Meal Planning - Breakfast

Taken from Breakfast, Dinner and Tea 1860

"The industrious hardy farmer who rises before the sun having performed his wonted tasks sits down to his breakfast at five o clock with a strong appetite.
 The enterprising citizen not called forth quite as early by his business yet still desirous of making each day as profitable as possible breaks his fast at six or seven.
 The professional man whose hours of labour may have encroached on those devoted to sleep rises later in the day and eight or it may bo nine o 'clock will find him with weary head and but little appetite sipping his cup of coffee.
 Ten is considered an early hour by the fashionable lady the luxurious nobleman of London is scarcely prepared for it by midday and the shadows of evening may begin to fall before his first meal is partaken of by the effeminate epicure of Paris."

" Breakfast in America is peculiarly a family meal At this more than any other there is an unrestrained enjoyment of the home circle The breakfast parti is almost unknown among us being confined to a very limited circle of the fashionable class not that we are less socially inclined than the English but that the busy active life of this new country forbids the devoting the early hours of the day to merely social enjoyment It is usually a hearty meal consisting of coffee meats fish toast a variety of hot cakes and in the Southern States hominy and rice cooked in various ways and several kinds of hot bread."

"chicory dealer chicory There are three kinds of coffee for sale The Arabian or Mocha which is the best It has a small yellow bean The Java and East Indian the second in quality has a larger bean and is of a paler yellow color than the Mocha The West Indian Rio has a bluish or greenish tint."

"The Preparation of Coffee
Previous to roasting the coffee wash the grains and dry them on a pan placed near the fire or in a cool oven While roasting stir them constantly that all may be equally brown Some persons think the aroma more agreeable when the heat is not greater than is sufficient to impart a light brown color to the bean Others prefer the coffee roasted to a dark brown but carefully avoid burning it In order to prevent the blunders of servants in roasting coffee many housekeepers buy it already scorched and ground as it is now so generally prepared by dealers in coffee."

"M Soyer's mode of making coffee is an original one and one worthy of note. He puts the dry coffee in the pot stirs it while heating then pours the boiling water over it which is a quart to one ounce of coffee and sets the pot where it will keep hot but not boil It stands ten minutes when it is ready for drinking Where eream cannot be had boiled milk serves well as a substitute in making a good cup of coffee Cafi au lait is made by nearly filling a cup with boiled milk sweetening to the taste and flavoring with coffee The following receipt by M Roques makes a delightful beverage for breakfast during the heat of the summer Cafe d la Crime frappt de glace Make an infusion of strong Mocha coffee put it in a china bowl sweeten it agreeably to your taste and add to it an equal quantity of boiled milk or a third of rich cream surround the bowl with broken ice and let it stand till icy cold In Germany and France the coffee is prepared at the table by the ladies by pouring boiling water over it and letting it drain a few minutes in a machine for the purpose care being taken to drain it slowly through a sieve and tissue paper."

"In preparing Chocolate for family use cut off about two inches of the cake to one quart of water stir it first in a little cold water till it is soft then pour on the boiling water After it has boiled a short time add a pint of milk boil up and serve Sweeten to taste."

"Here is breakfast ready laid Imprimis tea and coffee second dry toast third butter fourth eggs fifth ham sixth something potted seventh bread salt mustard knives forks etc One of the first things that belong to breakfast is a good fire There is a delightful mixture of the lively and snug in coming down into one's breakfast room of a cold morning and finding every thing prepared for us a blazing grate clean table cloth and tea things newly washed faces and combed heads of a set of good humored urchins and the solo empty chair ready for its occupant Leigh Hunt "