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A
Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day,
Any Time of the Day
by
Cheryl Alters Jamison, Bill Jamison
(William Morrow & Co)
 Reviewed
by Sylvie Greil
Breakfast
these days, Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison
write, is a rather sad affair--eaten in a rush or
while reading the paper or email, it is often the
same "repetitious routine that we would never
follow at lunch or dinner, [the consumption] of the
same few mainstays every day for years at a time."
Some of us, of course, do pay close attention to how
we start the day, but often the focus is on fiber
content instead of flavor, "treating breakfast
like a virtue tonic or a daily vitamin." How
very true! Heartier breakfasts are reserved for the
occasional Sunday brunches or when entertaining house
guests, forgetting that breakfast is indeed the most
important meal of the day, or as grandma used to say:
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like lord, and dinner
like a pauper. Who has time, you retort, to prepare
an elaborate meal in the wee a.m. hours? Not possible.
 But
it is; and the options are numerous and mouthwatering
and in many cases neither heavy nor calorie-laden.
The prolific James Beard award-winning Jamisons are
considered the most respected authorities on American
regional home cooking and it shows in their careful
attention and them drawing their inspiration from
all across the American melting pot: from the LEO
scramble (lox, eggs, onions), to the Kentucky Hot
Brown Strata of Louisville, Breakfast Polenta Southwest
Style, Cornmeal Hoe Cakes, Buttermilk Cornbread, Herbed
Popovers, scrambles, cakes, waffles, muffins, steak,
salmon, poached guavas with cream cheese, steeped
prunes… What's important to note is that the
recipes for creamy grits, hash browns or fried green
tomatoes really let these classics shine in their
top form.
We
leave this book within easy reach on our kitchen counter;
our taste buds watering and with a firm resolve to
toss the bran flakes and skim milk tomorrow in favor
of an easy, savory brown butter scramble with avocado.
There is no better book on breakfast.
Buy
the book.
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the Cookbook
Corner for additional reviews
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