Last week, the kiddo jumped in the car after school and exclaimed, “Mom, did you know so-in-so gets to open a present on Christmas Eve? And some kids even get to open all their presents on Christmas Eve!” Then he looked at me with this expectant look on his face. And all I had was, “well, we don’t do that.”
But it got me thinking about Christmas traditions and how every family has something special, and their’s is the best thing ever. And of course it is!
Maybe your Christmas traditions are a carry-over from your childhood, or maybe you started new traditions with your own family, or maybe you had grand ideas of what the perfect Christmas traditions should be, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
When we started a family, I wanted to have the perfect Christmas morning complete with Christmas Brunch for the whole family at our house, in our dining room, with the china and everything. I wanted that to be our tradition. It took me just two years to realize that that scenario really wasn’t me. I didn’t enjoy rushing around on Christmas morning preparing a big fancy meal. I certainly didn’t want to clean up after. And all anyone else wanted to do was play with the new toys they had just opened. Also, it turns out that I don’t love the timing of “brunch”.
I’m an early riser, and always have been. Therefore I’m an early cup of coffee-er and early breakfast-er. So I don’t really understand what to do with brunch. Is it my second breakfast? Do I treat it as lunch, and then just have a snack later? Is dinner affected? This may surprise you, but I can be pretty rigid in my planning of meal times, and brunch just doesn’t fit in for me.
So there went that perfect family tradition.
But, worry not, the last few years we have found our groove in a simple Christmas morning of sitting in our pajamas opening presents, while a few make-ahead breakfast items have been warmed and are waiting on us to enjoy as early or late as we want. We’ll eat on the couch (maybe even on paper plates!) and play with our new toys. It’s completely casual and fuss-free. It’s our special thing, and it’s wonderful.
This year’s make-ahead breakfast menu includes some of our favorites. And all I have to do is turn the oven on as I roll out of bed and get my coffee.
Hashbrown casserole similar to everyone’s favorite country store. Cheesy and creamy and studded with bacon. But I make my own sauce rather than use a “cream of” whatever. Recipe below!
Sausauge balls can’t be beat! We used to roll over 1,200 of them every Christmas when I owned my food shop, and every year I would say I never wanted to see another sausage ball. Yet, here I am making them again and again. It’s the basic recipe with Bisquick, but I like the ones with cream cheese in the mix, both for the flavor and texture. I use medium or mild sausage, but otherwise this recipe is exactly how I do it. (Reheat from frozen at 350 on the middle rack for about 20 minutes.)
Fresh berry and cream cheese scones are perfectly fluffy and soft with little bites of fresh berries and tangy cream cheese. My recipe below. I still haven’t decided if I like it better as strawberry or blueberry.
If you need some more choices, here are a few other great make ahead recipes for Christmas morning:
This Blueberry Croissant Casserole is one I’ve been making for years. I add pecans to the mix and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar over the top.
My kiddo could eat biscuits and gravy every day. Southern Living put it in a casserole!
My mom used to make stratas when I was a kid. I thought that sounded so fancy. Turns out they’re pretty easy. But I’m still going to pretend I’m fancy. This one from Smitten Kitchen is a cheesy winner that manages to sneak veggies into breakfast.
I hope to get another newsletter out next week, but if I get caught up in all the festivities, I’m not going to stress about it. I’ll be back in the new year.
MONDAY - Chicken Tikka Masala, Jasmine Rice, and Brussels Sprouts
I use this recipe as a guide, but I use about two pounds of chicken thighs and double the sauce. Because sauce.
TUESDAY - Homemade Ramen Bowls
Easy. One pot. Cozy. Just what we need while trying to cram in all the things before Christmas.
WEDNESDAY - Tortellini with Marinara and Italian Sausages
Store bought tortellini and marinara from the freezer. Maybe I have some garlic bread in there too.
THURSDAY - Girls’ Night Out
I have dinner plans with my oldest friends. (I shouldn’t say that…best childhood friends.) The boys can eat leftovers!
FRIDAY - Friday night pick up!
SATURDAY - Dinner at Yaya’s! (the in-laws)
We’ve done all the meal planning for while family is in town, and tonight is shrimp (some fried, some boiled) and baked potatoes. Thanks to Uncle Doug who does great shrimp any way you want it!
SUNDAY - Christmas Eve!
We’ll head over to a dear friend’s house for the annual Christmas Eve party! I’ll contibute homemade rolls for the little ham sandwiches.
