A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day    by Cheryl Alters Jamison & Bill Jamison Order:  USA  Can HarperCollins, 2002 (2002) Hardcover Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Tired of the old bacon and eggs routine? Does your new lifestyle have you looking for alternatives to tried and tired breakfast foods? Want to wake up with a smile on your face knowing that good food awaits you? Want to surprise your loved ones with a great breakfast – one that not only gives them a good start on the day but shows how much you care? Here's the book for you - A Real American Breakfast. It's a satisfactorily thick cookbook crammed with enough wonderful recipes to make you the most accomplished breakfast chef in your family – on your block – in your city. Its first chapter is not to be missed. The devolution of a family meal lovingly cooked and companionably eaten to a quick coffee and cold bagel eaten in the car or at your desk is one that should be reversed - and can be with this cookbook. Remember your mother's admonishments that 'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.' Make it so. Forty-one pages of egg recipes will have you grabbing for your whisks. With ingredients ranging from salmon, artichoke and spinach, orange marmalade, ham, Canadian bacon, sausage, potatoes (and a myriad of other imaginative foods) gracing my eggs, I would have no difficulty getting up in the morning - a chore I find irritating at best. Many of the recipes can be partially fixed the night before, reducing the actual kitchen time in the morning to a minimum. Now we segue to dairy. How about making your own cottage cheese or goat cheese? Make your own butter using a food processor rather than the labor-intensive churn. Then flavor it to your taste. Of course, we must include glorious homemade yogurt, smoothies, and sweet fried ricotta. This fabulous cookbook moves on to Pancakes, Waffles and Special Toasts, Morning Meats, Seafoods and Heavenly Hashes, Casseroles and Sandwiches, Cereals, Fruits, Veggies, Breads, and Sweets. There are too many recipes for me to pick out the most mouthwatering. Take my word for it; you'll want to start on the first page and work your way through to the very last. Well, just let me mention a few that really caught my eye - Sausage on Sweet Potato Biscuits, or Spinach Bread Pudding! How does that grab you? Artichoke-Goat Cheese Strata; Shad Roe (one of my mother's favorite foods) with Butter and Bacon (she'd have loved it); or Crunchy French Toast. Then there are the marvelous photographs by Ellen Silverman in the center of the book. Fantastic. I fondly remember my breakfasts when I was a kid – a loooong time ago. Mother always believed we must have proper nutrition to get our day started right. Our breakfasts were always wholesome but also always toothsome - just like these foods. Treat yourself to a whole new adventure in A Real American Breakfast - eating a good breakfast with your family. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews