On the morning after a romantic evening --- whether spent out on the town or quietly at home --- Rebecca thinks it's always a lovely idea to have an equally romantic breakfast, either in bed or at table.
Depending on her mood in the morning, she is fond of breakfasts ranging from hearty Southern fare consisting of eggs, sausage patties, grits, and biscuits to much-lighter repasts composed of a multitude of fresh fruits and breads. She washes it all down with either strong black coffee, hot tea, or hot chocolate, and an assortment of juices (cranberry, orange, pineapple, vegetable, and white grape are her favorites).
Sometimes, if Rebecca's not particularly hungry, she'll opt for just a slice of cake or pie. For a special treat at brunches, she likes to serve Bloody Marys or Mimosas.
COFFEE
To the best of our knowledge, coffee originated in East Africa, in the Ethiopian region of Kaffa. It is an ancient drink, being described by Homer and others as a "bitter black brew."
From Ethiopia, coffee traveled to the Arabian Peninsula, where it was known as qahwa ("that which prevents sleep"). There, it was first cultivated in Yemen, from where it spread throughout the Middle East, Asia Minor, and Europe, although for many years, the Arabs enjoyed a coffee monopoly, exporting the commodity from the port of Mocha.
Eventually, however, the Europeans managed to obtain coffee by smuggling plants from Mocha, with the Dutch cultivating the crop in Java and elsewhere. Today, coffee is grown in more than fifty countries worldwide and is second only to oil in dollar value as an export.
TEA
Tea is even older than coffee, said to have originated c. 2737 B.C., when the Emperor Shen Nung allegedly discovered it quite by accident when some tea leaves blew into a pot of water he was boiling.
From China, tea (tchai, cha, or tay) spread throughout the Orient via Buddist monks, thence to the Middle East and, finally, to Europe. The Venetians, the Portuguese, and the Dutch all claim to have first introduced tea into Europe. However, it was in Great Britain where tea reached its European zenith.
There are three main types of tea: green tea, black tea, and oolong tea, the leaves being boiled loose until Americans invented the tea bag. Americans also introduced iced tea at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. Specialty teas are flavored with florals and/or spices, such as jasmine and cinnamon. Herbal teas (tisanes) are not true teas brewed from tea leaves, but are produced from an infusion of herbs, flowers, and spices.
HOT CHOCOLATE
Hot chocolate is also an ancient drink, with its origins lying in Meso-America. It was the Spanish explorer Cortés who, upon his arrival in the New World, discovered the Aztecs drinking chocolatl (also xocoatl or cacahuatl --- "bitter water").
The drink was mixed with chili water; flavored with flowers, spices, and/or vanilla; sweetened with a small amount of honey; and poured from a height into goblets to produce what has now become the traditional foam. The Aztecs' Emperor Moctezuma reportedly consumed fifty cups a day.
Because, despite all this, the chocolatl was still very bitter, upon being introduced to the drink, the Spanish mixed it with wine and peppers, or sweetened it with cane sugar, and also added flavorings such as cinnamon and vanilla, and served it hot.
For nearly a hundred years, Spain managed to maintain a hot-chocolate monopoly. Eventually, however, Spanish monks revealed the secrets of the drink, and hot chocolate became fashionable throughout Europe, particularly in France.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Dutch developed cocoa powder, and hot chocolate was consigned to the nursery, being deemed both nourishing for and easily digested by children.
MORNINGS
After breakfast, it's time for Rebecca to return to writing. Over a second cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, she invariably begins her workday by checking and responding to her email. Then, once any necessary correspondence is out of the way, she starts work on her latest novel, editing and revising whatever she wrote the previous day before continuing with her story. That way, she gradually gets back into her plot, gathering momentum to pick up wherever she left off.
   
   
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