Meal Patterns: Colonial Times

In colonial times, American meal patterns followed European practices, in which the extended family participated in meals, which occurred three times a day: the standard meals were breakfast, dinner, and supper. As the first meal of the day, breakfast literally broke the fast. It was eaten immediately upon rising or a few hours later, after the earliest chores had been completed. A summer breakfast might consist of dishes like bread, rice, milk-pudding, cheese, cold meat, smoked fish, fowl, and fresh berries; milk, cider, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate were common breakfast beverages. Cold weather called for a heartier meal that might include toast soaked in milk, warm muffins, barley cakes, buckwheat cakes, waffles, mush, hominy, or baked pumpkin.