Christmas Dinner ~ A First for the Decade

What?  A first?  Yes, this is the first year I have cooked Christmas Dinner all by myself.  I picked the menu, assembled the recipes, bought the ingredients, and managed the workforce.  The end result?  Three buffet dishes for breakfast at the relatives and dinner for my brood and some friends.

BREAKFAST

Cheddar-Sausage Breakfast Quiche
Sweet Ricotta Breakfast Quiche
Baked Brie with Apples & Cranberries

 

DINNER

Baked Ham
Au Gratin Potatoes
Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Cranberry Orange Salad
Deviled Eggs
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie

Cooking is the area I am best at expressing my creativity.  It was a wonderful gift for me to be able to pour so much of myself into this simple meal.  Why, then, is the the first Christmas Dinner I've cooked this decade?  Simple.  My mother is usually in my kitchen for the holidays and I learned a long time ago to just let her do it her way.  If I want to change my mother's cooking habits all I have to do is tell her how I do it and guaranteed she will do the opposite.  In the interest of family peace, I live with the same, old bland and boring holiday food every year.  (Well, except for the homemade noodles.  My mother makes exceptional noodles!)  This year she and my sisters stayed in Missouri and we stayed in Kentucky.  Really a win-win if you ask me!

Sausage-Cheddar Breakfast Quiche

Ingredients

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup milk or half-and-half
1 tsp ground mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 - 8" pie crust

Directions:

• Brown sausage in a skillet and remove with a slotted spoon - you can also let the sausage drain on a paper towel to remove even more fat


• Place crust in pie plate


• Arrange sausage on bottom of crust


• Sprinkle cheese on top of sausage


• Whisk together eggs, milk, ground mustard, and salt & pepper


• Pour egg mixture slowly over cheese and sausage


• Bake uncovered at 350F for 35-40 minutes ~ eggs shouldn't be jiggly when it's finished

This recipe was modified from Paula Deen's Sausage Quiche from the website grandparents.com. I like to add mustard to my sausage quiche and I also wanted more eggs and less milk.

Yummy!

Simple Au Gratin Potatoes

I'm not going to give specific ingredient amounts for this recipe, because it's very easily adapted to however many people you want to serve.

Basic Ingredients:

Potatoes
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Paprika

Directions:

• Choose an oven-safe casserole dish that will accommodate the number of people you'll be serving


• Thinly slice potatoes in a single layer in the bottom of the dish


• Sprinkle lightly with flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg - remember, the seasoning will be in each layer, so don't be too heavy-handed


• Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheddar cheese


• Repeat layers until casserole is filled

• For every 1 1/2 quarts of casserole, make a mixture of 1/4 cup melted butter in 1 1/4 cups milk and pour it over the layers


• Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika

Bake covered at 325F for 1 1/2 hours, or until a nice golden-brown crust forms on top and potatoes are tender.

The more you make, the longer it will take to cook. For Christmas Dinner I made enough casserole to fill a 3 quart dish and I baked it for 2 hours at 350F. I had other dishes in the oven, so 350 was my only choice. :p

This recipe is adapted from Marcia Adam' Old-Fashioned Escalloped Potatoes in Cooking from Quilt Country: Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens.