Why I Love Breakfast
When I’m home in Washington, DC there is at least one meal that you can count on at my house: breakfast. The reason for this is as simple as it is personal. Breakfast, you see, is the one meal that we flight crewmembers rarely, if ever, get to enjoy while flying. We either finish the day late at night and sleep through the breakfast hour, or our trips start so early that no one is awake but us.
So breakfast has become my occasional lover… always gorgeous, delicious, immersed in pleasure and hinting at great things to come. Oh yes, I love my breakfasts and I have devoted a considerable amount of time to ensuring that my technique is flawless. With a love as deep as this, one can’t afford to make a rookie mistake. Today’s inspiration was french toast with applewood smoked bacon, Vermont cheddar cheese, red berries, and lingonberry juice. I picked up my french toast recipe in Paris while staying at the Hotel Du Louvre, and it is sensational. I go back to the Jardin Tuileries and the smells of spring with every bite!
My daughter provides another reason for taking this meal to heart: kids do better in life when the heavenly rays of breakfast shine upon them. Research done by the Cardiff University School of Psychology, led by Professor Andrew Smith, has shown that eating breakfast helps children function better in school than those who skip the first meal of the day. Dr. Smith says that it is clear that starting the day with cereal enhances mental, cognitive and physical ability. The children are less emotionally distressed, less tired and less anxious. The study examined 213 children from 4 – 11 years old.
The results revealed children who start the day with cereal are:
9 percent more alert
11 percent less emotionally distressed
13 percent less tired
17 percent less anxious
10 percent less likely to suffer memory and attention span difficulties, than those that have no breakfast
33 percent less likely to suffer from stomach complaints.
Perhaps in another post I’ll wax poetic about coffee. Like a lot of folks, I have a particular method of preparation (which I am convinced is best!) The photo above was shot this morning using my D300 at several F stops. I found that 1.8 was too narrow, so I worked my way up until I hit pay dirt at 3.2. The light is ambient – no flash or supplemental lighting used. This camera is seriously a lot of fun, and I haven’t even STARTED to uncover what it can really do. Perhaps, like breakfast, my love affair with the D300 will run long and deep. In the mean time pass the maple syrup, please?
Windward Journey 
you make me hungry, sir. oh, and the camera’s amazing too. but i might trade it (if i had it) for the french toast. i’m just sayin… drool.
‘Teach a man to fish…’
Warning: the ingredients and method below may give you pause. They may also give you the best french toast of your life. Just don’t forget to get some exercise during the day and you’ll be just fine.
French Toast
*as taught to Airsafety in Paris
4 eggs
1c heavy cream
2T water
2T pure (not fake) vanilla extract
1/4t cinnamon
1/4 cup cane sugar
6T french butter (it has more butterfat and tastes better in this recipe, but US butter will do too. As long as it is fresh…)
Day old bread of your choice. Last night’s hard-as-granite baguette leftovers will do perfectly, sliced on the bias.
Whisk eggs, then add cream, water, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. Mix well, but do not overbeat. The dominant flavor should be vanilla, with the scarcest hint of cinnamon.
Dunk your bread slices, allowing them to soak in the creamy goodness for a moment or two.
Fire up a non-stick pan over medium flame, add a T of butter and cook up a couple of bread pieces. Refresh the butter frequently, and if using US butter you may see some browning. If this happens, simply swab out the pan with a paper towel, taking care not to burn your mitts, and carry on.
Serves 4 mortals, or 2 french toast devotees. Add fresh fruit, cheese and maybe a breakfast meat along with fresh juice and bask in the glory of it all.