Good Morning, Sunshine!

I love breakfast! My husband and I especially like to go out for breakfast. One of our most favorite things is to take the motorcycle out for a morning ride to one of our favorite spots: Emily's in Crystal River. It is a nice ride up to "Emily's", where we have a nice, full breakfast....I love to get 2 eggs, sunny-side up, with corned beef hash.

One morning awhile back, we rode down to "Sam's Beach Club" at Hudson Beach to eat breakfast right on the Gulf. Even though breakfast was served with plasticware, that still could not detract from the sheer beauty of spending the morning in the fresh air, right on the Gulf! We also laughed as we watched mallard ducks paddle on by. The omelet that I ordered was quite tasty, too! I think just about everything tastes better in fresh air, anyway.

One omelet that I tried at a nice, little, seasonal "Key West"- style eatery in Brooksville was the Key West Omelette. I loved it! I have since tweaked it even more to my own tastes: complete with shrimp, avocado, brie, tomato and muenster, it is truly a luxurious treat for breakfast! I like to serve mine with home fries, a couple wedges of fresh orange (to cut the richness) & rye toast ...it simply must be rye, the type with the caraway seeds.....lightly buttered...and the toast should still be flexible, so as to easily "mop up" all the delicious remnants from the omelet!.... YUM!!!!

I'd always wanted to try the fancy 'Soft-Boiled' Egg with toast points.....I figured I should like it since I like sunny-side-up eggs. And I'd acquired a few of those old-fashioned "egg cups". I decided to givit a shot and boiled a room-temp egg for 3 minutes, then promptly removed it from the boiling water. The egg was perfect!! I was able to easily scoop the liquid yolk and the semi-firm white on the little toasts...and it was so yummy! No wonder soft-boiled eggs are considered comfort food. I also served it with potato croquettes topped with a little 'sunshine' orange mayonnaise, and some fresh fruit (raspberries, grapes & orange slices). It was truly a memorable breakfast....startlingly so for just being a weekday.

The final breakfast I'm featuring is a special creativity all my own: Banana Sourdough French Toast with fresh orange slices and raspberries. I have my own, homegrown sourdough starter that I learned from "The Bread Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Of course, if you don't want to go through the process of establishing your own sourdough, by all means you can purchase a sourdough starter, such as Lalvain starter.....or try King Arthur sourdough starter.

I love to try different things with my sourdough, it can be so versatile. This time I thought that a banana sourdough would be very nice...I thought it'd go well with the eggy liquid and that the tangy nature of the bread would work well with the sweetness of the powdered sugar and syrup. So I just used the regular sourdough recipe, added 1 very ripe banana & a couple pats of melted butter, decreasing the water slightly to compensate for the moisture in the banana. (*Of course, you can always use regular bread, and slice up bananas if you like).

Fried sausages would be a nice, fatty-salty diversion, too....unfortunately I was out of breakfast sausage this morning...DOH! But the fresh orange slices do a fine job at cutting the richness & sweetness. I have to say that I was very pleased, my hunch turned out to be correct, the non-sweet, tangy banana sourdough was a terrific counterpoint to the sweetness of the other ingredients.

Breakfast can be a true joy! If you no longer think of it that way, try to rekindle it....serve it on the patio with fresh fruit or get out and go out to eat. I have to admit that a ride on the motorcycle is especially invigorating with the fresh air; but just getting out altogether is nice..... why not pack breakfast to have on the beach or in a park? There is nothing like campstove coffee in the fresh, morning air. So next chance you have, slow down and enjoy a nice breakfast....and don't forget to wish your loved one(s), "Good Morning, Sunshine!"