Sounds good to me too! I also change my breakfast patterns in the spring and summer. Yesterday I tried a version of a Continental or Scandinavian breakfast: a slice of tavern ham, slice of Genoa salami, slice of Vermont white cheddar, my homemade wheat germ bread toasted with plain Greek yogurt spread on top, strawberries, and a large mug of coffee. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this type of breakfast got me from 6:30 am to 11:30 am with no hunger pangs or low blood sugar. But I found I didn't like the strong flavored salami that early in the day. Not too sure about fish early in the morning either.

I want to see if I can enjoy this type of breakfast because it is quicker and doesn't involve standing over a skillet of turkey bacon and scrambled eggs - although I plan to have the eggs & bacon/sausage one or two mornings a week. I also want to make some muesli too - but cereal and fruit does not stay with me as long.

Teresa

Teresa, I love the Continental breakfasts but I'm with you on the salami and fish. I love their good butter as well.

Last fall we toured a good bit of Germany, staying in small B&B's and their breakfasts with Artisan bread, ham, good cheese and a lot of apricot preserves were divine. We took a river cruise down the Rhine after that and there was a much more eclectic mix for breakfast including pork and beans. UH UH, not for breakfast.

jude

My favorite breakfast is a sandwich of sliced ham "frizzled" in a teaspoon of butter and served on a potato roll, a glass of tomato juice, and some green grapes or orange wedges.

In the springtime, I like asparagus and crab omelettes but we usually have them for dinner.

I just put together a quick muesli: rolled oats that I toasted for 20 minutes at 350 degrees in the toaster oven, some toasted sliced almonds, a handful of craisins, and a couple of TB of brown sugar. It is very tasty! I plan to mix it with some milk and yogurt and let it sit while I walk the dog each morning, then have it for breakfast with some fresh fruit.

Ruthanna, potato rolls, and more ham are on my list! I don't think I have bought "tavern" ham before, but I like it. I'm getting Boar's Head deli meats and cheeses as they are good quality that "contain no fillers, gluten, artificial colors, flavors or trans fat." This is one case where you get what you pay for.

One of my favorites is fried potato/onion, barely cooked asparagus; top that with a soft cooked egg and a little bit of hollandaise sauce...yummy! I have it about once a week in the spring.

Not spring, but later in the summer, my favorite weekend breakfast consists of thin slices of seedless watermelon, honeydew melon, & peeled English cucumber stacked & wrapped together with a couple slices of proscuitto brushed with a bit of olive oil & sprinkled with coarse black pepper. Then, onto the outside grill it goes just until you get sear marks on the proscuitto. Served alongside...a lobster omelet. Just eggs, S&P, a teaspoon of cream, a teaspoon of melted butter, & lobster cooked slow & low just until set but still moist. Add a toasted slice of 7-grain bread (must be cut on the diagonal!) topped with a dollop of lemon curd & I'm all set! It's just not the same without the grilled melons.

/tricia

Ruthanna, I could go for the ham and potato roll!
Teresa, the muesli sounds good AND healthy.
Marigene, how can you go wrong with fried potatoes and onions as well as the asparagus and egg. How do you make a "little bit" of hollandaise sauce? I't doesn't hold over well, does it?
Oh /tricia, you who live up there in "lobster land"!! The entire breakfast sounds fabulous! I've never had grilled melon.

jude

An omelet of eggs, herbs, green onion, and sauted swiss chard folded in the middle.

These are the only things I have in my garden right now, and the hens have just kicked up egg production for spring. I really love a meal from the garden and a spring omlete is one of the first garden meals I can make of the year.

Asparagus is almost here though.

Seems like I am the only one who eats the same breakfast year round. Well, I am the boring type so go figure! LOL

Al

For all you folks who are trying to add beans to your diet, morning is actually the best time to eat beans, and evening the worst. Eating them in the morning gives your body time to digest them properly. Not that I follow my own advice, other than with huevos rancheros. I'm one of those people who has to choke down breakfast no matter what the season, I'm just not a morning gal. I do love a later brunch though. Right now it is the low point for me with any type of good breakfast stuff, I am on my absolute last jars of jam, very little fresh fruit is available, or veggies for omlettes.

I'm not a breakfast person much at all. Eggs are boring. I hate oatmeal. I don't like sweet things much. It's hard to eat in the morning. But I know "it's the most important meal of the day" and since I'm often thirsty in the morning I have Kashi high fiber cereal, a lot of skim milk, a banana and blueberries.

Tastes as good or bad as any of the alternatives and I think it's good for me.

Around noon, or one-ish, I'm up for something more interesting.

seagrass

In the winter I'm into hot cereals like oatmeal and cream of wheat, or sweet potato pancakes, eggs with beans, etc.

But in the spring I like to keep my breakfast light so I usually just have some Greek yogurt with honey and granola sprinkled on top or with blueberries, cooked prunes or other fruit. If I'm still hungry I'll have a slice of toasted raisin-nut bread (homemade or from the bakery).

When my tomatoes are ripe I like to make spinach quiche and have some fresh sliced tomatoes on the side.

Biscotte and fruit smoothies. Just had mandarin and kiwi. Lovely.

Jude. thank you for the lemon verbena jelly recipe. I will enjoy making some later in the season.

I usually make basil jelly that we also enjoy.

