Breakfast Times are the Best Times

I take breakfast very seriously. In fact, I was re-assessing my life the other day when I was trimming my nails, and I realized that breakfast is probably one of my top five life priorities.

When I get up, I need breakfast. It's that simple. This sometimes becomes a problem when I don't wake up in my own apartment. No matter where I am, though, it's the first thing I want in the morning. Staying at a friend's place? I want breakfast. Trapped in a cave? I want breakfast. If I have to go outside, catch it and kill it myself, I will. Usually, this just means finding the nearest Starbucks, which is always pretty easy, like finding the north star.

I like to keep weekday breakfasts simple. My breakfast ground rules are:

• It must be un-complicated and easy to assemble
• It must be tasty
• It must have coffee
  

Here's a classic recipe I defer to most mornings:

1 piece multigrain toast, blackened
1-ish TBSP Peanut Butter, creamy
1/2 sliced banana

Spread peanut butter on toast. Lay banana slices on top in a checkerboard pattern to ensure that each bite will maintain the proper ratio of sweet/peanut butter/crunchiness. If you're feeling extra dangerous, drizzle a little honey on top.


In fact, there are endless ways to embellish this dish. Whipped cream and nuts? I don't see why not. Sliced strawberries and powdered sugar? Might be kind of weird, but what the hell.

What is your un-complicated, tasty breakfast recipe?

Some Decent Dining Deals

These are probably well-known by now, but here's the rundown on a few of my favorite dining deals across town:

$1 Burger Night: Bar Louie in Newport
They mean what they say, the burger really is a dollar. It's not very flavorful, and it comes with a thimble-ful of shredded iceberg lettuce on a food service bun, but you can load it up pretty cheaply with good toppings. See also: Blue cheese, bacon and mushrooms. Or pepper jack and guacamole. Most toppings are $.50, so you won't blow your budget pimping out your burger. Draft beer is $2.00 a pint too, so the $3.49 you spend on a basket of fries makes it the most expensive item at the table.

Servers are jumping to keep up with the rush of hungry dollar diners, and we waited about fifteen minutes last night for a table at prime time. It's hard to be impatient though when there's a dollar burger waiting for you.

Half Price Sushi: Dancing Wasabi in Mout Lookout
All day Wednesday and Thursday are half-price sushi days at Dancing Wasabi, one of my favorite sushi spots in the city. And if you're wrapping up a night of drinking at one of Mount Lookout's finer establishments, stop by DW for the same sushi savings on Friday and Saturday night from 10:00 pm into the early morning hours.

The wait for a table on half price night is usually long, and since the restaurant isn't much bigger than a dining car, you'll be out on the sidewalk waiting for your party to be seated. Go on a nice night, grab something from the bar and leer at the diners seated at the outdoor tables.

Awesome Daily Happy Hour: Palamino Downtown
This is definitely not news, but I think $5 pizzas and $3 mojitos are worth a big shout-out. Plenty of appetizers are half price, too. Happy hour prices apply in the lounge, 4-7pm. Get there early and get happy.

What's your favorite dining deal?