The Baking Queen

Family’s are often caught up in so many plans during Christmastime that sitting down together over a fancy dinner may not be a good fit. Your family members may be traveling and have to head out before dinnertime, or you may be expected to eat at several homes and can’t fill up on a big meal at each home. Or, you may simply need to watch the food budget and can’t justify the expense that a big sit-down meal usually entails.

When your budget is part of your decision. consider how expensive a fancy sit down meal tends to be. You’ll have a large main course, typically a big piece of meat or poultry. Then you have all the side dishes to go along with that, and we can’t forget the desserts. Of course, what’s a nice cup of coffee without some wonderful fudge and candy. You’ll also might serve beverages that cost more, like mixed drinks and wine. Evening meals just seem to cost more.

If your family needs to trim the Christmas budget, travel to more than one household for dinner, or leave early in the day for another location, celebrating together with a brunch instead of dinner may help solve your dilemma. Let’s take a look at how we can host a brunch that is not only convenient, but fun, frugal, and delicious.

Brunch Casserole – Probably one of the most familiar and popular dishes for brunch, there are countless recipes from which to choose. Most begin with some sort of potato like hash browns, or bread. To that you add your layers of anything like sausage, ham, green pepper, cheese, and egg. This assemblage is refrigerated overnight, then baked in the morning and served hot. You can make this as simple or as complicated as you choose.

Skillet Dish – If you’ve ever had a Frittata then you know what a skillet meal is like. For brunch, you want to make the Frittata using a variety of breakfast-like foods. Starting with some hash browns or rice, you would fry that up with whatever sausage or ham you like, maybe some vegetables, then pour the egg over and let it set up. Cover it with some shredded cheddar cheese and you have a complete meal in a skillet.

Muffin Tin Meal – Little individual pot pies is what we’re thinking here. Use any refrigerator biscuit to form the crust. You may want to give them a little pre-baking time, then cool and fill with a variety of breakfast food, which could include some sausage, bacon, egg and cheese. Bake them until the egg sets up and the biscuit is golden brown. You can even make actual muffins and stir the ingredients right in the muffin mix.

Omelets – The only reason I hesitate to recommend omelets for brunch is that they can be time consuming for the host. If you decide to make omelets, you’ll need to have an assortment of fillings available, and that will take some preparation time. And, after all the preparation is over, you will have to stand at a stove whipping up the omelets for your guests. If your set up is such that you’ll be stuck away in the kitchen while your guests are mingling in the dining room, this may not suit your plans. However, if you have an open concept kitchen and will do most of the entertaining and dining right there near the stove, then it may work out well for you. It all depends on how much cooking you want to do while your guests are there.

Prepare a variety of food and fill your brunch buffet with lots of choices and your guests won’t be disappointed. Add a tray of fresh fruit, some coffee, tea, milk, and juice, and your brunch is complete. Don’t forget a simple assortment of cookies to finish off the meal. No fancy pies, cakes, or candy for brunch. Some of your guests could be on their way to another meal!

These are just a few simple ideas to put together a brunch for your Christmas get together. When you are cooking these sorts of dishes, you won’t waste a lot of time in the kitchen, nor will you waste a lot of money. Enjoy your day!

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