Breakfast

So often health experts (mothers seem to include themselves in this category) tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I sort of agree with them. After waking from what is usually an inadequate amount of sleep, food is highly necessary not just to provide our bodies with some fancy long named vitamins, but to put us non-morning sort of people into a bearable mood for the following few hours.

The problem is, none of us usually have enough time in the morning to prepare a sufficient breakfast to silence our stomach's complaints. I for one roll groggily out of bed, clamber to the bathroom, pull on some clothes, then rapidly shovel any cereal I can find down my throat in the vain hope that I will not miss the bus. Although (as the back of this morning's cheerios box is telling me) cereal is fortified with copius amounts of vitamins, and this slap-dash breakfast hardly seems to fulfil its role as the most important meal of the day.

However, once the weekend arrives things begin to change. The precious gift of 48 hours free from deadlines or the obligation to work gives breakfast (and indeed ourselves) time to shine. Finally, a full meal composing of an onion and mushroom omelette, toasted bagels and salad grants breakfast its "most important" title. Furthermore, not being too adept in the art of cookery, this simple task of breaking out a frying pan provides me with a momentary absence from reality, and for the next few minutes I have the opportunity to compete for a place in Masterchef. Cracking the eggs with the swift movements of a professional (trained for several years through the esteemed method of watching Come Dine With Me and Ready Steady Cook), throwing around the simmering vegetables in the pan, piecing the dish together, each step builds the picture of a perfect breakfast. However, the truth is far from this. Before anything is to be done, kitchen roll is needed to be laid down to prevent inevitable spillages, fire extinguishers need to be readied, and finally, I'm pretty sure that I have never seen anybody on Masterchef prodding at their food whilst tilting their head around at many angles to decipher if it has cooked through. Come to think of it, they probably don't scream "Hurry up!!" at it either.

I'm sure (and indeed hope) that I am not alone in creating such a scenario, but regardless of this fantasy, the breakfast is usually worth the week long wait. The warmth of the freshly cooked food flows to every corner of the body, fully reviving us from our slumber. Although there might not be as many 'essential vitamins' present, for many of us it is the substantial meal we have been craving in the mornings, giving the best possible beginning to the weekend.