English breakfast

Who doesn't like breakfast-for-dinner? I make a point of having breakfast as often as possible, and I see the point in limiting it to once a day. Besides, breakfast food is something I have in the house nearly all the time, so when I come home and there's nothing else to cook: Guess what? We're having eggs and toast.

Since moving to this island, I've discovered that my interpretation of "breakfast food" is different from my English counterparts. For me, a full breakfast would consist of a combination of eggs of some variety, fresh bread or toast, pancakes, French toast, bacon or sausage, pastries, juice (orange, of course), and coffee. (Disclaimer: I do not eat like this every day.) Apparently, this is an American-style breakfast, so for one of our recent double-dates, R&M offered to host and introduce us to English breakfast.

We all seem to agree that breakfast involves bread. Phew!

In general, I would say that an English breakfast involves heartier food than an American breakfast. A lot of the breakfast foods I listed above are carb-based, but the UK crowd enjoy food that warms the insides for hours.

This is what they refer to as "bacon", but it looks more like ham. It seems to have less marbling than American bacon, and doesn't shrivel nearly as much when cooked.

Homemade hashed browns

In addition to potatoes and ham, a traditional English breakfast would include stewed tomatoes, beans, and mushrooms.

Amazing plate of food.

You may be able to see the egg in the upper lefthand corner above - a poached egg, compliments of our chef, RL.

As difficult as it may be to top syrup-covered breakfast options, I don't think any boy can argue with this kind of platter at the breakfast table:

And no English breakfast (or any meal, really) would be complete without a cup of tea.

Since our meal wasn't actually breakfast, we had time and space for dessert, which combined said tea with chocolate-covered biscuits (Digestives and the like.)

And to complete the experience, R&M gave us a crash course in British television, with an episode of EastEnders and a clip from Outnumbered. The accents alone were entertainment enough for me!

Thank you to R&M for adding a little British culture to our lives, proving that no matter where you are from, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.