Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner?

Take a listen to “Banana Pancakes.” by Jack Johnson.

Can there ever be a meal that conjures up more feelings of comfort than breakfast food?

I could eat breakfast any time – day or night. I have been known to make blueberry pancakes for dinner for my family of five after a very hectic day of school and work. It takes time to prepare breakfast foods like pancakes, eggs and French toast. Time that my family rarely has to spend together in the morning, not even on the weekends. In fact, if we had to wait for downtime to have breakfast at breakfast time that is not out of a box, with all of us together, we’d be waiting until summer vacation.

 I guess my love for breakfast started when my husband and I were young, poor and newlyweds out in Berkeley, California. I was earning minimum wage in a PR internship and he was a starving student.  We had no kids and no car, but we always had money to go out for breakfast.

We had several favorite breakfast places in Berkeley and neighboring El Cerrito. One was a tiny storefront on San Pablo Blvd. called the Shutter Cafe. We’d sit on wooden benches and enjoy eggs and some great home fries.

But the best place to eat breakfast was Fatapples in El Cerrito. We’d wake up in our one-bedroom apartment after sleeping in on a Sunday morning, grab the paper and start walking. There would always be a line for a table, but we didn’t care. We would glance at the news and sympathetically watch young couples struggle with their impatient toddlers as we waited for a seat in the airy dining room.

Finally, the waitress would beckon us to our table. I would order the blueberry pancakes and he would get the usual: eggs over easy with Rye toast. We’d drink cups of strong Peete’s coffee, talk, and do the crossword puzzle while we waited. After breakfast, we would walk home and were so full we didn’t eat again until dinner.

So, Jack, we completely understand. Because having breakfast for dinner helps us pretend that we are still young and newly in love, it’s the weekend, and we’ve just slept in.

What meal could you have all the time?