I woke this morning with a start, seeing I had overslept and, therefore, must be late for something. Then I realized it was Sunday, and thought about breakfast. Sunday is a ‘special breakfast day’ at hour house – whether it’s just a regular sit-down for Mom and me, or a holiday weekend affair for 22…
My Fave Breakfast Bake: For 2 or 22.
Most Sundays through the year, Mom and I celebrate the end of one week and the start of another by breakfasting on Toasted Bagels or fresh-baked Croissantes with Salmon and Cream Cheese. That’s our way of remembering my stepdad, who always loved to do Smoked Salmon on holidays or when I was visiting their place in Mississauga for the weekend. Mom often raises a pastry heavenward and toasts him, as if he was literally looking down upon us. It’s a sweet, comforting gesture, even for a dedicated, practicing agnostic like me.
Only then do I make Coffee and turn on the TV, where we get caught up with any news that happened overnight. Aside from the latest on the most recent mass shootings in the U.S. and developing mega weather events, that’s usually not a Coffee-curdling experience. We draw out Coffee Hour as long as it pleases us, then go into maintenance mode. By the time we are washed and dressed, it’s lunch time – a good time to turn leftover Chicken or Pork or Beef or whatever we have on hand into stuffing for Wraps, light Burritos or just regular Sandwiches. Mom particularly likes Chicken Salad ‘Sloppy Joes’. It’s also a good opportunity to get a serving or two of Veggies into our diet while dialing back a bit on the Animal Proteins.
Depending on the schedules and the season, we’ll fill what otherwise may have been a very long-seeming afternoon with a Blue Jays baseball game or coverage of a the final round of that week’s PGA Golf Tour event. Time for another pot of my very light bodied, all-Colombian Coffee and maybe some Cruditées or warmed Pita bread to tear up roughly and dip in Ranch Dip or Tzatziki, or a plate of Hummus. Call that ‘Tea Time’.
Supper usually comes around 7:00 p.m., and I usually start preparing it around 3:00. That usually gives me lots of time to make a scratch Pizza, a Roast of Some kind or something like scratch Pasta Sauce or Chili which usually wants to simmer for an hour or two, minimum. I can always compress the cooking process of almost anything I choose to put on the menu using the Instant Pot, but I prefer to use traditional cooking methods that fill the house with comforting, familiar cooking aromas, priming everyone’s palate for the meal. I’ll open a bottle of Wine appropriate to the character of the Supper menu to come about an hour before we plan to sit down, and we’ll sip away on at our leisure.
After supper, and after I’ve got the Kitchen mess under control (i.e.- leftovers put away and the first load in the dish washer) We may sit down with the end of the wine and a movie on Netflix. By the time we’re out of wine, we’re usually out of movie, too, and it’s time for Mom to call it a day. As often as not, I’ll do the same after taking a last look at the news to assure myself the world hasn’t started falling apart around me since the movie started.
Our Sunday routine has taken over a decade to evolve and can accommodate at least a small group of close family or friends if visitors happen to be in residence. Nobody gets ruffled, exhausted, too drunk or too bored. And everyone gets enough food to feel completely satisfied by the end of the evening.
What could be more civilized, tranquil or comforting?
Now, consider your usual Sunday routine and ask yourself how it can be improved on!
~ Maggie J.