Mother’s Day breakfast

I’m not going to start in on Mother’s Day, oh well, maybe just a little. I talked to all of our daughters, heard some grandchildren screeching in the background; we took a small picnic and a big thermos of coffee to a park on the Yadkin River in Forsythe County; we came home and stretched out in the hammock (me) and the new recliner (Stoic) under the spreading willow oak. It was a good day, but there’s no reason why every sunny Sunday can’t be that pleasant.

Our breakfast, though, was something else. Stoic once asked me if I could eat asparagus at every meal while it’s in season, and the answer is YES! Our breakfast asparagus was from the various places it’s growing in the yard, and so sweet and tender.

This is the sort of dish my mother made all the time with no recipe. I’ve just finished reading The American Way of Eating (2012) by Tracie Mcmillan in which she makes the very good point that we can’t expect our next generations to cook real food if no one’s taught them, and mostly no one has. Basic cream sauce — how many of those thousands and thousands who graduated from college this week, do you suppose can throw that together?

You really should have great slabs of artisanal rye from a New York deli for this concoction. What we had was flabby whole wheat sandwich bread, but it was still good.

Creamed asparagus and eggs

4 slices whole-grain bread

Fresh asparagus for 2

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached

1-1/2 cup 1% fat milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinches of dry mustard and dried tarragon, to taste

1/2 cup good-quality grated Parmesan cheese

5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

Snap asparagus into bite-sized pieces. Toss into simmering water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender-crunchy. Drain.

In the same saucepan, melt butter. Add  flour, stir and cook until it begins to bubble. Slowly add 1-1/2 cups 1% fat milk. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste, pinches of dry mustard and tarragon, Parmesan. When sauce is consistency you want, add asparagus and sliced eggs, simmering until warm through. Serve over toast and then go lie in your hammock. Serves 2.