After cooking brunch for 50+ people at Ronald McDonald House all the memories of my Dad's "big breakfasts" came flooding back. Nothing delighted him more than cooking up a TON of carbs for weekend breakfast. We definitely didn't eat lunch and were quite "relieved" til a late dinner.
Cinnamon rolls (yes, the can kind from Aldi's!) went in first as an appetizer to tide us over until the main course(s). When we were littler my sister and I would dance in the living room (attached to our kitchen) to Martina McBride or Shania Twain (my Dad's favorites along with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Neil Young...) while my Dad cooked. Every so often, Mrs. Butterworth the talking syrup bottle came in to talk to us and ask us if we were getting hungry. My Dad made up voices and silly stories for anything and everything, this being a prime example. He once told my cousin Mike that "Juan Valdez" lived inside the coffee pot when the noise of it brewing startled him.
Once the smell of bacon filled the air we knew it was getting close to chow time. He then finished up with French Toast (Froast) or pancakes (sometimes both!), sausage, cheesy scrambled eggs (cheggs) and sometimes homemade hash-browns. My mouth is watering!!!
We piled our plates high, lathered on the syrup (we always got the industrial size bottles from Sam's) and ate and ate and talked and laughed and played cards. So many good memories around the brunch table. We often had this as dinner too (if my mom wasn't home). The waffle iron came out at dinner time actually more than brunch time.
Another breakfast my Dad enjoyed was cereal. He would buy probably 8 boxes at a time each Aldi's run. He loved Frosted Flakes & Raisin Bran. He even had his own plastic "cereal saver" container in the cabinet labeled with his name and "Don't Touch!" so none of us would mess with his proportions (he mixed the kinds together). He always delighted when hotel breakfasts had the little boxes of name brand and different kinds of cereals to try. That, again, was just the appetizer...he'd usually get pretty much everything else the hotel had to try too, especially the waffles from those fun single serve irons they have at most places.
Seeing caregiver's plates filled with food The Right Relief Inc provided, cooked and served gave me the warm fuzzies. I even saw a toddler with his high chair tray completely covered in food and shoveling it in with both hands. My Dad (who his college friends called "Bodge") would have approved and indulged heavily. I am looking forward to trying a "breakfast for dinner" night at Kathy's House soon.
What is your favorite brunch food? Comment below!!
Comments