LUNCHES for this week - Minestrone Soup
I love making a pot of soup early in the week to have for lunches. I like Ina Garten's version, loaded with veggies, beans, and pasta.
EXTRAS for this week
Yeast rolls, quiches, pecan pie, more cookies…
Hashbrown Casserole
Makes one 9x13 pan.
Sauce
· 3 tablespoons Butter
· Half of a small Onion, diced
· 3 tablespoons Flour
· ½ cup Chicken Broth
· ½ cup Milk
· ¼ teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand)
· 1/8 teaspoon black Pepper
Casserole
· 30 ounce package frozen shredded Hashbrowns, thawed
· 1 cup Sour Cream
· 2 tablespoons Butter, melted
· 1 cup chopped cooked Bacon
· 2 – 2 ½ cups shredded Cheese (yellow cheddar, white cheddar, and/or colby jack), divided
· 1 teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand)
· ¼ teaspoon black Pepper
Make the sauce – in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add onion and cook about 5 minutes until cooked through. Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Then slowly whisk in the broth and milk; cook until smooth and thick. Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, combine the sauce, sour cream, melted butter, bacon, salt, and pepper. Stir in the thawed hashbrown potatoes, then stir in one and a half cups of the cheese and mix until well combined.
Coat a 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread the hashbrown casserole mixture into the pan and top with remaining cheese.
Bake right away or cover tightly with foil and refrigerate for later.
To bake right away – preheat oven to 350 and position rack in the upper third. Bake casserole uncovered for 30-45 minutes until browned and bubbling.
To bake after refrigerating – preheat oven to 350 and place rack in middle position. Bake casserole uncovered for 40-50 minutes until browned and bubbling.
NOTES: The casserole can also be frozen. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and follow baking instructions above.
I have been known to use store bought bacon bits in a pinch. It’s fine.
I have also split the casserole into two smaller pans and had one for now and frozen one for later.
Fresh Berry and Cream Cheese Scones
Makes 16 scones.
· 4 cups all purpose Flour
· 1/3 cup white Sugar
· 1 teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand)
· 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
· ¾ pound Butter (3 sticks), cubed and very cold*
· 4 large Eggs
· 1 cup cold Buttermilk
· 4 ounces Cream Cheese, cubed and very cold*
· 1 ½ cup diced fresh Strawberries or washed and dried Blueberries
· ¼ cup Heavy Cream, for brushing
· 2-3 Tablespoons Turbinado (or raw) Sugar for sprinkling
Prepare two 8” or 9” round cake pans. Either line each pan with plastic wrap or spray the pans with non-stick spray and then line with a parchment round. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Toss the cold butter with the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture looks crumbly, with a few of the butter pieces the size of large peas. (This can also be done with a food processor; dump it into a large bowl before moving on.) Take those larger butter pieces and squish them flat with your fingers, and then toss them back in. Then toss the cold, cubed cream cheese in the flour mixture. Push the flour/butter mixture to the edges of your bowl to make a hole in the center.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup whisk together the 4 eggs and buttermilk until smooth. Pour this mixture into the well in your flour bowl. Use a spoon or spatula to gradually mix the buttermilk and eggs into the flour/butter. When it is almost combined, but still showing pockets of flour, add in the strawberries or blueberries. Gently mix the dough until the cream cheese and berries look evenly distributed. The dough may be quite sticky.
Divide the dough between the two cake pans. Do your best to smooth the sticky dough down into the pans. Sometimes wetting your fingers can help get the job done. Freeze the pans for one hour.
Working with one pan at a time, turn the dough out onto a cutting board and remove the plastic or parchment. Turn dough round back right side up. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into eight wedges. Repeat with second pan.
Place the wedges onto one or two parchment lined baking sheets (something that will fit in your freezer), brush each wedge with heavy cream and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Freeze the pans several hours or overnight. Frozen scones can be stored in a zip top bag or other freezer safe container up to 3 months.
To Bake – Preheat oven 400, move rack to position in upper third.
Place desired number of scones (sugar side up) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-23 minutes until light golden brown on top. Check at 18 minutes, and rotate pan if your oven doesn’t brown evenly (like mine!).
Cool a few minutes, serve warm. These are best on the day they are baked but will keep tightly covered at room temperature for a couple of days.
NOTES - *For “very cold” butter and cream cheese, I usually freeze them for about 15 minutes.
I have tried this recipe with frozen berries, and while it works, I prefer the flavor and texture of fresh berries.