Christmas Breakfast Recipes and Tips

Mr. Food's homemade quiche is a perfect make-ahead Christmas breakfast recipe!

From Helayne Rosenblum, Mr. Food Senior Writer
 
Our family and friends celebrate all the December holidays, including a few extras like birthdays and anniversaries that arrive at this time of year, too. This year, we’ve been invited to our friends’ home for Christmas morning and they’ve asked everyone to bring something along for the breakfast buffet.  

We’re going to have to leave home really early to drive there on Christmas morning, so I need a make-ahead breakfast recipe. I refuse to give in and buy store-bought for Christmas breakfast, so I’ve decided to make one of my favorite bed and breakfast-inspired quiches. I’ve been to quite a few really beautiful B & B’s, many of them along the California coast where, years ago, an innkeeper told me her secret to a custard-like quiche was to always use heavy cream. Let me tell you, her advice was spot on. It never mattered what other ingredients have gone into it…the eggs, the veggies, the ham or bacon…it was that cream that made the difference, plus no low-fat anything. Forget it — not the cheese, nada.  

I’m going to  bake off my “Helayne version” of Quiche Lorraine the day before Christmas. I’ll do the usual “wrap it tightly and store in the fridge routine” and, on Christmas morning, I’ll keep it in an insulated bag for the car ride to our friends’ house. I already checked with them about needing 15 minutes of their oven time to simply reheat the quiche, and they said that would be fine.  

Mr. Food has a bunch of super quiche recipes you can put to good use at this time of year, whether you’re entertaining on Christmas morning or you need a good bring-along. Two of my all-time favorites are his Spinach Quiche and Tomato Basil Quiche.   

Besides the quiche, another easy idea that I like to do at my place whenever I’m making a breakfast for company is to have sliced bananas, strawberries and blueberries on hand – along with confectioners’ sugar. It’s like my garnishing arsenal. All you do is sprinkle them over store-bought or homemade pancakes, French toast or waffles…and people go crazy over them. It makes your breakfast dishes look like something you’d get at a restaurant…and all it is is pieces of colorful fresh fruit and some sugar.  

The most important thing now is not to knock yourself out in the kitchen. Take shortcuts where possible, and always check our Mr. Food recipe search box first. It’s a treasure chest of great-tasting, easy recipes! Enjoy your time with those you love – in the end, that’s all that really matters. I want to wish all of you a happy holiday season, and I look forward to sharing lots more with you in 2011…so stay tuned!