Breakfast in the garden - just Barack Obama and me

Fran Kubelik: "Shall I light the candles?"

CC Baxter: "It's a must! Gracious living-wise."

As Jack Lemmon's character implies in Billy Wilder's superb comedy, The Apartment, life needs a little luxury.

For me, the apogee of gracious living has to be breakfasting in the garden, perhaps because it offers a leisureliness rarely allowable. It also definitely needs to be done right, if you want to avoid contaminating your cutlery with unmentionable substances deposited on the table and fishing out flies from the milk jug.

The coffee pot must be insulated; preserves must be covered; the table must be clean and, most important of all, you need to be seated in the sunniest spot in the garden, sheltered from the breeze that will otherwise do its damnedest to turn your newspaper inside-out.

To top it all, breakfast must be cooked. Barack Obama also likes a cooked breakfast, and while I'd love you to think that the world's most powerful politician and I have discussed our preferred platefuls, I have to admit I know this because of a free e-book just launched by Send A Cow. 

The charity's researchers spent weeks poring over historical records and archives and talking to experts, to come up with 18 breakfasts eaten or inspired by famous achievers. Admittedly, not all translate readily to a gracious repast on a sun-filled terrace. I hazard that you're unlikely to rush to replicate Nelson Mandela's Umphokoqo -  maize porridge and sour milk.

However, recipes for Abraham Lincoln's Kentucky Corn Cakes and Civil Rights Campaigner Rosa Parks's Featherlite Pancakes (unusually incorporating peanut butter) sound very tempting. 

But, just as The Apartment (like all Billy Wilder films) has a distinctly dark underbelly, so does the luxury of breakfast in the garden.

Fifteen million people in some of the poorest parts of Africa are undernourished and Send a Cow's Break...Fast campaign aims to bring breakfast to children in Uganda and Rwanda so they have the energy to make the most of their education. They suggest a donation of £2.50 when you download the recipe book and the Government will double all money raised until 30th June - £5 is enough to support an African child for a month.

Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development, pointed out, "Given the right chance, any one of those children could be the next Florence Nightingale or Neil Armstrong."

And what put the bounce in that astronaut's "giant leap"?

Bacon Squares!

Fry 1lb of bacon until golden and layer it onto a meat press. Press the bacon for 10 seconds. Remove from press and allow to cool.

Cut into squares.

Now those would be easy to eat in the garden.

To download and donate, visit Most Important Meals of Their LIves