Christmas morning isn’t a time for cooking, you say.
Because you have other obligations and can’t see how you’d squeeze in time in the kitchen.
You want to watch your children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren unwrap gifts and empty stockings, and see their lips turn up into a smile.
You’re cooking for them later, anyway. A big meal — for lunch or dinner — that will require hours upon hours of your time to prepare, cook, and serve.
Christmas traditions demand a lot from you. Peace seems precious.
But peace isn’t out of reach. It may be no farther than your kitchen cabinets, where you keep seasonings, spices, and flour; it may be as close as your refrigerator, where you keep eggs and milk. From these simple ingredients, you can spend some quiet time creating a Christmas breakfast.
Follow the example of June Weddig of Calabash, who, when her children were younger, baked a nut bread or muffins on Christmas morning before attending Mass.
Or do as Sue Houser of Shallotte does and assemble an egg strata on Christmas Eve, chill it overnight, and bake it in the oven on Christmas morning.
Weddig and Houser both say that the key to Christmas morning cooking is simplicity. The fewer ingredients you use, the better.
Weddig and Houser had that advice in mind when they submitted recipes to a cookbook published by their church, St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church in Shallotte.
Weddig sent in a recipe for Applesauce-Raisin Muffins, and Houser submitted her Christmas Morning Strata. The cookbook was published last December, just in time for Christmas.
Those two recipes, in addition to one for colorful roasted potatoes, are excerpted from the cookbook in the previous links.
All three were selected for their ease. So go ahead, make breakfast this Christmas. May you find peace in the quiet of simple cooking.
Jeffrey Turner is an assistant editor at Our State.
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