Hi Hon!

Thank goodness for restaurants that are open late.... or ones that never close.  This morning, my son asked if I wanted to go out to breakfast (actually it was brunch time).  I'm always good to go for breakfast foods.  Bagel place that transports you right into Brooklyn, NY with the accents of  everyone on staff?  No, a little to far to go today.  Plus, they close at 2pm.  IHOP (Also known as International House of Pancakes)? Let me think.... I thought of Waffle House as they do make delicious hash brown potatoes and waffles.  I've been eating there since I was a kid.  There are many who have never been there, yet, one can't argue the freshness of the food.  It is made to order and I think it's fun to hear the old "deli style" lingo being shouted to the cook!  I usually have my standard two eggs over easy, hash browns: scattered, smothered, and covered, and coffee.  My sons had a hearty appetite this morning each finishing eggs, grits, waffle, bacon, sausage, and hash browns.

Waffle House was the place to go when there wasn't any other place open during the middle of the night.  It's the place where coffee doesn't cost $4.00 a cup and they still give FREE refills!  I know people that aren't from here who claim they would never step foot in a Waffle House.  I say, "let them be".  That's just one more pecan waffle in the works for me.

There are the jokes that abound about this restaurant, but when it comes down to it, our breakfast arrived within 10 minutes, nice, hot, and cooked just the way it was yelled to the short order cook.  The only disappointment today was that I didn't get called "hon".  That's always been a "pet peeve" of mine anyway, but it's tradition at the Waffle House to be called "hon", "sugah", or "darlin"......Oh well, I did get a "thank you m'am" from someone who had a northern accent!  I will return!!

Hot Cereal

I'm not one to really eat a leisurely breakfast during the week.  I have a get up and go mentality, plus I have to be at work at 7:30am.  I always have time to put the kettle on to boil, or make a pot of coffee for my travel cup.  Sometimes, I will make a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich on a bagel just in case I'm hungry before lunch.  I never eat breakfast on the weekend.  I'm just not hungry in the morning.   I do like breakfast foods for dinner.  This morning, Saturday, I awoke at 8 (thanks to a friend's text), cleaned around the house, and made my coffee at 10.  That's how I enjoy my coffee...... when I want it, not when time dictates it!

While drinking my morning coffee, I was thinking about what to have for dinner.  Greek, German, and Irish foods were on my mind.  I have tons of potatoes, so I can always fall back on Greek potatoes.  I looked and looked, nothing came to mind.  My sons would not be here for dinner, so a vegetarian dinner would be fine for me.  They are the carnivores of the house.

I had some cabbage soup for lunch and still could not decide about dinner!!  Since I had a late lunch (around 4pm), I knew dinner would be late, which isn't unusual for me at all.  The soup was more filling that I had anticipated, and I decided not to cook dinner.  I wanted something though...but what?  I scoured the pantry shelves until my eyes hit the breakfast shelf.  Yes, my pantry is that organized.  Steel cut Irish oats for oatmeal cookies one day, instant Grits (not for this southern girl, but for one of my sons), whole grain bars, pop tarts (a family favorite), natural almonds (for my Greek yougart), and last but not least 2 boxes of cream of wheat.  I purchased them as it is used in many Greek and middle eastern recipes.  I can't remember the last time I had cream of wheat, so I decided to make a bowl for dinner.  I know it would probably be healthier to have them with honey or brown sugar, but I used the old childhood favorite... granulated sugar and butter as topping for my hot cereal.  I eat it about once a year and apparently today was the day for my hot cereal for dinner.

I guess the five pound bag of potatoes will have to wait another day or two until I decide how to use them.