A Christmas Breakfast Tradition

When you think of Holiday meals, you often think of a big turkey or ham dinner. But what about breakfast? My family has started a tradition of having a big Christmas breakfast on Christmas morning. It started when my son and twin nephews were very young. My parents would wait, not so patiently, for my brother and myself to pack up the kids and come up there to see them. Breakfast was always the last thing on the kid’s minds, so it started out simple with my mom making cinnamon rolls. As the boys got a little older and could wait a little longer to start opening up gifts, a more traditional breakfast was made. As my son Zach grew older, I found myself up pacing in the morning waiting for him to wake up. There were no more surprises so he didn’t really have a reason for waking at the crack of dawn. I decided a few years ago while I was up early watching A Christmas Story for the millionth time to make a big batch of sausage gravy and biscuits to take up to my parents for our annual Christmas breakfast. It was a huge hit on our breakfast menu and a tradition that my dad, brother and husband now look forward to every year. A very simple recipe turned into a great Christmas tradition for our family.

Brown 1 roll of Jimmy Dean (or your preference) sausage in a large pot. After it is all brown and crumbly, set the cooked sausage aside leaving all the fat in the pot. Add about 4 tablespoons of butter and let it melt. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons of flour over the melted butter and stir until there aren’t any lumps. Let that cook for a few minutes and then add 5 cups of milk, while whisking the whole time. Let that come to a slow boil and thicken, about 5 minutes or so. Add your cooked sausage and a ton of black pepper (the more black pepper the better). You can also add some crushed red pepper flakes if you like it a little on the spicy side. As always, add salt to taste and continue to let it simmer. I found that the longer this simmers, the better and better it will get. When it is breakfast time, simply make some frozen buttermilk biscuits (we love the Pillsbury frozen biscuits) and enjoy.

Happy Holidays!!!!

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