There are fewer weekends consisting of me enjoying having all my children and grandchildren in one place than I would like to admit. We all have busy lives, work constraints and geographical positioning to contend with. So…when all the stars line up like they did this weekend, life is GOOD! My youngest daughter, Schuyler, and my youngest grandson stayed with me and enjoyed meeting my middle daughter, Jordan, for dinner Friday evening. My oldest daughter Aubrae and her family scooted into Wichita on Saturday and began their globetrotting tour of family visits, which brought them out to my place on Sunday morning for a great breakfast, prepared by Schuyler, while I got a chance to visit and enjoy having them all here.
For a lot of years while we all lived close, we enjoyed the ritual of a big Sunday morning breakfast. I have so many great memories of trying to fight people back from stealing the bacon as fast as I could cook it. There were mornings we would have Dutch Baby with butter and powdered sugar. Second runner up for the clan favorite were the “toads in a hole” which, if you are not familiar, are slices of bread with a circle cut out of the middle, buttered on both sides and cooked in the skillet with an egg placed in the hole. I must admit that we were most famous for our ability to conduct marathon french toast eating. One of Schuyler’s friends who had spent Saturday night with us later sheepishly asked if our family always ate 4-6 slices and what seemed like a half pound of bacon per person!
Skye’s reaction was to ask if that wasn’t how her family ate breakfast.
I come from a long line of breakfast/brunch lovers. My father loved his french toast with butter and salt & pepper (don’t knock it til you try it). Many in my household prefer peanut butter and syrup. If you asked me, the best way to top french toast is lots of melted butter and an even larger amount of sugar. To each their own at the Hartley/Meitner gathering. When we are done we are known to quickly slip into a food coma and nap most of the afternoon away. This may be due to the enormously high amount of butter that is involved – Paula Deen would be proud!
Just know that if you love us, don’t count how many helpings we eat. You are always welcome to join us, but keep in mind this isn’t for amateurs. We have taken these meals to a professional eating contest level, and will expect you to literally step up to the plate and show us your personal best.
