Christmas Cooking with Dr. Margaret
So…I have a huge confession to make. I have been asked to put a Christmas Recipe on the Blog…but here’s the thing…I really don’t like to cook! (there, I have admitted it to the world!)
Now don’t get me wrong, I have lots of wonderful Recipes. My mother was a wonderful cook and our family was even featured in Southern Living magazine one Christmas with her 50+ Christmas Cookies she made every year! My sister-in-law Katie is also a wonderful cook! She LOVES cooking so much she even reads Cook Books for the fun of it! And even Jimboy is a great cook and enjoys cooking as a way to relax from the day.
But honestly, I only cook when I have to. My favorite thing to do with a recipe is hand it to someone else. (sorry, but it’s true!)
So while other people get excited about cooking and baking and making lots of tasty treats for the Holiday season, I get excited about decorating and setting tables and wrapping presents! I love to create the “backdrop” for the season and for the yummy treats that other people are creating.
And I must admit, I go a little bit overboard. We have LOTS of Christmas decorations! I have been collecting Nativity scenes since before Jimboy and I were married, and have at least one in every room. We have multiple trees: one with homemade ornaments (even a snowman Jimboy made when HE was in kindergarten), one with sentimental family ornaments, and a big tree with more formal glass ornaments. Of course, Jimboy always likes to give it his funny touch, by hiding certain ornaments, or creating a scene with them for others to find.
Of course, none of these decorations are necessary, (our decorations are way beyond reason!) but I recently read a poem by Madeleine L’Engle that made me feel a bit better:
This is the irrational season / When love blooms bright and wild. / Had Mary been filled with reason / there’d have been no room for the child.
It made me feel better about being a bit “irrational and unreasonable” at Christmas. Our home is “blooming bright and wild” this season, sparkling with the joy of our Savior’s birth! Why not celebrate it? It is definitely a season of extravagance! (check out Jimboy’s devotion on Christmas Eve).
But back to the fact that I am supposed to be sharing a RECIPE!!!!!
Our favorite Christmas morning food tradition: Homemade Waffles! Jimboy makes an old Miller and Hanna (Libby’s family) recipe and we served them with warm melted butter and pure maple syrup! Yum. Yum.
Homemade Waffles for 2 (Libby Miller)
1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 egg yolk, 1 egg white, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup melter butter.
- Sift together flour, salt and baking powder
- Add egg yolk and milk to the dry mixture and mix well
- Add in butter and fold in stiffly beaten egg white
- Cook in waffle iron sprayed with Pam
Serve piping hot and fresh! It’s a Miller family favorite!
Our favorite bacon and sausage - hands down, Broadbent’s! This was my family’s business and the bacon has even been featured on Food Network and served in lots of fun, famous restaurants. It is the best bacon and sausage EVER!
If we are really feeling adventurous or craving something really sweet, we make Glazed Bacon (talk about extravagant!) Which Jimboy calls “candy bacon.”
Glazed Bacon
1/2 lb sliced lean bacon, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 tbsps red or white wine.
- Place bacon in large pan and bake in a preheated 310 degree oven for 10 minutes (until the bacon is almost crisp). Drain off all fat.
- Combine sugar, mustard, and wine until smooth. Pour half this mixture over bacon and return to oven for 10 more minutes.
- Turn bacon, cover with remaining glaze, continue to bake until golden brown. Remove and place on waxed paper.
Serve warm or cool. It’s such a special treat, a little goes a long way!
So join me with a spirit of celebration this Christmas season as you whip up your favorite recipes to share (even if you only whip up a cup of instant hot chocolate!). Whatever it is you love to do at Christmas (be it cooking, decorating, or just singing Christmas songs), do it all with abandon for it all Glorifies God!