I love Christmas morning but I don’t want to be making breakfast in the kitchen, I want to be drinking coffee by the fire!
That is why I have tweaked recipe after recipe to find a great morning egg bake that you can make 24 hours before and it comes out divine. You are going to love this recipe.
What makes this so special is the hash browns. The difference between using hash browns and cubed bread is huge. I have also use the seasoned hash browns and they are so good.
You might not have seen a light or experienced a vision. But maybe you’ve had one of those moments when everything seems to come clear and you suddenly understand something in a whole new way. When you find yourself newly and intensely aware of God’s presence. When you are granted the gift of peering past the veil and you just know you’ve encountered the God who sees you. Something clicks in your mind and soul and spirit, and you suddenly think, Yes!
It’s called an epiphany moment. And if it has ever happened to you, you know what a true miracle it can be.
It happened to me about this time last year, while I was sitting in the car with my daughter Mackenzie.
Car on snowy road
Actually, the whole thing started several hours earlier, when I realized with a start that it was December 22 and I hadn’t even begun to prepare for Christmas.
This was not normal for me. I love Christmas, and I usually start my preparations early. But this year Christmas had sort of been pushed aside by a family wedding. And I suddenly realized I had only forty-eight hours to make Christmas happen—shopping, wrapping, cooking, everything. I was feeling like a failure before I even started.
That’s when Mackenzie called. “Mom, I’ve got to go to Target this morning. Do you have time to go with me?”
Yes! I thought. Perfect timing. I could take care of my to-do list and have some much-needed time with my firstborn. My efficient, get-it-done mode kicked in as I grabbed a large coffee, picked up my shopping list, and headed for Target with Mackenzie.
Would you believe I got all the shopping done in less than an hour? (That’s one upside of a limited budget.) I stuffed all my packages in the car, and we started for home, my mind already racing ahead to what I needed to do next.
But then, as we drove, I fell into a conversation with Mackenzie.
She shared with me some ideas she’d been writing about in her blog—thoughts about her experience of being an adult child from a divorced family, about taking responsibility for her life, and about the meaning of Christmas. Her insights were profound, thoughtful, seasoned with both pain and maturity. And by the time we pulled up in my driveway, time had stilled. All my concerns about shopping and cooking and making Christmas happen had faded.
“Mom,” Mackenzie said to me there in the car, “Christ came when we didn’t acknowledge Him, when we weren’t grateful, when we were blind to our need and determined to have our own way. He came when we didn’t think we needed Him. And Mom, I am learning that He still comes, no matter what. He comes to free us from the failure of our lives, from the broken promises that seem to define us. He says, ‘I saw you in your need. And I still see you. I am restoring all you thought was lost, all you have grieved and left behind. For with Me, all things are new.’”
I am fully convinced I experienced a miracle that morning through the life of my young adult daughter. With her words, with who she is, Mackenzie unwrapped my Christmas gift from the God who sees me. She helped me shift my perspective from anxiety over what needed to happen to peace over what God has done in all our lives.
“Well, we can take the tree down now, because Christmas has already happened,” I told Jerry when I walked into the house that day. Jerry smiled when I explained what had happened in the car. “Christmas is more than what hangs on that tree,” he said. “He hung on the tree. He is the gift.”
Jesus gave and still gives us the miracle of a perspective change. Right in the middle of the messiness of life, He still comes. He still reveals Himself to our longing eyes.
Adapted from The God Who Sees You, by Tammy Maltby (with Anne Christian Buchanan) David C. Cook publishers.
“To be a good host don’t pretend to be other than what you are.” Emily Post 1922
I would say that would be true of being a guest as well.
I think one of the most important parts of hospitality is learning to find your own style and feeling good in your own skin both as a host and as a guest. Learning to walk out lifegiving with comfort and care. Making room for yourself and others to just be.
No pretending. No performing.
Isn’t that what we all want anyway? A place we can go and just be our true authentic selves? No matter what the season.
