Quick Holiday Brunch Recipes

Even though these holiday recipes are almost always part of our family's Christmas or Thanksgiving celebrations, they would be great for Valentine's Day, Easter, July 4th, Hanukah, Kwanza or any other ethnic or religious or patriotic occasion.

You can have a festive get-together just about any time of the day. Breakfast or brunch is a wonderful time for a holiday celebration. It's a more casual meal and there are many recipes that can be prepared ahead of time. Another nice reason for entertaining at brunch is that usually your guests leave early afternoon which gives everyone the rest of the day for doing other things.

At our home, the menu never varies...

• Honey Bee Ambrosia
• Eggnog French Toast;
• Glazed Sausage and Bacon
• Mimosas or Orange Juice

This delicious fruit dish comes from my very old and very loved Betty Crocker cookbook. To prepare; this you will need:

2 medium oranges, chilled

1 medium banana

1 or 2 apples (washed but left unpeeled)

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup orange juice

1 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup flaked coconut

Pare oranges and cut into thin slices. Core the apples and cut into chunks. Peel banana and cut into slices. Mix fruits very carefully.

Combine orange juice, honey and lemon juice until honey has blended well. I often heat it in a saucepan to quickly dissolve the honey and then I cool it before stirring it into the fruit. You can do that ahead of time. Spoon into a pretty clear glass or crystal bowl and sprinkle with coconut.

From the product description:

The Dublin dessert set, by Shannon Crystal, includes a beautiful footed serving bowl, and 4 matching individual bowls. This lovely set is perfect for fuit, salad, ice cream, and many other choices.

1 12-oz. loaf Italian or French bread

4 eggs

1 cup half-and-half

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

confectioners' sugar

Cut bread crosswise into 16 slices Arrange in a 15 1/2" x 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan, overlapping slices, if necessary. (You could also use your broiler pan since it's a large, flat pan with an edge all around it.)

In a large bowl, with a wire whisk, beat eggs with next 4 ingredients utnil blended. Pour mixture over bread in pan, turning slices to coat both sides and until all mixture is absorbed.

Preheat over to 500 degrees F.. Grease 2 large cookie sheets. Place bread slices on cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes on each side or until golden. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with your favorite syrup.

What you will need:

16 ounces sausage links (cocktail size or regular size, halved)

3/4 pound Polish sausage or bratwurst, sliced in rounds

1/2 to 3/4 pound regular bacon

3/4 pound Canadian bacon or small ham slices

1/4 cup current jelly (I have also used apple jelly)

1 Tablespoon ketchup

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Cook regular bacon and Canadian bacon or ham. In separate pan, cook sausage links and polish sausage or brats (if they aren't precooked) in about 1/4 cup boiling water, covered, for about 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue cooking, turning often until water evaporates and sausages are browned (about 15 to 20 minutes). Discard all but 2 Tablespoons of drippings.

Into same skillet with dripppings, stir the jelly, syrup and ketchup. Add the cooked meats and cook over low heat until heated through. Arrange sausages and bacon on a platter or a shallow serving bowl and pour the remaining glaze over all.

...for your Holiday Brunch

There are any number of juices and teas and coffees that would be excellent. I suggest offering a variety of juices and brunch cocktails plus coffee and/or tea.

A nice selection of fruit juice would be

Orange juice

Grapefruit juice

Cranberry juice

Tomato juice

Serve in pretty glasses and garnish with a stalk of celery, a slice of lemon, cherries (with stems) or a sprig of herbs.

If you are serving adults, these juices also lend themselves nicely to the addition of champagne or rum or vodka for a more lively drink! Try aquavit instead of vodka for a Bloody Dane instead of a Bloody Mary. Mimosa is simply three parts of champagne to two parts of orange juice.

Photo courtesy of kspodder

Celtic Glass Designs create significant and expressive gifts designed by Beverley Gallagher.

The Love knot is based on the legend of St. Valentine, the patron saint of all lovers. The intertwined love knots symbolise lovers' never ending eternal love. Glassware items in the Double Love knot design are beautifully decorated with sparkling glass facets. Each piece of glassware is hand painted. The design is drawn by hand onto the glassware with a gold liner.

I hope you enjoyed this page and have decided to try a recipe of two. Please leave a message to let me know you stopped by.