How to Prepare a Festive & Tasty Holiday Breakfast

Holiday planning tends to focus on the grandiose evening meal, but what about the first meal of the day? Start your holiday off with a tasty breakfast your entire family will enjoy. Make it a tradition! Here's how:

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Heart or Belgian waffle maker
• Pots & pans
• Spatulas, whisks, spoons, and other kitchen implements
• Holiday pancake molds
• Bacon
• Bulk pork breakfast sausage
• Pork sausage breakfast links
• Pancake syrup
• Butter
• Eggs
• Orange juice
• Pancake and waffle mix OR ingredients for baking pancakes and waffles from scratch
• Ham (optional)
• Whipped cream (for waffles, optional)
• Fruit such as sliced strawberries and sliced kiwis (optional)

1. Bake Waffles. Purchase a waffle maker that bakes heart-shaped waffles. If you have young children, they may also enjoy Disney or Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles. Others are impressed by those large round Belgian waffles. For a holiday treat, slice strawberries and kiwi, squirt real whipped cream on Belgian waffle, then place fruit atop whipped cream mound.

2. Bake Pancakes. Who doesn't like pancakes? You can purchase special holiday pancake molds to place on your griddle and pour batter into. Enjoy Christmas-tree pancakes, wreath pancakes, Santa Claus pancakes, and more. Serve with real butter and a variety of syrups including blueberry, strawberry, and real maple (Grade B for extra flavor and boldness).

3. Cook Bulk Pork Sausage. Bulk pork sausage typically comes in a plastic tube; but you can also purchase fresh in the meat aisle (looks like ground beef) or as pre-formed patties. Form patties into holiday shapes including snowflakes, snowmen, and Christmas trees; or use a pancake or cookie mold to form. Fry these in a pan for best taste (microwave not preferred here), then drain on paper towel.

4. Cook Pork Sausage Breakfast Links. The most delicious links I've tasted have actually been the store brand in the meat section; these are far better than the sausage links you find in the freezer aisle. Purchase either regular or maple flavor. When you get home, fry these up in a pan and drain on paper towel.

5. Cook Bacon. Just fry it in a pan and drain on paper towel. You can purchase many varieties of bacon: maple, hickory-smoked, peppered, applewood, etc. Try to avoid the cheaper brands of bacon as you'll run into some strips that are fatty and thin. For the holidays, a higher-grade bacon that is thicker and leaner will impress your guests. And remember, don't burn the bacon. Cook until very slightly brown on both sides.

6. Cook Eggs. You can make scrambled, fried, or boiled eggs. Scrambled is the easiest method; simply mix about six eggs in a bowl (enough for 3-4 guests) with a couple tablespoons of water and scramble in a lightly buttered pan. For best results, cook bacon in pan first, drain all grease, then scramble egg in the same pan, stirring all those tasty tiny bacon bits into the eggs. For a festive holiday scrambled eggs, add finely chopped red and green pepper to the mix before cooking.

7. Serve Orange Juice and Coffee. Two delicious breakfast beverages are orange juice and coffee. To save money, you can purchase an orange juice concentrate and make your own orange juice in a juice container. But if you want to impress your guests, you can buy one of those tasty juice blends: orange-banana-strawberry, orange-pineapple-banana, etc. Per coffee, a drip coffee maker with 12-ounce carafe and timer comes in very handy. My dream coffee maker is a model that grinds coffee fresh on a timer, brews it, then pours coffee into a stainless steel thermal carafe. That way, the coffee stays hot but doesn't burn, and you can simply grab the carafe and place it on your table for guests to pour into their mugs and enjoy. Tie a big red bow on the handle of the carafe for decoration.

Tips & Warnings

• Other breakfast options include prepackaged instant oatmeal, pop tarts, toaster strudels, donuts, coffee cake, french toast, and grits with cheese and butter.
• Manual French Press coffeemakers will wow your guests, and the taste is unmatched. These are relatively inexpensive and are easy to operate; simply add hot water to grounds and slowly force plunger down.
• Waffles and pancakes are very easy to make from scratch. Before you purchase a mix, search for a recipe and see if you're up to it. They only take a few simple ingredients and are healthier than mixes or frozen varieties.
• Experiment with holiday waffle and pancake recipes including pumpkin and cinnamon-spice.
• Add lemon pepper to scrambled eggs to add extra depth of flavor.
• Get creative with a dash of holiday sugar sprinkles, for example, tiny Christmas trees or candy canes.
• If you have real candy canes on hand, crush them finely by hand or in a food processor and sprinkle on pancakes or waffles for a fun and colorful holiday peppermint experience.
• Remember to wash your hands after dealing with egg and pork products.
• Always cook eggs thoroughly.
• Experimenting with red or green food coloring is generally not recommended for breakfast treats. You can try red or green holiday waffles or pancakes, but word of warning, it may not go over so well.

Resources

• All Recipes.com Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
• Mr. Breakfast.com

[MommyBear]

on 11/28/2008 Love waffles with whipped cream and fruit! These are great and very simple breakfast ideas for any day. :) Thanks for these yummy ideas! 5*****