When Going Get Tough, The Tough Make Strata

In the Christmas movie The Family Stone, Claire Daine's character asks Sarah Jessica-Parker's character, "Meredith, what's going on? You called me to come down here and now you're making strata?"

I mean, are holidays ever perfect? If they are, you are lying or spending them alone. It's the imperfections that make things memorable. So why not embrace that?

My sister and her masterpiece on Christmas morning

That's exactly what me and my sister did. Our family is loud. And opinionated. We sometimes drink too much.  And we argue. But we are who we are...a "Family Stone" of sorts, and I wouldn't trade my family for any other.  So, while watching the Family Stone (I, by the way am the pregnant older sister, and my sister is the one carrying the laundry bag) we laughed about how this could be our family, and then decided to make the famous "strata" dish that gets dumped all over Meredith in a memorable scene from the movie.

I don't know if it was the recipe itself, or if it was the love and laughter put into the dish, but the strata turned out great (my sister, by the way, was the one who made it). We now have a new Christmas Breakfast Tradition, and I think I will always remember this Christmas just because of it!

Note: Strata is made a day ahead of time and then baked the next day, so be sure to prepare ahead of time!

Family Stone Strata

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Ingredients

8 slices of white bread, cut with cookie cutters into festive shapes

8 oz of sliced mozzarella

2 sliced tomatoes

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup of green and red pepper, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced into thin rings

5 eggs

3 cups of milk

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of oregano

1/2 tbsp garlic salt

Parmasan cheese

Sliced olives

The Perfect Labor Day

This is me, making cinnamon rolls around 5:45am on Labor Day

Yesterday I had a great Labor Day.  It started out a bit strange at first.  I woke up at 3am and couldn't force myself back to sleep.  This has been occurring a lot lately (ok, actually for the last two years) and I blame it on the fact that my two-year-old son still does not sleep through the night.

So instead of tossing and turning in bed, I got up and started reading "The Crying Tree" (very good, actually).  I was mid-chapter when my hubby came down wondering what I was doing.  Instead of us both going to bed, we decided to take advantage of the quiet time and we sat and talked, then decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls...my absolute favorite.  We even took a soak in the hot tub and watched the sunrise while the dough was also rising!

The finished cinnamon roll

I must say, about four times a year, I am actually motivated enough to make cinnamon rolls.  But now, with my Kitchenaide Mixer, making dough IS SO EASY and these were the best ones to date.  So, I think I might make them more often now.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

1 cup milk

1 envelope (1/4 ounce)  active dry yeast

1/4 cup  warm water (100 degrees F to 110 degrees F)

3 tablespoons  granulated sugar

2   eggs

1/4 cup (1/2 stick)  unsalted butter, melted

4-1/2 to 5 cups  all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon  salt

Filling:

1/2 cup (1 stick)  unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup  granulated sugar

1 cup  packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon  cinnamon

1 cup  coarsely chopped pecans

  

Glaze (optional - I don't use this)

2 cups  confectioners' sugar

1 to 3 tablespoons  milk