I’ve got your breakfast ready!

Shoot. Those darn teenagers.

You’ll have to make your own. But! It’s easy, and you probably have the ingredients sitting in your kitchen right now. This is a great Christmas morning casserole, hearty and fast and just right to fill up the kids (and him) until the big dinner is ready. It can be as simple–or as complicated–as you want it to be. It’s a versatile recipe, easy to add on to according to your tastes, and best of all, you can make it ahead, stick it in the fridge overnight (tonight!), and pop it in the oven while you’re opening presents.

How to make the Ultimate Breakfast Casserole:

12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled*
4 cups cubed bread**
1/2 cup butter, melted***
2 cups cheese, grated
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream****
salt and pepper to taste
additions, to taste*****

*You can substitute 3/4 pound (or 1 1/2 cups) sausage or ham or ground beef or……. Whatever you have!

**I use Grandmother Bread. Of course.

***You can get away with 1/4 cup butter. Or even margerine. If you must. I would never!!

****If you don’t have any sour cream, you can use 2 cups milk instead.

*****Add 1 cup chopped sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, or other vegetables, if you like. MY KIDS WOULD KILL ME. But you go ahead.

This is, as you can see, like so many of my recipes, a standard that you can rely on to then change to suit your own family. I love recipes like that. How do I come up with recipes like this? I take recipes from other places and start changing them to suit my family, and over the years, as our tastes–and their ages–change, I adjust them. I sometimes forget where recipes come from to start with. (And really, this is a very ordinary recipe–what’s special about it is how you can make it your own.) The important part is the standard–the quantities that work within the recipe. Once you deconstruct that part, the recipe is anything you want it to be. I hope you’ll make it something that is perfect for your family. Try it! You’ll like it. (Note: You can also easily cut this recipe in half, if that suits you, and bake it in an 8×8 pan. I’ve never done that, but there is no reason you can’t–I would recommend watching the baking time as that would probably not take as long.)

Cook and crumble bacon; set aside. Cube bread. Grease a 9×13 pan.

As you can see, 4 cups of cubed bread–to me–is 4 overflowing cups. I cut big cubes, and that makes a difference in what fills up a cup. Also, I’m using thick-sliced Grandmother Bread. If you’re using a different sort of bread, it might be different for you, so adjust accordingly. You want the bread to loosely cover the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

When I lay it out in a 9×13 pan, here is what the bread cubes look like.

Melt butter (or margerine) and pour over the bread cubes in the pan.

Toss with shredded cheese.

I’m using a Mexican Fiesta blend. Use whatever cheese you like.

Whisk eggs, milk, and sour cream.

If you’re adding sauteed vegetables, add them to the eggs, milk, and sour cream after you’ve whisked them. Add salt and pepper if you like. I use peppered bacon. Bacon is pretty salty, and it’s peppered, so I don’t add anything at this point.

Pour mixture evenly over bread cubes and cheese.

Sprinkle bacon (or whatever) over the top of the casserole. I like to toss chives over it, too. Then the teenagers start crying. “What is that green stuff?????” CHIVES. I grew them, chopped them, and froze them. It makes me happy to use them. I love them.

The teenagers just barely let me get away with that. Or most likely, by the time I get done telling them all that, they want to smack me and just get on with the pigging out.

Cover with foil. You can cook this right away, or let it sit in the fridge overnight. Bake at 325-degrees, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 15 minutes.

Get some for yourself before you call the teenagers.

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