The brunch table. Simple but still special.

This post is a little throwback. Appropriate I suppose. It being Thursday and all.

I have yet to post anything about our Christmas and wanted to share our brunch + how we celebrated.

This is the second Christmas we’ve spent as a married couple and away from our families. Last year was fun and novel. We were fresh little babies in the city. There were so many things to experience that it took our minds off the fact that we were not spending this special time with our families. However, this year was a little different. We both felt the effects of being far from home. But, it was also fun to make traditions. My favorite, two-years running, is Christmas Day brunch.

Brunch is great because there are so many recipes you can make ahead and then stick in the oven for a low-key day. And, brunch feel like a special occasion. You make dinner every night, but it’s not often you eat a full brunch at home. Another plus is that you then have the whole day to bask in the Christmas glow and you’re not stuck in a kitchen.

We wake up, turn on the oven and put anything in that needs it, open stockings, finish putting brunch together, EAT!, cleanup, and then open presents.

In our everyday lives Xander makes the savory things and I make the sweet. It’s what we’re each good at and what we enjoy. However for Christmas brunch we switched it up. I made the most delicious (savory) breakfast casserole you’ve ever tasted and Xander made cinnamon rolls from scratch (I’ll share both recipes later). It was a major deviation from everyday, but both turned out beautifully. We also had a citrus-pear salad and a side of bacon (how can you not, right?). Here are a few snaps of the food and table setting and the tree.

Xander's cinnamon rolls. A biscuit-like crumb with cinnamon spice-y flavors, and cream cheese glaze.

My breakfast casserole. It's almost like a very savory bread pudding. Highlights include: butter, cheddar cheese, white bread, and a custardy eggy texture. I'm telling you, it's so tasty that it's almost wrong.

This one isn't so much for the bacon, but the plate the bacon is on. It's one of my very favorites and I currently have an obsession with this potter. I'm working on collecting more of her pieces.