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Father's Day Eve Feast

Today is Father’s Day Eve, and Julia made her Daddy breakfast in bed! Actually, she just asked me if I would do the honors, so while she and George slept, I enjoyed a peaceful morning with my coffee, Pandora, and cooking.

Last week I bought a pound of cute little potatoes from the Oswego farmer’s market. I had been wondering what to do with them all week, but I suddenly decided that hash browns would be the perfect side dish for breakfast in bed. I have never made these before, but I remember growing up, Dad would always cut up potatoes and make hash browns. The crackling aroma of cooking hash browns is the quintessential signal that a good breakfast is on its way. I simply googled a recipe to figure out how to make these, and was reminded of my Dad’s advice—DON’T STIR THEM! So I poured some olive oil around the bottom of the skillet, seasoned the potatoes with fresh cracked pepper and garlic salt, dumped the lovely little cubes into the skillet, flattened them down with a spatula, made some coffee and followed Dad’s advice.

What would go great with hash browns? Why eggs, of course! I hate eggs, but I love to cook them. Since I hate them so, the only kind I can really make is scrambled or hard boiled. I cracked the eggs, two for the grown-ups, and one for the kiddie, with the knowledge that Ginger would eat most of mine. We have an understanding. My Mom bought these eggs from a friend at her church who has a bunch of chickens. I don’t like to buy eggs from sad chickens, so I am always looking for fresh, cage free, organic eggs. These eggs yolks were the brightest, almost fluorescent, yellow-orange color that I have ever seen—a sure sign of freshness, I’m pretty sure.

I finally dared to give the hash browns a stir while the eggs were cooking. They had crisped up very nicely. I quickly microwaved some Morning Star Farms sausages, which are really just tofu disks, but very tasty. I would have cooked them in the skillet, but timing is everything, especially when it comes to breakfast. I thought that the sacrifice of microwaved sausage was infinitely better than cold hash browns and eggs.

While things were cooking, I warmed up some water for a mini pot of hot Irish morning tea, and sliced some homemade bread from the night before. I quickly plated the feast, picked a petunia for decoration, and added a cute ketchup jar that we stole from room service that we ordered at my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding three years ago.

I carried the tray up to George, woke Julia up, and SURPRISE! I think he was surprised, at least. The concept of “breakfast in bed” is a nice thought, but then crumbs get into the bed, and you’re always worried about spilling something, like hot tea, everywhere. He soon joined us for family breakfast and a relaxing morning.

part of dinner

I picked and meticulously washed lettuce from the garden while julia pulled lettuce off the counter and tried to eat it. I should not have left the cloth so close to the edge.

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It's been awhile...

Well, it's been about three years since my last post! Since then we have been blessed with Julia Claire. She was born in April, 2010, and she keeps our lives very busy. Since my life has changed so much, I think I will hopefully have even more topics to post about. I am still into DIY around the house. We haven't bought a loaf of bread since June, 2008, so that makes it three years! This blog will focus on cooking, gardening, reading, being a mom, and other fun things. I will post when I want, and we will just see how this thing develops. Hopefully it won't be another three years until the next one!

Summer is Here!

We started the day with purple oatmeal! I just mixed blackberries in regular oats, and Julia LOVED it!