Pass the Syrup

What a great start to my day!  I was able to enjoy a lovely breakfast of French Toast and sausages with a good friend of mine this morning along with some fine conversation.......all with the sun shining through the windows.  To make matters even better, the waitress brought me a full pitcher of maple syrup for my French Toast.

So often I have to make a point of asking for more syrup when I dine out for breakfast.  The wait staff always look at me like I'm nuts.  One even went so far as to tell me that "the syrup containers hold a lot of syrup."  It has gotten to the point where I just ask outright from the start "Do you bring maple syrup in pitchers or in those little individual packets?"

If they answer that they use the packets, I tell them to bring me at least three or four of them and then, when they look at me in disbelief, I tell them, "Look, I like to drown my pancakes/French Toast in syrup.  What can I say?"

I have the same quirk when it comes to hash-browns.  I remember years ago when I was in the Navy, a friend asked me why I never ate the hash-browns in the mess hall.  We'd often stop over there for breakfast after working an all-night shift down in the Communication vans.  Well, it was because they didn't serve the RIGHT kind of hash-browns.

Nowadays, if I order a breakfast meal and it includes hash-browns, I always ask the waiters, "Are your hash-browns the little cubed kind or the shredded kind?"

If they answer "cubed," then I tell them to just leave them off my plate.  I'm not interested.  However, if they are the shredded kind, heap them on and make sure they are extra-crispy.  You see, the cubed potatoes are never served hot enough and butter doesn't melt on them.  All you get is that "starchy" flavor.  What I want is "buttery crunchiness."  The shredded hash-browns tend to retain the heat better when they are brought out from the kitchen and thus, I can melt pats of butter on them just the way I enjoy it.

I've actually given a lot of thought to all of this.  I DON'T have to give a thought to the fact that I am LOVING the warm weather we are currently enjoying in south-central PA.  It has been in the 70's here the last few days AND is expected to climb into the high 70's and possible 80's here today.  My daffodils have been blooming for the past week and my hyacinth plants are starting to bloom.  I am noticing more and more green starting to show on the trees.  There's nothing like warm weather to put a BIG smile on my face.