Breakfast is frequently lauded as the "most important meal of the day." Based on personal experience, I tend to agree. When I eat a good breakfast, especially one which includes some protein, my energy seems to stay fairly even and steady as the day progresses. I'm less likely to have energy highs and lows which can make dealing with the day's challenges more difficult.

Since most of the recipes I've created for this column have been for dinners and lunches, it seemed like a good time to suggest something special for breakfast. First, though, I decided to find out the "official" reasons why breakfast is so important. What do researchers say? I headed for the WebMD website ( webmd.com ) to get the inside skinny.

They began by addressing those of us who say we don't have time to eat breakfast, or that we'd rather sleep a few extra minutes in the morning. Says WebMD: "[E]ating a wholesome, nutritious morning meal will probably save you time in the long run. By recharging your brain and your body, you'll be more efficient in just about everything you do."

What about skipping breakfast to cut down on calories? It may sound logical, but it "is more likely to cause weight gain than weight loss. Skipping breakfast is strongly linked to the development of obesity." WebMD goes on to say: "Breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal or nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger. Several studies suggest that people tend to accumulate more body fat when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals."

In particular, WebMD stresses the importance of breakfast for children: "When kids skip breakfast, they can end up going for as long as eighteen hours without food, and this period of semistarvation can create a lot of physical, intellectual, and behavioral problems for them."

So there you have it. Breakfast really is important, and you'd have to get really creative to come up with a good excuse for skipping it.

As a locavore (a person who eats only locally grown food as much as possible), breakfast ingredients are some of the easiest to find, regardless of the time of year. Many common breakfast ingredients, such as eggs, are available fresh from Whatcom farms year round. Other ingredients, like potatoes, can be kept fresh through the winter by storing them in a dry, cool place. The fabulous fruits and berries grown in our region can be frozen, canned, or made into delicious jams or jellies. Even dried local grains for cereals and muffins have recently become available in the last year or so.

Eggs and hash brown potatoes are a classic American breakfast combination. In making the Potato Egg Nests recipe below, I wanted to offer a slightly fancier version of this standard breakfast fare.

I'd encourage you to experiment with the recipe. In this version, the potato "nests" are made with grated potatoes which are first parboiled, pressed into muffin tins, and then baked. One variation would be to pile the parboiled potatoes on a cookie sheet instead of using muffin tins. Use a spoon to make depressions in the potato heap for adding the eggs, and then bake the nests. Another possible variation would be to use mashed potatoes instead of grated.

Multiple variations are available for the eggs as well. The version below bakes the raw eggs in the "nests." You could just as easily scramble the eggs first with various additional ingredients, such as mushrooms, the wonderful smoked cayenne peppers from Rabbit Fields Farm, local herbs, or whatever you like. Leave them a little undercooked, and then assemble them into the "nests" to be finished in the oven. Another option would be to poach the eggs first, place them in the potato "nests," top them with grated cheese, and then do the final bake.

POTATO EGG NESTS

For nests:

1 large potato (or 2 small) (Moondance Farm, Acme)

2 Tbsp butter, melted (Breckinridge Farm, Everson)

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced (home garden)

1 egg (Red Barn Lavender, Ferndale)

For filling:

1 Tbsp butter (Breckinridge Farm, Everson)

1/3 cup finely chopped onion (Moondance Farm, Acme)

1 large clove of garlic, minced (Rabbit Fields Farm, Everson)

6 eggs (Red Barn Lavender, Ferndale)

1/2 cup grated cheese (Pleasant Valley Dairy, Ferndale)

Peel and grate the potatoes. To parboil the potatoes, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Drop in the grated potatoes, and remove them quickly when the water just begins to boil again (don't wait for a full rolling boil this time). Immediately plunge potatoes into cold water and rinse until they are fully cooled. You don't want them to continue cooking internally.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the cooled potatoes with 1 Tbsp. melted butter and 1 egg. Use the other Tbsp. of butter to oil 4 cups of a muffin tin. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the potatoes into the oiled cups of the muffin tin, pressing the mixture into the bottom and along the sides of each cup to make a "nest". Be sure the nests are deep enough to hold an egg. Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Nests should be crispy.

While nests cool a bit, heat a small skillet and melt 1 Tbsp butter. Saute onion until transparent. Add garlic and saute another minute. Split the mixture into the bottom of the potato nests and press up against the sides, again keeping the cups deep.

Put 1 egg into each nest on top of the onions and garlic. Top with grated cheese.

Cook at 400 degrees F. for 10-15 minutes, or until eggs are done as you like them.

Serves 3.

LOCAVORE RESOURCES

You'll find Whatcom County foods at these stores and farms. Many outlets have seasonal hours. We recommend you call or check websites for current hours.

Acme Farms + Kitchen

Appel Farms Cheese Shoppe, 6605 Northwest Road, Ferndale; 360-384-4996; appel-farms.com

Artisan Wine Gallery, 2072 Granger Way, Lummi Island; 360-758-2959; artisanwineclub.com

Bellingham Farmers Market, Railroad at Chestnut; 360-647-2060; bellinghamfarmers.org

Boxx Berry Farm Store and u-pick, 6211 Northwest Road, Ferndale; 360-380-2699; boxxberryfarm.com

Cloud Mountain Farm Nursery, 6906 Goodwin Road, Everson; 360-966-5859; cloudmountainfarm.com

Community Food Cooperative, 1220 N. Forest St. and 315 Westerly Road, Bellingham; 360-734-8158; communityfood.coop

Everybody's Store, 5465 Potter Road, Deming; 360-592-2297; everybodys.com

Ferndale Public Market, Centennial Riverwalk, Ferndale; 360-410-7747; ferndalepublicmarket.org

Grace Harbor Farms, 2347 Birch Bay Lynden Road, Custer; 360-366-4151; graceharborfarms.com

Green Barn, 8858 Guide Meridian, Lynden; 360-354-1008

Hopewell Farm, 3072 Massey Road, Everson; 360-927-8433

Lynden Farmers Market, 514 Liberty St., Lynden, fiveloavesfarm.blogspot.com

Pleasant Valley Dairy, 6804 Kickerville Road, Ferndale; 360-366-5398; facebook.com/pages/Pleasant-Valley-Dairy/161872142667

Red Barn Lavender Farm, 3106 Thornton Road, Ferndale; 360-393-7057

Small's Gardens, 6451 Northwest Road, Ferndale; 360-384-4637

The Islander, 2106 S. Nugent Road, Lummi Island; 360-758-2190; islandergrocery.com

The Markets LLC, 3125 Old Fairhaven Parkway and 1030 Lakeway, Bellingham; 8135 Birch Bay Square St., Blaine; 360-714-9797; themarketsllc.com

Terra Organica, 1530 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham; 360-715-8020; terra-organica.com