Ann

A bowl of fresh strawberries and blueberries with a bit of Greek yogurt.

I tend to like breakfast foods better for dinner.

Ann, I bought a jar of basil jelly at a farmers market last year simply because it was such a beautiful transparent green. Haven't opened it yet...how do you use yours?

jude

One of the best things I've ever had in the mornings was strawberries and bananas. Slice up the strawberries the night before, adding just a little sugar, then add the sliced bananas the next morning. Wonderful combination (that's why they make daquiries from them).

Love a simple ham and cheese omelet, hashbrowns, crispy bacon. Or just simple scrambled eggs. And if I'm really bad, biscuits and gravey.

But I'm happy with just a bacon biscuit which is what it usually is when I'm on the go.

Breakfast is wonderful any time of the day!

Beth

I'm also not a "morning" eater, I like breakfast about 10 am.

Good hot coffee, always, I switch to tea in the afternoon. In the spring I like my homemade yogurt with sliced strawberries or other fresh berries and a sprinkle of homemade granola. I also like asparagus quiche, but seldom make it for myself, I wait until Elery is here to share it. Crab and asparagus is one of my favorites too, ruthanna.

Jude, I like baked beans for breakfast as well as I like anything else. spread cold baked beans on a slice of white bread or a roll and eat it just like that. I love baked beans pretty much any time of day (or any time of year!) I'm glad Laurie told me that morning is actually the best time to eat them. (grin)

I like eggs all the time, but not the tasteless ones available commercially, so eggs are a treat for me in the spring when my "girls" just start to lay. I like them over easy, the yolks still runny, on top of corned beef hash or home fries, or between a couple of pancakes.

By summer I'm over stocked with eggs and they aren't as big a treat any more, but in December I'm yearning for fresh eggs again.

Annie

Jude, most of the time I pour it over a block of cream cheese and serve it with crackers. It is always gone when I take it to a gathering. We sometimes use it when we have dressing. If I use sweet basil I make it green food coloring. If I use cinnamon basil I use a little orange food coloring.

Hope you enjoy yours.

Ann

That is certainly an incentive to open the jar, Ann. I do love fresh basil and that was such a pretty color I couldn't resist it. There isn't much that doesn't go with cream cheese, is there?

Now I'm going to be thinking about lavender jelly and I saw something about violet jelly. Sounds interesting.

jude

Oh, there's a lady at our summer farmers market who makes lavender jelly. The plain is fine, I've used it between the layers of a cake, but the blackberry lavender is really delicious.

Annie, off topic question for you if you happen back in here - when do the hens stop laying?

Some neighbors of my parents asked their permission to get about 6 hens (no roosters allowed per county) and I'm curious about it.

Beth

Beth, I'm in Michigan so it will probably be different where you are, but commonly chickens need at least 10 hours of light to lay, so when the days get short and it's still dark when I go to work at 8 am and dark when I go home at 5 pm, the hens stop laying. I could put a light in their coop and get a heated waterer and keep them laying pretty much year round (except for when they molt), but the electricity would cost me more than the eggs are worth, so I just freeze eggs when I'm getting a lot.

Hens also stop laying when they are molting. Hens molt annually, they start losing their feathers and grow new feathers. They look absolutely awful, BTW, when they are molting, half naked chickens. (grin)

This is a good explanation from thepoultrysite.com.

"After a hen has been producing eggs for several months, she becomes increasingly likely to molt. Molting and egg production are not mutually compatible, so when molting occurs, egg production ceases. The rest from egg laying allows the hen to restore its plumage condition by shedding old feathers and growing new ones. At the same time, the henÂs reproductive tract is rejuvenated, allowing it to increase its rate of egg production and produce higher quality eggs when it returns to lay. Under natural day lengths, molting tends to coincide with the change in season so that hens molt in the fall after they cease egg production due to declining day lengths. In these circumstances, it is normal for all the hens in a flock to go out of production and molt more or less in synchrony. However, if artificial lighting is provided, a hen may molt at any time of year and not in synchrony with other hens. If this happens, she should return to lay in several weeks."

Old hens stop laying eggs eventually and there are some chicken diseases that will prevent laying. Also, if a hen is "broody" she will stop laying, because she wants to hatch the eggs she's sitting on.

Mine lay at optimum production about 6 or 8 months out of the year, they never stop completely, but I'll go from getting 10 or 12 eggs a day to getting one or two per day, sometimes none.

Annie

BTDT, blackberry lavender sounds scrumptious. I may have to "google" a little for that. I have quite a bit of various jellies left from last year. I just commented the other day that there was no need to make more but the thing is...I enjoy it and ....if it's something I don't have...well, there's the reason!

jude

Annie, I was trying like crazy to remember which thread this was when I asked about the chickens.

Today I asked my Dad about their chickens way back years ago (at 82 he can't remember things from this morning but he can remember from boyhood). They were right here in Georgia and he said that their hens layed all the time as long as you went in and got the eggs each day. So interesting!

I remember him telling me that that's how my grandmother bought flour and sugar - she took her eggs and butter to town for a swap. Life should be so simple again..

Thanks for all the info, it's good to know these things even if you don't live on a farm.

Beth

Favorite spring time breakfast is steamed asparagus on buttered toast. My dad and I used to go foraging for wild asparagus then we'd share them like this for breakfast. Yum!