I look forward to eating coffee cake more than usual. Not just normal coffee cake, but Entenmanns crumble cake that comes in a blue and white box, and has its own shelf in Price Chopper. It is so valued in my household that my sisters and I will swap chores in order to get a slice. The reason that this particular baked good is so rare for me is because my family only eats it on Christmas morning.
Aside from the conventional stockings and presents that happen on Christmas day, one of the biggest traditions in my house is that we have a huge breakfast feast. The table is cramped with an overwhelming amount of plates, bowls, and platters, stacked high with heaps of pancakes, bagels, sausages, eggs, waffles, and of course, the famous coffee cake. My mom, dad, and grandparents all ravenously dig in once the table is set. Meanwhile. my sisters and I jealously ogle at the gleaming presents torturing us from the next room, desperate to open them. The catch to this meal is that everyone in my family has to finish eating before we can continue to the next part of our morning, present-opening. The excruciating pain of waiting for them to be finished extends into what seems like hours, and even the beloved coffee cake loses its appeal. Right then and there all of our willpower is tested. We have to smile and nod while they keep refilling their plates over and over, completely aware of what they’re doing. After what seems like a century, they lean back in their chairs and simply give us a look, and we know. Everyone stands up and we race to the tree, anxiously waiting for the next stage of Christmas to begin.
While breakfast during Christmas may seem like a tedious, boring meal at times, it actually brings my family together. Because for that prolonged hour or so, we are all in the same place, enjoying the same food, and laughing together about the silliest things. Surprisingly, it is one of my favorite family traditions.
Works Cited:
http://www.shopwell.com/entenmanns-crumb-cake-coffee-cake/pastries/p/7203000225
I like how the tortuous breakfast that you struggle through turns out to be one of your favorite family traditions - I did not expect for you to say you enjoyed it later. The middle paragraph of your essay was very descriptive, even making me be impatient for your parents to stop eating so you can get on to the presents. The way that you started to lose interest in the prized coffee cake effectively showed your anxiousness. One thing that you could work on is having a smoother transition between paragraphs. I would also bring back the idea of the coffee cake in the end of your essay.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I love the first paragraph! It is an interesting way of describing something that most people already know about, and don't look at as exciting. My family always has a "breakfast feast" on Christmas as well, so I can relate to this. Although we open the presents the second we get up in the morning, I can completely imagine the suspense that would create. I agree with Abby that it would be nice to hear about the coffee cake again somewhere within the ending, because it is such an intriguing aspect of the story, it make it "yours" and not so general. Besides that great job!
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