“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. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.” 

My older daughters and I spent a long girls' weekend in Bath with friends.  I hadn't made the reservations nor really investigated much ahead of time so our inn was a delightful surprise.  We decided not to stay in Bath proper but rather at a farm not far away. That of course is a real treat for a farm girl. : ) It is fascinating to see the many variations there are on this theme throughout the world. 

The mornings begin with a full English breakfast. I was familiar with the tea, but honestly never gave much thought to the term itself, much less how it differed from a continental breakfast. The continental breakfast, common in hotels in the States as well as on mainland Europe, tends to be served buffet style and is on the light side. Cereals, bagels, yogurt, and maybe cheese or cold cuts are common.  A full English breakfast is exactly that – full.  Huge. Hot.  Awesome. 

First came the steaming French press, brought out by the lovely gentleman who ran the place.  Jugs of fresh local cream sat on the tables topped by weighted doilies, presumably once meant to keep out flies but there were certainly none around.  Teapots joined shortly. On a side table there were already bowls of chopped fresh fruit and yogurt waiting. 

Then the courses began arriving.  There were eggs – boiled, fried, scrambled. Bacon rashers and sausages.  A side note on that too is that Americans tend to use side cuts for bacon resulting in what the English call streaky rashers.  The more common bacon here is back cut, more like Canadian. There was then toast and croissants. Fried mushrooms and tomatoes. Hash browns. 

                         The farm was bustling early in the day as farms tend to be. Horses were exercised and fed. Chickens, ducks, peacocks, and turkeys meandered just outside the conservatory windows.  A little slice of heaven.