Breakfast: ice cream cone with Nuts About Malt (Dreyer's Dreamery)

*I need more international people writing me. I know you guys eat breakfast. (TiffanyAStone@aol.com)

Some people have told me that I don't eat enough for breakfast. I'd like for my readers to write me about what they typically eat, and I will post some of them here. Please also write where you are from. (I'm thrilled that I have so many readers overseas)I am posting a partial e-mail from Juanita.

Juanita writes:

I am writing because i am curious about your breakfasts. they don't seem to be substantial so i was wondering how much time passes before you become hungry. it may seem a silly question to ask, and it's certainly not meant to be rude. just plain curiosity at work here. ;) another reason is that i love food and often wonder about other people's eating habits. like, i will never be able to understand how someone can eat just a piece of fruit and coffee for breakfast. i would be hungry within an hour. it just doesn't seem very enjoyable, you know? food is meant to be savored!

I wrote her back asking what she eats for breakfast.

Juanita's breakfast:

Well, my breakfast patterns change throughout the year. During the cooler months, I tend to have hot cereal. I'll switch to cold cereal occasionally. In the warmer months, I'll have toast with jam, or some leftovers in my refrigerator, whatever they might be. Sometimes I'll just have a snack,like a piece of fruit, dried fruit slices or some Wheat Thins, and then havean early lunch. It really varies, so it's hard to tell you exactly what I eat. But like you, I think breakfast is important.

My breakfast usually consists of a tuna sandwich from the vending machine at work. I don't like to get up early, so I'd rather stay in bed longer and grab something quick. Sometimes I get a bagel sandwich at Winchells. The bagel sandwiches at Winchells are really quite breathtaking. If it's a weekday, I also drink Red bull with breakfast. On a weekend, its usually steak and eggs at the Pantry, or maybe a plain bagel and vegan cream cheese prepared at home. I am not a vegan, but I do like vegan cream cheese and It keeps longer in the fridge.

Arthur K. writes:

When I'm at work I like to alternate between 3 different breakfasts (just based on mood):

1. Egg and cheese on an English Muffin. (Microwave 1 egg in small bowl, toast muffin).

2. Vanilla yogurt with Grapenuts

3. MetRx meal replacement shake and a banana

I get to the office usually at 5am and will eat anywhere from 6am-7am depending on whether I go to the gym or not after answering overnight emails (from overseas clients).
I don't like to eat a big breakfast cuz I hate sitting at my desk when I'm really full. Usually I am quite hungry by lunchtime. I like some of your breakfast ideas, altho not sure about the ice cream for breakfast, and have used them on the weekends from time to time.

AmyW from Texas writes:

I enjoy reading what you have for breakfast. Today's made me smile. Ice cream is nutritious! Since I've started back to work, my breakfasts usually consist of sugar-free Red Bull. If I have time, I grab a bag of Fiber One cereal and lowfat yogurt to eat at work. Very often there are none of the above in our kitchen and I have to settle for coffee and animal crackers at the office. The weekends however, are another matter. Lately, I've had weekend guests and I cook up a storm. Last weekend I made heart-shaped waffles complete with strawberries and whipped cream, French toast, cheese omelets, bacon, sausage and hashbrowns. Orange juice, milk and coffee completed the meal. But, my all time favorite breakfast is one from my childhood: toast with Cheez Whiz and sliced tomatoes with pepper. Yum.

W. Goldman writes:

Nutella and a spoon. Can't beat it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's writes:

"I can't buy Nutella because I eat it in a few days max. Yummmmmmmy. (I have to not go down the aisle that has it at Trader Joe's) I almost bought a single serving of Nutella at Cost Plus the other day (I was buying Veuve). I love how they have the mini-spoon--very nice packaging. I wish Amy W. would make me heart-shaped waffles, sigh."

Jack G. from Beirut writes:

My dear, since you like having readers overseas I can tell you that you have one who reads you every day in Lebanon. I call myself ex-American coz I left NYC in 1976 to live 20 years in Paris (somebody has to do it) and now 9 years in Beirut. I am a Jazz musician (acoustic bass) but also play with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. Usually for breakfast I have a "manouche zatar" which is a freshly baked round flat bread with dried thyme, crushed sesame seeds, a little olive oil and salt. Fresh lemon juice if you want. They bake it while you wait and it is very delicious. The price just went up to 50 cents US.

Victoria /Foodieporn from Nashville, Tennessee writes:

Unfortunately, breakfast at our house is usually more of a rush than I would like. If I am more with it than not, I have homemade granola and dried fruit with yogurt or skim milk. If things are hectic but I've been to the store recently, I have a dulce de leche Luna Bar, a huge amount of water and a Starbucks mocha frappucino in a bottle. If things are really, really hectic and the cupboards are bare, Keifel takes the boychick to school and then brings me a hot mocha and a scone from Starbucks. Despite all this, this morning I am having fruit salad.

Luke Ford writes:

A bowl of oatmeal with a banana and a fruit yoghurt. Then a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese for protein.

Robofrost from Austin, Texas writes:

I was raised in Alaska but moved to Texas for college. The first morning I bellied up to the breakfast buffet at my dormitory and saw biscuits and gravy being served for breakfast, my jaw dropped. I just couldn't wrap my mind around such a bizarre concept. And I'd never seen --or even heard of -- grits. Breakfast tacos were a foreign concept at the time too, although obviously today they're much less of a regional breakfast food.

After getting over my culture shock, I really liked the way Texans did breakfast. My favorite dish now is probably migas and fajitas from Trudy's (with chicken), assuming the migas are done right and prepared well, which isn't always a guarantee. I also absolutely love the chicken verde omelets at Kerbey Lane, which is a wonderful 24-hour café in Austin.

One of the most interesting breakfasts I've had was in Fredericksburg, a small town in the Texas Hill Country originally settled by Germans. I had a breakfast of Scotch eggs (hardboiled eggs rolled in sausage, bread crumbs, and deep-fried) drizzled with honey with scones and cheese. Fantastic.

When I cook at home, I usually make breakfast tacos, omelets, or pancakes. I'm a pancake nut and am always trying new recipes, although I usually end up coming back to fresh fruit recipes. Growing up in Alaska where fresh berries are abundant in the wild, I ate a lot of wild blueberry, strawberry and raspberry sourdough pancakes (my dad used to pay me a quarter for every cup I picked), so fresh fruit pancakes are a comfort food to me. I also really enjoy reindeer and moose sausage when I get back home.

Callipyge writes:

When I am in a hurry, my breakfast consists of toothpaste. When I have more time, I make myself a Lebanese dish called Labneh. Labneh ressembles dried yoghurt (you can actually make labneh out of dried bulgarian yoghurt if you're a poor student). You add olive oil to it as well as fresh thyme leaves if you can. Since I do not have fresh thyme leaves, I use dried ones I brought back with me from my last trip to Lebanon. You can eat the whole thing with bread as a side, or spread it in pita bread, add a few olives and cucumber slices.

mioum mioum.

I do, as an alternative, have a big white box with a green rooster on it. It
goes well with milk.

Nomad from Anywhere, USA writes:

My breakfast today was diet coke and chocolate peanut clusters. The clusters were not from Trader Joe's as those are far more superior than Safeway's bulk bins. I was craving them last night and Trader Joe's closed at 9pm. So I had to go to evil Safeway instead. Not the same thing, let me tell you. If they were heroin, I'd be dealing with flesh-eating virus (not that I've had that problem...)