MERRY CHRISTMAS

It’s 8A.M. Christmas morning.  Everyone wakes up in a happy mood, gathers around the kitchen table for a leisurely breakfast, then, while carols play softly in he background, gifts are exchanged, opened slowly and admired by one and all.  HA!

Unless you’re Martha Stewart, you are probably explaining to a heartbroken three year old why Santa forgot to leave a present for her kitty, trying to find an emergency vet for your dog, Bubba, who thought the Christmas ornaments looked delicious (we still refer to that Christmas as the year of the festive poop), or frantically trying to thaw a twenty pound frozen turkey in the bathtub.  Kids, big and small, are shouting and tearing into presents, the tree has an ominous tilt and no one can find Aunt Tilley’s gift (or Aunt Tilley for that matter).

Now, our kids are grown, their kids are grown and getting everyone together at the same time on Christmas is impossible.  A quiet, civilized Christmas breakfast ain’t gonna happen.  So here’s how we keep the troops fed and keep our sanity (everything is relative!).

We don’t have a staff, ala Martha, so we do one main breakfast dish that keeps O.K. on a warming tray.  The rest of the food is buffet style and can be left out for a couple of hours without killing anyone.  We do a huge fruit salad, slice up some ham and put out Mike’s famous cinnamon buns.  We feed our bulldog, Roxanne, and give her a chew toy to keep her from mooching (No, this does not actually work).

We don’t do a huge Polish Christmas Eve dinner anymore, so we try to include a couple of things to reflect the family’s heritage, - perogi for Mike, and anything boiled or overcooked for me.  And, most important of all, we enjoy our kids and grandkids whenever they arrive for as long as they stay and when they leave, we take a nap.

So my best advice is – relax!  Do whatever makes for a calm and stress free Christmas for your family, even if that means instant cocoa and donut holes.  You can always cook up a spectacular feast for New Year’s Eve.

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SAUSAGE & EGG CASSEROLE

One of the real pleasures of visiting Blue Hill, Maine was staying with Flossie and Kendall when they ran a B&B.  At one extended family gathering Flossie served up what has become our favorite large gathering breakfast dish.

Serves 8

2 cups herbed croutons or stuffing mix OR 6 slices fresh bread (crust removed) and 2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 TBSP butter, softened

1 lb bulk sausage (or more)

1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional) OR 2 cups diced onion & pepper mixture OR some of everything

2 TBSP butter

3 TBSP flour

2 1/2 cups half-and-half

1 tsp dry mustard

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese or a mix of cheeses

8 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated cheese

Salt & pepper to taste

Grease a 10x14-inch baking dish with 1 TBSP butter.  Sprinkle crouton/bread over the bottom of the buttered baking dish.

Cook sausage, drain and sprinkle over the croutons/bread.

Sauté mushrooms (or onion/pepper mixture) using 1 TBSP butter and set aside.

Melt 2 TBSP butter, stir in flour until smooth.  Cook 10 minutes over low to medium-low heat; roux should be very pale.  Add half-and-half slowly; stir constantly until a smooth sauce is formed.  If sauce appears to have lumps, pour through a strainer.  Remove from heat and add dry mustard, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in mushrooms (or onion/pepper mixture) and 1 1/2 cups of cheese.  Set aside to cool.

Beat eggs.  Mix into cooled sauce.  Pour over sausage and croutons/bread, sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated cheese.  Cover and refrigerate overnight if using dried croutons/stuffing mix or at least 1 hour if using fresh bread.

Pre-heat oven to 350º F.  If casserole was refrigerated overnight, bring casserole to room temperature for 1 hour before baking.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until eggs are set.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

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VIENNESE WALNUT COOKIES

Sandy has been making these cookies for as long as we’ve had kids and one year Christmas was almost a disaster – we couldn’t find the recipe.  Finally, the day before Christmas it appeared and in the midst of wrapping presents we HAD to make these.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/4 cups sifted unbleached, all-purpose flour

1-1/3 cups ground walnuts (as fine as possible)

Butter Cream Frosting

Cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together.  Blend in flour and ground walnuts.  Form into a ball and refrigerate for about a half hour. 

Pre-heat oven to 350° F.

Divide dough in half and roll out to about 1/4-inch and cut with a small cookie or biscuit cutter - we use a small oval cutter (1 X 1-1/2-inches), think bite-size.

Bake on ungreased baking sheets at 350° F for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool on racks.

Put together impairs with butter cream frosting and decorate top with a swirl of frosting.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A printer friendly version of these recipes can be found on our web site at http://www.stoneturtlebaking.com/webdocs/recipes.htm.