I was talking to a friend this week who shared how difficult Christmas was for her last year. Her family has experienced a tragic loss and there was only energy to get though each day. She was feeling stress thinking she needed to get her act together but truthfully didn’t have any desire to put up a tree or wrap one gift. She said, “I still just need time. I feel like a foreigner to this season and what I really crave is comfort and quiet. A few close friends who get it and can handle my pain. A few friends that I can share a meal with and feel okay about both laughing…and crying. I just need to be.”
Lifegiving Hospitality is just that. “Lifegiving”…giving true life. For yourself or someone that sits at your table.
This season I encourage you to make room for yourself and others to be their true authentic selves.
In my opinion it is the best gift of all.
A Christmas Tea for Friends
Start simply. But simply start. Remember hospitality is giving others a message about their value. So sometimes just a great sandwich filling for an afternoon tea is just about the most comforting thing around. Finger sandwiches are classic fare—and these fillings are to die for! You will love the hot tea recipe. And your home will smell simply divine!
Salmon and Lemon-Caper Cream Sandwiches
½ cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. drained capers
½ tsp. finely shredded lemon
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. white pepper
Butter or mayonnaise
32 slices bread (your choice)
Curly endive or lettuce leaves
8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon (lox) or smoked turkey
In a small mixing bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients. Spread 32 slices of bread with butter or mayonnaise. Top 16 slices with greens and divide salmon or turkey on lettuce. Top with 1 tsp. mayonnaise mixture per sandwich and finish sandwich with remaining bread slices. If desired, garnish with fresh dill. Serve at once. Makes 1/3 cup dressing, or 16 servings.
Curried Chicken-Cashew Sandwiches
Here’s another amazing tea sandwich that’s great for luncheon as well.
½ cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. soft-style cream cheese (from a tub)
2 Tbsp. snipped chives or thinly sliced green onion
1 tsp. curry powder
¼ tsp. salt
1½ cups (8 ounces) cooked chicken or turkey, finely chopped
¼ cup cashews (or almonds), finely chopped
Butter or mayonnaise
24 slices bread (your choice)
Curly endive or lettuce
In a bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients, then add chicken and cashews and blend thoroughly. Spread 24 slices of bread with butter or mayonnaise. Top 12 slices with greens and 2 Tbsp. chicken mixture. Top with snipped chives or thinly sliced green onion and cover with remaining bread slices. Makes 1½ cups filling, or 12 servings.
Simple Tip
Use the bread of your choice to make tea sandwiches—regular white or wheat, pumpernickel or rye party slices, tiny croissants, or miniature bagels. If your bread has crusts, cut them off before filling. (You can stack 6 slices of bread at a time to cut off crusts.) Always spread bread slices thinly with butter or mayonnaise to keep the bread from becoming soggy.
Simple Tip
The best tea sandwiches are practically bite-sized. Use a serrated knife to cut large sandwiches into triangles or small squares. Or try cutting out simple shapes with a Christmas cookie cutter! If you do this after the sandwiches are filled, the cutter will seal the edges and help keep the filling from leaking out.
Simply Beautiful Tip
Hold sandwiches together with toothpicks stuck through a sprig of herbs or a slice of green stuffed olive—or sprinkle top of sandwich with chopped basil or dill. Arrange on a pretty platter topped with a paper doily.
Simple Tip
For a very simple, delicious, and beautiful tea sandwich, spread thin slices of your favorite fruit-nut bread with flavored cream-cheese spread from a bagel shop.
Christmas Tea
Sweet with a hint of spice - Great for parties, easy to make in large batches
2 cinnamon sticks
6 to 12 whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
12 cups water
12 individual tea bags
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
Directions
Place cinnamon sticks, allspice and cloves on a double thickness of cheesecloth. Bring up corners of cloth; tie with a string to form a bag.
Place water and spice bag in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add tea bags; cover and steep for 5 minutes. Discard tea bags and spice bag. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Add juices; heat through. Serve warm. Yield: 3 quarts.
Russian Tea
I triple the recipe and add a 9.5 oz bag EACH of red hot candies and lemonheads into the mix-after mixing the rest of the ingredients. Then using a canning funnel, I pack the mix into 1/2 pint, pint and quart jars. Try layering it is beautiful and makes a wonderful Christmas gift!
3 cups instant tea with lemon-flavoring dry mix
3 cups orange-flavored drink mix (e.g. Tang)
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories:
by Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved.
Purchase The Christmas Kitchen at http://tammymaltby.com/the-christmas-kitchen for more wonderful holiday favorites!
The top of this pudding is custard and the rice settles to the bottom…and the whole thing is amazingly yummy!
We lost this recipe for almost eight years and tried about twenty-five other rice-pudding recipes, but could never get it so creamy and yummy. While working on my cookbook I went though all my recipes and books–trust me, this was no small task!—and found it! My kids went crazy!! That very night we made two recipes and—can you believe it?—we ate it all!
(This wonderful pudding may be made with Almond Milk and turns out wonderful. Ck note below).
Enjoy!
8 cups whole milk, divided
1 cup jasmine rice (regular rice works great too)
1 cup golden raisins
½ cup butter
4 cups whole milk
8 beaten eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice
Fresh whipped cream or half-and-half
Fresh raspberry’s in a sugar sauce
In a four-quart heavy sauce pan bring 4 cups of milk, rice, and raisins to a full boil, then quickly reduce heat. Cover and cook over very low heat until rice is tender, stirring several times. (Watch carefully to prevent boil-overs.)
When rice is fully cooked—approximately 15 minutes—remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine remaining 4 cups milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and gradually stir into the cooked rice mixture. Pour into a well-greased 3-quart baking dish. Bake uncovered at 325 for 30 minutes. Stir and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice (I generally use two of the three). Return to oven and bake another 25 minutes, until edges are set. The center will still be “wiggly.” Let sit 10 minutes. Serve with fresh whipped cream or half-and-half and a raspberry sugar sauce.
NOTE: My daughter and grandson can not eat diary. Thus we tried this recipe with almond milk and it was amazing. Almond milk is low in fat, despite originating from a high-fat nut, and the flavor is surprisingly mild. Cooked down, it gives the pudding a very creamy taste and yummy mouth-feel. You, your hips and your cholesterol count won’t miss the dairy at all.
Recipe from The Christmas Kitchen A Gathering Place for Making Memories by Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved.
I love this time of the year! It represents faith, family, food and many wonderful memories.
For the next several weeks I will be posting some of my favorite recipes and holiday traditions. I hope you will find great encouragement and inspiration to make this time of the year a season of joy, hope and yes delicious food!
I’ve served this fruity soup to kick off holiday dinners for many years now. It’s cool, refreshing, and festive. Best of all, it can be made days ahead and served directly from the refrigerator.
4 cups fresh cranberries
3 cups water
1½ cups sugar
4 inches stick cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. allspice
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 Tbsp. finely shredded orange peel
2 large cans mandarin oranges—1 for soup and 1 for garnish
Mint leaves
In a 3-quart saucepan, combine cranberries, water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 5 minutes or until about half of the cranberries are popped. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice, lemon peel, orange peel, and 1 can mandarin oranges, drained. Cool. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours. To serve, ladle into soup bowls. Top each serving with mandarin oranges in flower/star shape with a mint leaf in the center. Makes 6 to 8 side-dish servings.
From The Christmas Kitchen a Gathering Place for Making Memories by Tammy Maltby and Anne Chrstian Buchanan. All rights reserved.
Our ability to perceive Him is always a gift. He initiates those moments when, for no reason we can fathom, the veil that keeps us from seeing the unseen realm is pulled aside. The clouds lift from the mountain. Our perspective shifts, and we see things the way they really are.
It’s where everybody wants to be. And when Christmas rolls around, the kitchen is—or should be—Christmas Central. It’s where everyone gathers for hot chocolate and talk. It’s where soup bubbles on the stove and the aroma of cookies intoxicates. It’s the ideal source of homemade gifts and festive hospitality. Or it should be . . . if we don’t let the busyness of the season or our own inflated expectations overwhelm us.
Cookin’ up a Good Time will equip you to be the voice of hope, connecting people to God in your home. It’s certain to serve up messages of encouragement that’ll keep you coming back for second, third and fourth helpings
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