Tradition.

I’m just gonna lay it all out there…I.love.Christmas. Now, maybe not as much as my father in law, who has somehow convinced my mother in law to keep a ‘Holiday Tree’ up all year long. The ‘Holiday Tree’, is a Christmas tree that is decorated for the current holiday. For instance, in October it had jack-o-lantern and skull & cross bone ornaments to represent Halloween. I’m sure that for St. Patty’s day it will be adorned with green shamrocks and for the 4^th of July, it’ll be covered in red, white and blue.  

My father in law loves Christmas, he passed down that love to my husband and my husband just reinforced the love I had already developed over the years from my childhood. CHRISTMAS IS THE BEST. 

Now, one thing I should admit is that I tend to have an unhealthy fear of breaking tradition. I don’t know what I think will happen if we don’t do exactly what we’ve done in past Christmases, but let’s just say I’m not willing to find out. 

Growing up, my family had a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve. Well, one year we were traveling on the east coast and our Christmas Eve was spent on a train. I was devastated! That is NOT how our evening should’ve been spent. We were supposed to be in our pj’s, drinking hot Dr. Pepper with lemon and listening to Johnny Mathis. I somehow recovered. 

This year is a little bittersweet. It is the first Christmas I’ll spend with my husband as a married couple; however it’s also the first Christmas I’ll spend apart from my parents. But I’m finding ways to keep my family near, by incorporating some of their traditions into our new Crosby Christmas Traditions.  

As mentioned above, I don’t typically stray from tradition, but it is important for Brian and me to establish traditions of our own. That is why I have been searching all over the internet to find the perfect recipe for our Christmas morning meal. Every year, without fail, my mother made Baked Apple Pancakes and it was special because she only made it on Christmas. Now, I never really liked the recipe, but that’s beside the point. Tradition is tradition! 

I want to make something sweet, like coffee cake or cinnamon rolls, but I want it to be unique and something special that will only be made December 25^th of every year. However, Brian doesn’t share a love for sweets like I do (which makes it difficult to fit in my pants when I make cupcakes and I’m the only one eating them), so I wanted to make a savory dish as well. 

So I can have a piece of my mother with me in the kitchen on Christmas morning, I decided to make her recipe that I’ve learned is similar to Monkey Bread.  

I thought I’d share the recipe here:

“Pull Aparts”

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg of whomp biscuits (For those not in my family, whomp biscuits are refrigerated buttermilk biscuits typically made by Pillsbury. The name comes from the action/sound that occurs when hitting the package on the side of the counter to get it to split open.)
• ½ stick melted butter
• ½ cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

• Separate biscuits, cut each into 4 pieces.
• Dip each piece in butter then dredge in cinnamon/sugar mixture.
• Place in greased baking dish with sides touching.
• Bake according to whomp biscuit package directions.
• When done, immediately turn out onto serving dish and eat warm. 
• *You can pile these on top of each other in baking dish. Mom prefers them layered so they get a little crisper

Looks easy enough, right? I’m sure it is, but you better believe I’ll have my mom on facetime speed dial just in case. My mother made this for us quite a few times, so I can attest to the amazingly delicious flavor and aroma this recipe creates. 

I can’t however, attest to the deliciousness of this next recipe because I’ve never made it and I actually took two separate recipes and combine them. I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll be a success because due to my level of laziness, I don’t plan on doing a trial run before Christmas. 

I’ve dubbed it the “Merry, Meaty Christmas Casserole”.

Prep Time: 10 min + chilling

Bake Time: 50 min

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients: 

• 7 slices white bread, crusts removed and cubed
• 2 cups (8 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups milk
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 2 cups diced cooked ham
• 1 cup breakfast sausage

Directions

• In a greased 11in x 7in baking dish, spread ham into the bottom of dish
• Butter one side of bread, then cut slices into cubes.
• Arrange butter cubes of bread atop ham, then layer cheese over bread. 
• Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat, drain off any fat, and let cool.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper; stir in sausage, pour over bread and cheese. 
• Sprinkle with bacon. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I can’t wait to try this because it seems pretty straight forward to make and I’m sure it will taste heavenly! I’ll let you know how it turns out. 

Cheers to discovering new traditions and cherishing the old!