real orange juice. It's not orange juice "with the sugar extracted" as that would taste bitter and horrid.
If 6 oz. of orange juice is too much sugar for you -- drink something else. Tomato juice is good.
Those are all traditional breakfast foods, but there is nothing magically "breakfast-y" about orange juice, toast, eggs, or sausage. You can eat them for dinner. You can eat a grilled cheese for breakfast. You can have soup for breakfast. You can have pasta for breakfast.
It doesn't matter what you eat for breakfast, but some people can't function without eating SOMETHING...their energy levels get too low otherwise. Other folks hate eating breakfast, and feel almost nauseated in the morning.
There is no one way to eat or not eat breakfast. Think outside the box.
1
You go, dad!
7
May I suggest Jeff At www.westchesterbikecamp.com
1
Oatmeal with nuts and berries topped with a beautiful egg over easy. Powerful, emotional, heaven.
5
Charming, thank you for sharing!
6
Indeed, well said. Good luck with the bike.
2
I quite reading after the first paragraph. Buy a Strider Bike (or modify a larger bike by removing the pedals and chain, etc.) to teach your son to ride and glide on a bike using his own feet.
Then you might enjoy your breakfasts more.
2
We've been teaching kids to ride a bike for 4 years now and get calls all the time from guilt- ridden parents who haven't been able to teach their kids. The guilt is completely unnecessary. Some kids it right away; some take a little more time. But they all get it eventually. The trick is to be patient and adopt your technique to the child's physical ability, attitude and, most importantly, learning style.
7
Wow, I don't know what is sadder -- guilt-ridden lazy helicopter parents who can't teach their own kids to ride a bike without angsting or panicking -- or that rich people in Westchester NY actually need a BIKE CAMP to teach their own kids to ride.
Is there also a Westchester Potty Training Camp, for those rich parents who can't get their kids out of diapers?
1
Thanks for the lovely reminder of mother’s breakfasts. She insisted that it was the most important meal of the day. Everything as fresh as she could find or grow herself. I felt .ots of love emanating from the kitchen when I got up in the morning. No sticky buns though. Mom didn’t believe in sugar, although occasionally we got buckwheat pancakes with real maple syrup. What’s more amazing is that I grew up in the 1950s, during the “Better Living Trhough Chemistry” era. Mom was an anomaly among my friends, but they always loved her farm fresh cooking.
10
Food looks great (as always!). The best way to teach a child how to ride a bike is with something called a "balance bike". Many videos on Youtube. It teaches a child to balance and coast first; later, crankset/pedals are added.
2
Mini egg casseroles in muffin cups filled with whatever ingredients you have on hand remain one of the simplest and fastest breakfasts to make, one that easily allows for individual customization of ingredients. And for a bonus they are almost as good reheated the second or third days.
3
A note about teaching a child to ride a bike:
1) Hold the child by his/her shoulders or lower neck.
2) Tell the child to look up, not at the ground in front of the wheel.
The child's stability will increase amazingly, and your lower back (and child) will thank you.
Oh, yes, the breakfast advice will change weekend mornings.
10
Apart from the ideas for breakfast, this is a lovely essay, Yotam.
17
Times are a changing that's for sure. Both parents working puts an almost impossible strain on mothers who attempt to do all the things our moms did when we were growing up. While fathers pitch in, it'll never be the same. It's a shame, when you think of how good is was for many of us.
My family is larger than most with five kids, but we have done what we could and have adapted as necessary. One Saturday after breakfast we sat around the table as I mused how there must be a better way to cook bacon. My kids were an active bunch, so two slices of bacon didn't cut it.
I think all of us, at one time or another, have thought about inventions to fill some need, but that Saturday ended up actually spawning a new invention for cooking a lot of bacon. It's called the Bacon Pro. It cooks 23 slices of crisp bacon in the microwave. While my efforts may have been better focused on bigger more important issues, we got this one done. Some housewares experts believe it's the best bacon cooker ever made.
6
My mom worked, as did many moms. And the system by which moms were expected to stay home and make lovely homes for everyone else may have worked very well for the everyone else, but it wasn't necessarily any good for the moms.
49
You can cook bacon on a sheet pan in the oven quite nicely. I've done 10 pounds of it that way. Yes, a commercial kitchen and a large commercial oven, but 400+ degrees and a sheet pan (well, half-sheet for most "home" kitchens) works well. I did this more than a few times at my mother's house when I would visit over the holidays and cook for my mother (and 5 siblings and their spouses and their kids).
Cooking is not difficult, but it does require planning, often days ahead.
(And I knew an old German chef who would lecture anyone who said "I have no time to cook for my family;" he had 3 kids, a wife, and according to him, he still made everything for them from scratch, before or after his 12+ hour shift in his restaurant. He considered "fast food" sinful and hardly food. I won't call it a sin, but rarely is it edible.)
19
My mom loved being a stay-at-home mom. She loathed working in airless offices with bad bosses.
1
With all of the modern day conveniences, i.e., microwave ovens, toaster ovens, and a bunch of other devices, it's amazing that there's less time to get stuff accomplished in the kitchen.
My mom didn't work outside the home when I was little. She was always making and baking stuff in the kitchen. She too got up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast for the 9 of us. But then after breakfast, everyone went to school and work and she had the house to herself. She did not have to balance a 40 hour job AND a 40 hour home life together.
I think any time a parent even WANTS to make a homemade breakfast for their kid(s) and spouse should be commended and adored for going that extra mile.
It's not so much about what is made and served, but rather that a parent even wants to attempt such a feat instead of throwing a box of Lucky Charms, carton of milk, and a bowl and spoon on the kitchen table and barking at the kids "It's a do-it-yourself-kit. Now eat so you're not late for school".
For me, it's more about the thoughtfulness behind the notion than the end product itself. Teaching a kid how to ride a bike is an entirely different animal. No thank you on that topic.
17
Every morning I make breakfast for the kids, and it's the microwave and the toaster that makes it possible. You can even make porridge with rolled oats in the microwave, using the right power level. Breakfasts have become my daily game to see how quickly and easily I can get something that is not cold cereal on the table.
2
I have a PhD in nutrition. My kids eat (non-sugary) varieties of cold cereal nearly every weekday morning. They also get toast and fruit if they want it. It's fast and consistent, reasonably healthy, and most important, I know they'll eat it. We do fancier stuff on some weekend mornings, but I see nothing wrong with cereal if it works for your family.
5
Porridge in the crock pot is phenomenal and you set it up the night before. One part grain, 2 parts water, a bit of salt. Maybe a fistful of dried fruit or nuts. You can use a mix of all those glorious chewy grains that take way too long to cook on a groggy morning--steel cut oats, wheat berries, millet, rye, barley.... oh boy!
I like sunny-side-up eggs when all the white is non-transparent and non-liquid.
Apart this, my favorite breakfast is a long cigar accompanied by strong coffee and either a cake or doughnuts. The doughnuts are predried at ambient temperature for 48 to 60 hours, to prevent them from dissolving when dipped in coffee.
16
Agree completely about egg whites, but the rest is all yours!
1
No more Pop tarts for me
13