How breakfast saved my life...

This is an usual post for the Breakfast Blog.  But yesterday things happened at the Boston Marathon which rekindled my desire to share an opinion or two.  First, I must apologize for a long silence.  I now have twin two-year-olds, and that makes it very hard to keep up the fast pace (or any pace) of breakfasting and writing that once prevailed.  Second, I want to share a story about how too many eggs possibly saved my life.

Yesterday, I ran the Boston Marathon.  I was on pace to finish the race around 3 pm.  But I was also feeling the effects of a few too many plates of eggs and bacon during the months prior to the race.  Let's face it.  I was too chubby for optimal marathon performance.  And thank God.  Had I been any faster, there's every chance I would have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and there's every likelihood my family, friends and colleagues would have been cheering at the finish line.  It's a scenario that came very close and it fills me with a mix of distress, anger and outrage.

But I was lucky.  My last few miles were slow enough that I was stopped about 1 km before the finish line.  And my kids (bellies full of scrambled eggs) overslept for their nap, which meant they and my wife did not quite make it to the finish line.

Others were not so lucky.  I feel for them and their families deeply.

As an Australian living in Massachusetts, you develop an interesting perspective on the good and bad of American culture.  And what I can tell you from first hand experience is that Boston Marathon day brings out the very best of America.  For 26 miles (42 kms) the course is lined with happy, cheering faces, egging you on to the finish line.  About half way, you pass a long line of screaming Wellesley College girls begging for kisses.  No kidding.  And the vast majority of runners are in the race to raise money for charity.

For my part, I was running for Team Red Cross, and if there was any comfort to be had on such a horrible day, it was that I was proud to have done something to support an organization that provides critical relief when shit like this happens.

So if you have the resources and share my outrage at what happened, please make a donation to the Red Cross.  I have never felt more strongly about making a shameless plea for donations.

Donate to my Team Red Cross fundraising

And be sure to enjoy every mouthful of every breakfast.  Your time in this world is precious.

Power Breakfast trends in the USA

They took out the bit where I said this is not actually a recession fad but a longer term trend... but you get to watch me shovel some eggs benny into my face...

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/28001977/detail.html

Break of Dawn, Orange County

Fancy eggs in the most unlikely of places. In this case, a shopping strip in Orange County, playing host to a very impressive serve of designer eggs benedict. Nicely trimmed poached eggs, artsy swirls of pesto hollandaise, fat slabs of juicy ham, all carefully balanced on a couple of slices of toasted potato bread. They do breakfast in style at Break of Dawn, 24351 Avenida De La Carlota, Laguna Hills, California. And not a real housewife in sight.

Dutch Pancake Cafe, Stowe

Apparently someone at the New York Times called it the world's most decadent breakfast. I can confirm that you will not leave the Dutch Pancake Cafe hungry. Indeed, if, like me, you order the monster pancake with shredded potato, onion and cheese, you may want to declare the rest of the day a no-ski zone. Either that, or run the risk of a serious ACL injury halfway down your first set of moguls. The human knee is only designed to carry so much weight.

Harvest, Cambridge

You can have brunch a la carte but only in the (dingy) indoor bar area. You can sit in the nice outdoor patio but you need to order the prix fixe full brunch menu with more food than you really want to eat. No... wait... OK, you can sit in the patio and order only what you want. But first you'll have to explain it a second time to the next snooty waitress who will tell you, once again, that you can't, etc, etc, until eventually you wear them down. Welcome to Sunday brunch at Harvest.



The food is pretty good. The service needs work.

Snooze, Denver

Most people rave about the pancakes. But who wants pancakes when there's a signature house-made English muffin to be had? A rare treat and one that didn't disappoint. I am now thinking of every reason I can to spend more time in Denver. Because more time in Denver means more visits to Snooze, an "eatery" singularly devoted to breakfast...

Lucile's, Denver

Being surrounded by mountains it seemed like a good idea to order pan fried mountain trout. I was in Denver, after all. Lucile's came well recommended. And the Eggs Pontchartrain sounded good: trout, topped with poached eggs, smothered in bernaise and served with grits, biscuit and home fries. Indeed it was good. But only good. Not great...

Stephi's on Tremont, Boston

It was something of a hash frenzy, my Boston Summer breakfast spree. Duck hash at Mistral. Potato hash at Henrietta's. And last but not least, meatloaf hash at Stephi's on Tremont. I am, as you may have guessed, a sucker for anything hashed and brown. Especially when the brown component happens to be meatloaf, one of America's great contributions to world cuisine. The verdict? Stephi gives good hash...



Which is not surprising, when you consider that the "Queen of Patio Dining" just happens to be married to the "King of Ambulance Chasing", James Sokolove. With Jim making a motza from slip-and-trip lawsuits, Stephi clearly doesn't need the money. So the restaurant must just be for fun. A community service. Because Massachusetts deserves good meatloaf.

Henrietta's Table, Cambridge

I wonder if the Winklevi ever did brunch at Henrietta's Table? Nice and close to Harvard. World class hash browns. What better place to load up on carbs before a big boat race? Or a big law suit for that matter...

Mistral, Boston

Talk about slack. So many months, so little blogging. And so many breakfasts to catch up on. So here goes nothing. A highlight to kick things off, courtesy of Mistral. A rather fancy place in Boston's South End, serving a rather delicious confit duck and root vegetable hash topped with fried egg...