Six choc bits and a teaspoon

After a fabulous wine filled evening with friends I staggered into the kitchen the following morning, following my nose to the smell of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon.

My host handed me a coffee and then started posing a plethora of breakfast questions - hard egg or soft egg?  Bacon crispy or juicy? Should items be placed on the toast or beside it? I was touched that he was an obliging chef, but was so happy to have someone cook me breakfast that I'd have eaten it any way at all - as long as I didn't have to do it!

But as I chowed down on my delicious meal I had a sudden memory of breakfast time as a child where my sister wouldn't eat her toast unless Dad gave her Vegemite "with holes" - polka dotted spots of spread. And that got me thinking about some of the quirky rituals our family developed over the years.

Family breakfasts always took place around the table in the kitchen.  Mum cooked something nourishing and there was usually lots of chatter and laughter as we began our day.  Dad would often start the day in high spirits, flinging out cheeky comments over the tea pot while Mum deepened her frowns across the table as he continued to bait her.  After a certain level of frustration had been reached, she'd throw her teaspoon down the table at him and he'd either catch it nimbly or feign pain and agony if he got hit.  This was always a cue for great merriment from his daughters and our not-so-subtle hints in the mornings often encouraged him to start another round of the 'tea-spoon battle'.

At night, my parents would end the day with a small cup of brutally strong coffee and six choc bits each.  Do you know a choc bit? They are tiny little dots of chocolate used for cooking - probably just under a centimetre wide. Six choc bits isn't much, but it was enough to bypass Mum's 'no dessert other than fruit' rule. I can still see her dolling out each person's allocation from the jar she kept them in.

These family food rituals were a precious part of our childhood and something that still makes me smile today.  So I wonder, what are (or were) your family rituals?