Breakfast With My Brother

 A brother is a gift to the heart, 

a friend to the spirit. 

~ Unknown

I don't get to go on adventures - even short adventures - with my brother very often.* But in the run-up to Thanksgiving we found ourselves in the same town with a little spare time. We met for breakfast twice. Each time we talked for hours. Once we even changed tables to allow others to sit inside. 

And twice he brought me gifts! 

["But did you bring anything?" I know this question is one you want to ask. Look - this is about him, not me. I have racked by brain and examined my conscience. I think I might have brought him seeds - loofah.]

The first gift was a bag of dried currants and a container of caraway seeds for the making of Irish soda bread. We have both been making bread and he used a recipe with these ingredients - and found it good. [And it just so happened that a friend had brought me bread with the same ingredients - so different from the flavor of the bread I'd been making - and I was thinking about trying currants and caraway. Was my brother reading my mind?]

The second gift was tomatoes, Garden Salsa peppers, and our baby brother's fresh salsa recipe.**

Something is cooking in the kitchen. [Just ignore the sweetener someone swiped from the coffee shop because she forgot to pack any.]

He's a wise one, my brother. I always feel centered and calm after a visit with him, even as I fear I may have shocked or annoyed - unintended consequences of my twisted sense of humor. 

Why would he put up with me? Well, I did share the secret of successful soda bread,*** but there has to be more to it. 

It's a mystery, perhaps - the mystery of family, the mystery of shared history, the mystery of grace. My siblings are the most wonderful gifts. Mom and Dad knew it. I know it too. 

I am blessed beyond measure!

NOTES:

* I seem to go on a few wild women adventures with my sister, but few wild sibling adventures. My brother did take trips with DH - a blessing for each of them I suspect.

** It calls for chili pequin peppers, but I think he's used Serrano peppers. The rest is a secret-ish thing. And it's a recipe for FRESH, not for canning.

*** Wow! We have a lot of secrets, but I'll share this one. Many soda breads require a cross cut in the top of the bread so that it can rise. I was taught (by a friend who learned it from Irish sisters) that you say a "Hail Mary" as you cut the cross. Does it work? I don't know. Maybe any prayer will do. I have been pretty happy with the results. 

Be brave and make heroic slashes with a floured knife!