Slumber Party Brunches

When I was in grammar school slumber parties were the thing to do. I loved them and they all had quite a bit in common--the mothers used paper plates or mix-matched china so it wouldn't matter if breakage occurred. Plastic place mats and paper napkins completed the place setting. We usually got a choice of cereals or packaged cinnamon buns. This was not the case at our house. My mother pulled out her best china--Concord by Haviland to be exact--and even used the sterling silver. [It was my job to polish it the week before.] She used juice glasses of the thinnest glass and never cringed when she heard them clink against something, at least I never saw her! We had big, snowy white cloth napkins and she always called it brunch, not breakfast. She'd make toast points with the edges cut off, scrambled eggs with bacon crumbled on top and some kind of fresh fruit, usually strawberries. I'm sure not even the Ritz would have been more impressive to us at that age. I've always thought my mother the epitome of a southern lady. At 95 years of age she still is. And I will never, ever forget her serving a bunch of clumsy little girls brunch on her best china.