The Goodlife Breakfast by Herbscapes

by Preston Brady III, Herbscapes.com 2023

There are many forms of the good life but in this article we focus on one: the life of a retiree. The “race’ is over. You slept in and it was guilt-free. You casually (as opposed to frantically) wondered what day it was. You thought for a second it might be Saturday but it’s Friday. You laugh because it doesn’t matter – whatever day it is you have the time to deliberate about what you will cook for breakfast. You can do something most people still in the race can’t do on a weekday: prepare a simple but delicious breakfast and take an hour to do it.

I remembered I had a boiled egg in the fridge, left from the other day when I made tuna sandwiches for lunch. It seemed apropos this breakfast concept would begin with an egg. I use the brown-shelled organic eggs, and decided to bring this egg to life with a mixture of herbs from the garden. I walked outside and spied the English Thyme, a favorite for it’s mild, spicy flavor. It seemed a good idea to partner this herb with a few strands of society garlic and then contrast them with several leaves of variegated pineapple mint.

Variegated Pineapple Mint, Herbscapes.com 2023

In case you want to grow your own variegated pineapple mint, Amazon has seeds:

I assembled a small amount of each herb, as pictured here:

Pineapple mint, English thyme, society garlic by Herbscapes.com 2023

I brushed fingers down on the English Thyme and Pineapple Mint to gently remove the leaves, and hand chopped the herbs because of such a small amount, and set aside. When you have all the time in the world you can get creative with your preparation , and I sliced the cold boiled egg because it would be easier to dish up with a fork and incorporate the slice of Italian toast and hominy grits into the mix. I cut the toast breadstick style because presentation is everything and I had the time to do so.

Since I was thinking in the style of the French le petit dejeuner I held back on the amount of grits that would that would find their way onto this plate. Just one large dollop, sauced with a little butter not margarine, and sprinkled oh so lightly with brown sugar I keep in a jar on my counter. Of course I sprinkled the eggs and grits lightly with salt and pepper. I dashed just a pinch of paprika on the egg because everyone knows eggs love a little of this mild spice. I regret that I did not add a few slices of orange I have in the fridge but the addition of apricot jam may have saved the day.

To finish off the plate I sprinkled the fresh herb mix over the boiled egg slices and added a dab of apricot jam next to the bread slices. I then brought the plate upstairs to what I call my playtime desk, which I use casually to write a few blogs. There’s no phone, timeclock or any other encumbrance. My cat Precious looked up at me, perhaps thinking it wasn’t quite fair that I start eating as her crunchie treat plate stood glaringly empty. Feeling guilty I tossed her a few morsels and ate what turned out to be a light yet filling breakfast. Soon, I will update on the progress of the wasabi roots I purchased and planted a few weeks ago. You won’t believe what is going on with them.

Precious, Herbscapes.com 2023