Colazione…IOW, Breakfast

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh.
~From Winnie the Pooh

I have to admit I am not really a breakfast person. My mother would try to get me to eat cereal, toast, oatmeal, eggs, and the like before school, but I usually gagged. I don’t remember drinking anything, either, especially milk since I hated it, too.

Breakfast when I have will power

Over the years, I’ve changed a bit. When I’m home, I’ll have coffee (which I didn’t start drinking until the mid-90s) and a biscotti. Mike, on the other hand, has yogurt, toast, cereal, or something else that is probably better for him than my biscotti….although maybe those occasional powdered donuts are not the healthiest thing for him.

Colazione in Italy

The first time Mike and I came to Italy, I practically fell over seeing the wonderful croissants (called brioche here, for the most part) filled with jams, Nutella, pistachio cream, vanilla cream. Flaky beyond belief, they were a great addition to my mornings. Unfortunately, they were also a great addition to the number of calories I consumed that first year. I had to learn to cut back, and over the years, I try to order just a cappuccino or a cappuccino and mini brioche (if they have one) if my will power is nil.

That, of course, changes when I stay in a hotel or B&B. Most of them offer wonderful breakfast buffets, and unlike the customary waffles and toaster eggs, in addition to the dolce (sweet) offerings, they provide fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, breads, and salads and vegetables. Yes, my friends, many of them offer cooked spinach, green beans, squash, potatoes, and/or mixed greens, tomatoes, and the like. When they do, I am all over it.

I’m currently in Milano waiting for my new group, and I’ve had salad for breakfast each morning. In addition, yesterday I enjoyed sauteed spinach. Today, they had fresh green beans on the table.

Fagioli Verdi (Green Beans)

I’ve always had a preference for fresh vegetables, probably because my father had a huge garden in our yard when I was growing up. There are not too many vegetables that I don’t like: peppers, beets, carrots are among them. Put asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, potatoes, tomatoes (yes, I know they are technically fruit) in front of me, though, and I’m in heaven. One of my favorites is the simple green bean, and it was on the buffet today.

Breakfast over the past few months….

When I was a child, I loved when my mom or grandmother would prepare green beans from the garden. They did nothing special to the beans…. cooked them, drizzled them with a little olive oil, and tossed them with salt and pepper. After school, I would grab the leftovers and munch some of them.

One summer day, I was at a friend’s home, and her grandparents had a huge garden similar to ours. They invited me to stay for lunch, and while Jo and I had what I remember as salami sandwiches, Nonna and Nonno had green bean sandwiches on fresh bread. I ate my sandwich, but you can bet I asked Mom to make me a green bean sandwich the next day.

School started not long after that day, and Mom made my brother and me the typical chip-chopped ham sandwiches that those of us who grew up in Youngstown constantly ate. Ugh. One evening, I begged my mother to make me a green bean sandwich for school the next day. She was reluctant. “The kids will make fun of you,” she told me.

“I don’t care,” I remember saying. “I don’t want that ham.” So, Mom made me the bean sandwich, and a few kids laughed… at least the first day. After that, I had a bean sandwich whenever we had fresh (or frozen…never canned) beans the night before.

So, back to today… I saw the green beans when I walked in, and all I can say is that they were a great addition to my salad.