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2PAGE EKRT - - - T~9 EE CANADIM i VATZO M MA ?v TUZ O A MIO -'H R D Y P ! Ob Ccin..1ef and Cabbaute Breakfast With Pallier I never eat breakfast. Just s eP Of coffee is al. Itfs fot th& I don't believe the slogan about breakfast beimg the mS Ï mportant meal of the day, do. I don't eit breakfast- other than bruncli on Sundayi because just iooking at thi firet meal of the day bringsa lump ta my throat. Ever tr3 uqueezing a crisp slice of bacai past a lump near the larnyx' 0f course you have. We botJ know it won't work, not fire thing in the working anyway -The last time I ate a reaý breakfast 1 shared it with thf Cook-m~y father. Tlhat wal th irteen years agao, give or taki a mofith or three. In my 'home it was fathei Who cooked the breakfast. Mo. ther could do as she liked aboui lunch and dinner but breakfasi was a paternal institution. Oui in the Western woods beit therE Was nothing unusitai about this, In fact, it was something of an accepted practice. Many were Ioggermen, stevedores and fishermen who cons ide red the cooking of a hearty, man- sized breakfast to be man's work. To their minds more modern "straight to your bow! from a package" type break- fasts, designed to help the work- weary housewife. were fit only for women, finicky children and canaeries. Schooled to early rising in tii bush camps of cozastal British Columbia, my father quit his bed every work..day morning ai live. On-.Sundays he "slept inpp .-=tf seven But no matter What day of the -week it was lie went directly from bedside to kitchenm His f irst chore of the day was to 'scare up some ileat" under the oatmeal he'd pre-cooked the night before. By tue time Dad had done wash- kag, shaving and dressing, the porridge wouid be thick, like Scotch-mush; heavy - texturedI i-l\/- as "a porridge ought, ta be". a The next step inx preparin. atWestern breakfast a-ia-Fathe aswas the heating of three cast Siran frying pans. Into one pai went a pound andi a bit of ba con. Mvy bedroom was direct: vsacross frorn the kitchen and thi ie sweet smeil of that bacon wa, a ail the alarm dlock I ever neeci red. Once the bacon was nicelý )n started, Dad wouid pour i c? quantity of the sizziing fat intg th the other 2 pans. This done, hg 3t dumped a bow]ful o mashe< a, last evening meai, into one anc le broke eight farm-fresh eggi U into the other. te By this Umre I would havi arrived in the kitchen, pyjama. er clad and hungry. While thi > 'eggs, bacon and potatoes fried .t slowly, as was Father's fashion :- Dad and I ate the oatmeal, top. t ped with brown sugar andi -e pienty of thick, fresh cream. S. Every mornîing it was the n sarne. And, every morning Dad *e made the same memark as hE à spooned the heavy porridge d into bowlr'By the mischief, -girl, this'il stick ta your ribs. SEvery morning he said the esame thing, with a proud lchuckie, and every morning 1 -laughed as he said it. In truth, *that porridge stuck ta rny heart Y, and nourished the soul of me. d When the fi.rst course had been eaten, Dad woul go to ethe kitchen ta get the rest of hthe meal. lie would return ýswith two eggs, the bit af bacon Land a tablespoan of potatoes an pone plate, for me and six eggs, 'the pound ai bacon and the * rest af the potatoes an another *plate for himseif. In the mean- 1time, 1 flipped,, plucked and ebuttered toast made from bread dDad had siiced before I got up. I& mother, knowing Dad would *accept no help from -her in, pre- eparing breakfast, siept on. It ewas hem habit ta mise at eight dfor Melba toast and a pot of tea. She would then see me off ta school and set ta womlc wash- ixig ail the dishez and pans Dad had u9ed. What's that you say? Six eggs and a pound of bacon for one mnan! If you know anything about laggermen, Ma'am you'll know that a breakfast with aniy six .ggsw«a considered conser- vative. 1 had an uncle who con- sistently ate a dazen eggs for breakfast - plus bacon, pota- toes, pie and whatever else was availabie. He also ooked, lis own. I realize that the Idea of consuming sa much rich, fried foot at thxe start oi a day la enougli to imake a dietician shudder. Mty oniy defense la that neither may father, my un- cie or I have ever suffered from stomach trouble. Getting back ta breakfast with ftther--once the seriaus business of eating was oin- pleted, Dad wauid pour him- self a cup of strong coffee, light a cigarette and Jean back inx his chair. And this was the moat wexxderful Part of the whole ritual. It was then that g we talked, Dad and I, alone, er uninterrupted. Laoking back, I - guess I did most of the talking.I Ln Dad just listened. I suppose my - father wiUl neyer know how ['much that listening meant ta Le me. I neyer took time ta tell is hlmn thexi, sç,mehow I can't flad i- th-e words ta tell hilm now. [Y Usualiy, we weme thraugh a with eating by six. Dad- didn't 'normally leave the house until Lseven so that gave me a whole .hour ta, unbur-den rny xpind, Lshare my secrets, discuss my d, future and asic whatever ques- 'tions seemed important. Gen- eraliy speaking, I cleared my xn ind before going forth ta have t- it filed again. Because of thisI ýI neyer emnember going ta i, school with a heavy hieart; or ia troubled mi.nd. By the tirne Dad Ieft for wark each day my d inner thoughts had been aired and, otten, the guit of ryvi- econscience had been iifted.. I[ dalways feit "good" after break- efast. e In the years between I have Ccorne ta realize that the great- ;est gift a father can give his echlld is his ear, at the start of jthe day. In retrospect, I know Ithat I avoided a great deal of Ltrouble ln my youth by putting tmy thoughts into words across the breakfast table, ixxn y fa- tthem's hearing. He always res- Dpected my confidence, he sel- dom offered more than a few ý words of advice at a timebuat i-none but the two of us..wil iever know how many times ;Dad steered me back on the. eright track during that hour rafter breakfast. Remexnbering all this I won- der if much of aur juvenile de-. Iinquency would not be aile- 1 vîated if ail fathers would set aside one hour of every rnorn-4 tat the thoughts and cireams of tchildhood. If I miss this page fromi my1 past, I fi d compensation in1 hope for the future. My comn- 1 pensation cornes on thoseI mamnings when my liuaband rises early. orders me ta stay inx bed and sals forth to cookh eggs, bacon and the trimmings for our three youngsters andt himself. When the first whiff of bacon, sizzling, drifts through t nxy bedroom. door; and Inter, when the eating ils done and the sound of children laugh-ing and confiding cornes ta my ears, E that's when I know ail is stiil very mnuch right with this aid I world. As I said inx the beginning, 1I Ldon't eat breakfast because the j sight oi it brings a lump ta my1 throat. M l' idly forgo a few r breakfasts for the privilege aof having that wonderfui lumpj near the lamnyx, these wander- fu memnories near the heart. 3 So it ia that when I say my rz marning pirayers I always start Jil with "Gad Bless Father -my'1 own and the one who belongsc to the budding memories of My b children. v lI wouldn't be without my electric range for anything" "The modern timing devices and teniper. ature controls are so easy to operate . . . iy meals cook to perfection, automatically. And because my modern electric range lias a thermostatically-controlled surface element, 1 neyer have a worry about burned foods or boil-overs. I enjoy care-fr-ee coig ... in a lean, cool kitchen. You wilI too when you cook electrically." liohttr~ELEURICAUY ILTON EILLOTT GEO. VAN BRIDGER Cbairman Manager