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| A family favorite on Christmas morning |
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Probably no other holiday features traditions quite like Christmas. We continue traditions from our childhood when we start our own families, and we create new traditions that our children will carry with them.
It's an endless chain that's comforting, a legacy of sorts. Food, of course, plays a big role in those Christmas traditions. Cookies and candies our mothers or grandmothers made every year live with us forever, even when we don't have time to make them ourselves.
When he was little, my son helped me bake cookies made from my mother's recipe. We used her cookie cutters to cut out Santas and Christmas trees. I rolled out the dough; he would cut them out and sprinkle colored sugar over them, just like I used to do when I was a little girl.
I can't quite bring myself to pass those treasured cookie cutters on to him just yet. He'll probably have to wait until I die to get them! I'm pretty possessive about those little pieces of metal.
Silly, isn't it? Hanging on to those 50-year-old cookie cutters like they were made of gold and worth a fortune. I guess in a way they are. They were Mom's, after all.
My husband's family brought new traditions into my life, and one of those is my mother-in-law's Holiday Breakfast. I ran this recipe three years ago, and I think it's time to share it again.
What's really great about this is that you mix it up the night before and then just pop it into the oven in the morning. It can bake while you open presents. The only problem you'll have is getting the kids to settle down enough to eat something.
I hope you'll enjoy it as much as the Vail family does. And I hope you have a wonderful Christmas full of love and happiness!
Holiday Breakfast
Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
6 slices bread, cubed
1-lb. roll Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage (don't use anything else!), cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
8 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
In a large bowl, lightly mix together bread cubes, sausage and Cheddar cheese. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and mustard until well blended. Pour over bread and sausage mixture, tossing lightly. Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish, cover and refrigerate overnight, or 12 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove cover from dish and bake for 35 minutes or until set.
Makes 6 servings
Variation: I like to add a 4-ounce can of chopped green chiles with the eggs and milk.
Sharon Vail lives in Powell Butte, where she'll be using those cookie cutters again this year. Readers may contact her at svail3@netzero.net. "Cooking from the heart of Oregon." |
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