As far as traditions go, I’m as corny as they come. I get it from my mama. Every year she sets out to find matching pajamas for the family. Not just the children, mind you, the whole family. She starts worrying about it in the fall, and by Christmas Eve she’s pulled it all together—fourteen sets (and counting) of matching pajamas in sizes that change each year as the children grow. It started with her first grandchildren, then it grew to the silly tradition of all of us wearing matching pajamas. We all change into our matching regalia and gather around the tree, and my daddy reads the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. That’s incredibly special! Then we set out cookies and eggnog for Santa and reindeer food for Rudolph. It’s always very late by then, and we scamper to get the kiddos to bed. They all sleep together upstairs piled in beds and bundled on pallets on the floor, and the grown-ups tend to “things.”
Christmas morning, when the children are clamoring to go downstairs, the grown-ups stop them on the stairway and make them line up, stair-step fashion, youngest to oldest. We take a bazillion pictures, and after much pleading on their part, we turn them loose to see what Santa Claus has brought. We always have Paula’s Breakfast Casserole and then lounge around all day in slippers and our matching pajamas. My favorite day of the year!
Makes 6 servings
ONE 8-OUNCE PACKAGE REFRIGERATED CRESCENT ROLLS
1 POUND LOOSE BREAKFAST SAUSAGE, COOKED AND DRAINED
2 CUPS SHREDDED COLBY JACK CHEESE
6 EGGS
2 CUPS MILK
1 TEASPOON SALT
½ TEASPOON FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER
1 TABLESPOON CHOPPED FRESH OREGANO
1 TABLESPOON CHOPPED FRESH PARSLEY
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
2. Unroll and spread the crescent rolls to cover the bottom of the pan. Evenly spread the cooked sausage and Jack cheese on top.
3. Whisk together the eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Mix in the salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley and pour the egg mixture over the sausage. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.
SOUTHERN SIMPLE: To get a head start on this breakfast dish, combine the cooled cooked sausage with the cheese and herbs and seasonings and refrigerate the mixture. The next day, when you’re ready to bake, just add the eggs and milk and pour the mixture over the crescent dough.