Monday, Sept. 20, 2004 - 11:23 a.m.

Breakfast of Champions-pic

All of my married life, I have cooked breakfast. At least until I started working nightshift and was no longer home at breakfast time. Breakfast was always predictable no matter how early it happened. When 800 applied chemicals, it could be as early as 4 am, and if he needed several of the kids as markers, everyone got up and ate. Same thing when we built fence.

We only had cold cereal on Sundays before leaving for Sunday school. The table was still set for everyone home at the time, but people wandered in and out according to the line for the bathroom. Of course, when everyone was pre-teen, all that was taken care of the night before, so everyone sat down at the same time for cold cereal.

The rest of the breakfasts were full course meals. Bacon and eggs, bacon and eggs and hotcakes, bacon and french toast, sausage and biscuits and gravy, sausage and toast and gravy. If biscuits or hotcakes or waffles weren't on the menu, there was toast and jam. Everyone but 800 had one egg,(he had 2)and we all had half a slice of bacon. I bought good bacon, thick and meaty, but cut it into halves. No one could ever get their fill of bacon at a meal so half a piece was just fine.

Eggs were usually over easy or basted. 2s always got the hardest one because he was not fond of eggs,(just like me) Once in a while, we had scrambled eggs if they were cheap or we had chickens. One winter when 800 went to Wyoming to work on construction, that is what we lived on. I had plenty of eggs, canned green beans, and flour, so the kids and I had scrambled eggs and homemade toast for breakfast and egg foo yung (beaten eggs and green beans fried into patties) and biscuits for supper. We knew we were poor, but there were 2 tractors, a couple of 4wheel drive pickups, and lots of other equipment on the place so we had lots of equity. The boys had rifles and shotguns available to them and went on hunting trips each fall, so they considered themselves quite rich in certain areas.

We never went hungry, although we sometimes went without margarine, or some other semi-necessity for a while. If we were too broke for too long, 800 would take his pack saddle bags into the pawn shop and get $100 for them so we could keep the electricity or phone paid up. Other bills would get behind, but would be caught up quickly as soon as spring work started. I don't know if the bags were worth $100, but they were pawned and redeemed many times, and are still in the shop. I think it was 800's reputation that was probably worth the $100 as the years went on.

But somethings were always the same. Breakfast was always a big meal and I don't think the kids ever knew that if we had pancakes for a week or two, it was because there was no money for eggs. If they knew, they never let on.

This is definitely not one of those times when there was no cash for eggs. In fact, it is a Thanksgiving meal, or other holiday, since the nice glasses and the Noritake are on the table. 2s is wearing that endurance look that fathers of 2 teenage girls often have. He is a good dad, and k and s are good girls. You had a big Hand in that. Thanks.

EE's devotional

newAutumn Leaves

previous - next