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I know, and my fellow travelers know, too, that this is something very much on the mind of all of you back home. And so, in order to enlighten and entertain, I now offer this essay.
Earlier I wrote how we conspired to secret the bacon from our breakfast table into a plastic baggy so that we could picnic later that day. We felt we had to sneak and we were certain our hosts and hostesses were not aware of our efforts. Not since the Boston Tea Party was there such chicanery - right?
So, you could have been aware that bacon was a regular part of the breakfast. Now you will learn more, much more.
First of all, everyone here uses and understands the term "Full English Breakfast." Part of the routine at the check-in period is asking us, "Would you like the Full English Breakfast in the morning?" We always answer yes and go on to explain how we're biking 80 to a 100 miles a day and need copious amounts of calories in order to survive.
So, the next morning we come down to a table set formally with china and enough silver for
a Thanksgiving dinner. Jars of marmalade, raspberry and strawberry jams and tubs of butter. The breakfast proper isn't ready yet so we busy ourselves with the preliminaries - that means cereal (granola or muesili) with fruit (maybe a banana) and a glass of OJ. Normally, at home, that would be all I would have for breakfast. But, here in England, the story, dear blog reader, has barely begun.
The cereal dishes are cleared and the coffee is served, generally a very good cup of french press. and then, carried in from the kitchen, everybody is served their plate of - yes, you guessed it - the Full English Breakfast.
Two sausage links and two large pieces of bacon - bacon that we back home would call ham because it is much more lean than our bacon. Two eggs usually served sunnyside up and medium well. A wedge of hashbrowns. Beans - think of our canned pork and beans that we might have at a picnic. Sauteed mushrooms (definitely one of our favorites). Fried toast (fried in the grease of the sausage and bacon and definitely not one of our favorites). Roasted tomatoes (getting to be one of our
likes). Regular toast - always a popular choice. Not to be forgotten is black pudding (I'm not really sure what the composition of this is - and I don't think I want to know. I do know that I'm starting to enjoy it more and more after initially turning up my nose.
So, there you have it. The Full English Breakfast. I haven't even mentioned Marmite - a bottled condiment that is a yeast extract. Apparently the world is divided into two parts - those who detest the stuff and those who live only to smear more of it on their toast. Most Yanks who have encountered it have nothing good to say about it. I've had a taste and found that that was a close to it that I ever want to come again.
But maybe that's another story.
-- Jim
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colleen
non-member comment
English breakfast makes me happy
Having served Jim LARGE (and multiple) portions of food, and knowing how he likes it in big, delicious quantities, this entry just makes me happy. Glad you're getting your fuel, Jim. Love to you all. Colleen (you don't want to know too much about black pudding.)