Rick Houser
Any time I have the privilege to eat at Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel my mind immediately looks at the breakfast part of the menu. When I see bacon and eggs or biscuits and gravy along with pancakes or waffles my memory almost always locks in on the breakfasts I was served when I was young.

When I’m sitting in the restaurant looking at large plates filled with the delicacies that always come to mind. Cured Ham with red eye gravy along with fried hash browns. (Oh the aromas!) Why of course anybody who was raised on a farm or in the country was treated to breakfasts just like those we see on the menus.

This is where I better step in and adjust our memories screen. It is safe to say that as a boy I got bacon and eggs or pancakes etc., but I feel I must confess that I didn’t always have that privilege to choose a breakfast from the menu. I will even go out on a limb and say that most all of us got a meal from that grand menu from time to time instead of each morning.

Around our house our days began early and with a meal that would be filling, nutritious and would stick to your ribs. Since the day started early the time for long drawn out meals just weren’t, on most days, a treat we got to enjoy. Instead mom prepared or had on the table items to be used to prepare your first meal of the day. It comes to my mind that mom prepared a lot of oatmeal. Not the Cadillac of breakfasts but with milk and mom’s secret ingredient (sugar) it was warm, filling and stuck to the ribs.

There was always a loaf of bread and a jar of strawberry preserves on that table that, once the bread was toasted, would add a welcomed taste to the oatmeal. Some mornings we got Kellogg’s’ Corn Flakes and toast and jelly, again a meal that stuck with you. When and if mom had the time and the ingredients she would surprise us and treat us to a breakfast that we didn’t get to enjoy often, such as fresh sausage and fried eggs, or sliced fresh fruits like peaches or blackberries in a bowl with fresh cold milk poured over them.

Just because we didn’t get the steak, fried potatoes and eggs didn’t mean we were not served a meal that was tasty enough to draw us to the table but they were meals we looked forward to eating.

Mom didn’t make breakfast a fancy meal as she was already preparing dishes for the next meal. Also as I had said we wasted little time in the morning to hold us back from beginning our days’ work.

My dad was a firm believer that it was better to start a day early so as we could end our day a little earlier. This was a point I feel the entire family agreed on and we all moved in the same direction for it to be successful.

Now it was a known fact that my mom was a good cook and she liked very much to cook tasty and large portions for the farm hands, and I like to think for her family also. On weekends or days when the work wasn’t rushed mom would treat us to pancakes or maybe even waffles! On mornings like that no one was late to the breakfast table!

On days when we were in a real hurry we made toast with peanut butter and jelly. One item always went with any of the items listed was coffee. Mom always had a coffee pot on and we all drank at least one cup if not more. As a matter of fact after breakfast was long ended the coffee pot remained on. It is probably safe to say almost every household kept the coffee pot on and ready at any time of the day.

Since those days when I was young and mom made certain we all got a warm meal to start the day the items to eat have changed very much. There are hundreds of brands of cereal along with muffins, bagels, coffee cake and doughnuts. In the days of corn flakes I learned that if some banana or strawberries or even fresh peaches were diced in with the cereal that meal could perk a person up and get them ready to go to the field.

Even though the meal was to prepare us for the day, breakfast was also the time to wake up and prepare one’s self for the day. I really don’t remember much conversation at the breakfast table. I know Ben and dad would say the day hasn’t officially begun until my sister Peg had drank two and a half cups of coffee. I’m not sure if that was a fact or just a coincidence but that was when Peg began to talk to the rest of us.

The country wives of the 50s, 60s and 70s approached the kitchen in the early mornings and prepared a wide variety of breakfast foods and they began preparations long before the rest of the crowd was awake. I never went hungry at our house as mom always had something for us.

The only time I would be disappointed was when she would make fried grits with maple syrup. They just weren’t meant for me. That was when I would grab a bowl some milk and a box of Kellogg’s’ cornflakes! I really learned just how important mom and her stove was when I got out of school and my cousin Walt and I began to be bachelors. For the next five years our first meal of the day didn’t always smell of bacon and eggs.

Many mornings we began the day with a couple slices of cold pizza from the night before. I don’t recall getting sick from it but it sure didn’t taste like what my mom cooked!

Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. He may be reached at houser734@yahoo.com.