Grown-Ups: Where Are Their Priorities?

Christmas is a lousy time to be an only child. In larger families the kids can get away with sneaking downstairs at 3 a.m. and making so much noise that by 4 the adults get up and let them open their presents. The only child has to wait until the grown-ups wake up--at what they insist upon calling “a civilized hour.” Only then is she allowed to start rattling the ribbons. And even when they’re finally out of bed, the grown-ups always insist upon breakfast before getting down to the gifts.

In my family, things were even worse. We had a Christmas breakfast tradition. That meant that after they’d made coffee and squeezed orange juice, there was more to come. My mother, ordinarily the most indifferent of cooks, a woman who prided herself on her speed in the kitchen, suddenly felt the need to make matzo brei.

This, I should tell you, can be slow going. If you’re my mother, it first entails a search for the strainer. In our house, that could take hours. Then the matzo needs to be broken up into the strainer, and soaked. It needs to be drained. Eggs must be located and then broken. The butter (“the secret of matzo brei, “ my mother always said, “is lots of butter”) needs to be melted and allowed to get very hot. And then the whole thing needs to be cooked.

If you’re a little girl, eyeing that big package under the tree, this is all enormously exasperating. Especially when your father tells your mother how wonderful the matzo brei is--and maybe even asks her to make some more. You offer him yours--you have, after all, no appetite--but he’s not interested. Sometimes it’s almost lunchtime before they actually finish.

There is, however, one advantage to all of this. By the time you get to open your presents, the families with lots of kids have already broken all the toys.

CHRISTMAS MATZO BREI

3 whole matzos

3 large eggs

Salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter

Break matzos in small pieces into strainer placed over bowl. Put strainer under running water, allow matzos to get moist, then drain.

Beat eggs lightly with fork. Add drained matzos. Season to taste with salt.

Heat butter in 8-inch skillet until sizzling. Add egg-matzo mixture and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes until eggs are set. Makes 3 servings.

Each serving contains about:

320 calories; 224 mg sodium; 254 mg cholesterol; 20 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 96 grams fiber; 57% calories from fat.