One of the first things I noticed upon coming to America many years ago were the differences in what people ate for breakfast. The breakfast that I was used to eating could not easily be found – at first. Breakfast cereals seemed to be omnipresent. Visiting the local grocery store was interesting because there always seemed to be an entire aisle – sometimes on both sides – devoted to hot and cold cereals. When my husband first visited Russia, he automatically assumed that his breakfasts would include some selection of these cereals; he was surprised. It is worth noting that Americanized breakfasts can be found in hotels and resorts though.<\/p>\n
During my life in Russia, I always had sandwiches and tea or coffee, for breakfast. The sandwiches consisted mainly of some variety of white bread or rye bread, butter, and whatever type of cheese or meat we could afford, mostly bologna or salami. The bologna we had, as well as the bread and cheese, were different from the Wonder Bread, Eckrich, and Kraft cheese varieties that seemed so prevalent in America. The white bread we ate was not soft and spongy – like so much of it here. The cheese we ate was usually a hard cheese, quite unlike Kraft Singles. It was not until I had been in America for a while that I found the right places to get similar breads and cheeses\/meats for breakfast. As far as beverages went, it was not too difficult procuring a good black or green tea.<\/p>\n
Russians typically do not eat anything sweet for breakfast – I am talking about breakfast cereals, pastries, and things like that. Fruit and juices can also be added to this list. Breads with some type of meat, like bologna or sausage are common. Children often eat a type of porridge made from semolina, which is essentially the same stuff that goes into cream of wheat; oatmeal is fairly common too. This is often sweetened and can be made with milk or water. On weekends, we would occasionally make eggs for breakfast. They could be cooked similarly to how people in America eat them. Some Russians like to eat theirs with mayonnaise; this never really appealed to me though.<\/p>\n
When my husband and I first lived together, he thought that what I ate for breakfast was not very appetizing; in kind, I couldn’t eat those artificially flavored and sweetened breakfast cereals without complaining. After coming back from our first trip to Russia, he was a fan of our typical breakfast choice; in fact, he rarely eats cereal anymore. Never underestimate the power of a woman \ud83d\ude42 !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the first things I noticed upon coming to America many years ago were the differences in what people ate for breakfast. The breakfast that I was used to eating could not easily be found – at first. Breakfast cereals seemed to be omnipresent. Visiting the local grocery store was interesting because there always…<\/p>\n