Quick and easy Christmas breakfasts and tasty treats

Why am I sharing quick and easy Christmas breakfasts and tasty treat ideas on a blog dedicated to finding happiness right where you are, that helps you build stronger and more satisfying relationships?

I’m talking about simple and yummy food that you gives you more time to enjoy family and friends.

Prepared with lots less stress and delivering lots more Wow!

If that’s not happiness, I’m not sure what is.

Some of you who have been with me for years—thank you, both of you—know that I was an innkeeper in one of my previous lives.

Yes, my hubby, my parents and I successfully ran a family-friendly inn.

We could sleep up to 50 guests, served an incredibly tasty all-you-could-eat breakfast each morning, and offered warm, homemade cookies every afternoon.

And, we didn’t gain a gizillion pounds, either, or lose our minds, for that matter.

We did gather a tremendous amount of knowledge during those years, however, and I am passing some of that on to you today.

When you cook for about 30-40 folks on a regular basis, you have to learn shortcuts and tricks, or you won’t survive.

I think the biggest shift for us was realizing so much could be prepared ahead of time and either frozen, put in the refrigerator overnight, or baked in the oven instead of on the stovetop.

Since none of us were cooks or bakers by trade, we also discovered that starting with a great recipe was huge help.

I am highlighting the tips that were the most helpful to us and am also linking back to the original posts that go into more detail.

The freezer is your friend

If you would like warm, melt-in-your mouth muffins, look to your freezer.

Make your recipe like you always do.

Grease your muffin tins—no paper!—and drop the batter into the cups.

Place the tin into the freezer. Yes, the freezer.

When they are frozen, pop the muffin pucks out of the tin and into a freezer baggie you have already labeled with the date, flavor, and cooking time and temp, too, if you like.

Now, when you want to serve these delightful treats, just turn the oven on to preheat, put the frozen muffins into paper-lined or greased tins, and then bake.

Voila! Instant mouth-watering goodness, a minimum of cleanup, and more time to spend with family.

The same process is used for producing tender and moist scones.

Don’t believe there is such a thing? Be sure to sign up for my booklet at the end that includes the recipes!

Remember that the recipes we used were tested and given a hearty thumbs up by hundreds of guests.

Cookies are done the same way: Make batter, put dough balls into the freezer, bake when desired.

All the information you need is here.

The oven is your friend

Bacon.

Is there any breakfast food more messy and annoying to cook, but more delicious to eat?

Use your oven, and bake the bacon in advance.

Directions are here. Do take care.

Bag it, refrigerate it, or freeze it for later.

Hide it well, otherwise you may discover your family has made it disappear . . .

The refrigerator is your friend

If you are making breakfast for a group, think in terms of casseroles that can be made the night before.

A creamy potato casserole, a sweet Raspberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast, a savory egg casserole, coffee cake, fruit on the side, and bacon.

Are you hungry yet?

We would make the breakfast dishes after dinner and put them into the refrigerator.

In the morning, we would take them out to warm up just slightly, turn the ovens onto preheat, and then bake.

You are now the hostess with the mostest!

The how-to is here.

Tools, equipment, and lifesavers, that are your friends, too

We discovered that commercial cookware was a delight to use and gave us consistent results.

Heavy, lipped cookie sheets are great for cookies, large recipes of bar cookies, and baking bacon.

Pansavers are the most amazing invention ever to keep cleaning to a minimum.

Parchment paper is a must for terrific cookies that slide off the sheets.

One of the biggest surprises?

Fluffy, delectable, pancakes from a mix.

You only have to add water. That’s it. Just water.

You may consider this heresy.

I call it sweet.

More on resources here.

BTW-If you find a 10 lb bag of pancake mix is too much, the company sells small boxes in grocery stores.

I have gathered  the tips, hints, equipment suggestions, recipes, and more into a handy booklet for you: Innkeeper Secrets Revealed!

If you would like this, just become a subscriber using the box below or the gift box to the upper right.

Then, shoot me an email letting me know you’ve subscribed. Please use “Please send the Innkeeper Secrets to me!” in your subject line so I can get this to you pronto. 😉

If you are already a faithful follower, just shoot me the email.

I hope you find these secrets for quick and easy Christmas breakfasts and tasty treats encourage you to relax and enjoy Christmas more, to spend more time with loved ones than running around cooking and cleaning.

Beyond that, I pray this helps you to be more confident about reaching out and having family, friends, and yet-to-be friends over for a meal, or just for coffee and treats. After all, life is about about building and maintaining relationships, reaching out to folks, sharing conversation and laughter in your kitchen, which is the heart of your home.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  ~1 Peter 4:8-9

Question: What one thing can you do differently with your Christmas cooking to lighten the stress and increase your joy?

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