One thing that I love about our church is that we celebrate babies. Whether it's the first or the tenth, we celebrate that new life. :)
Whenever it's Janet's privilege to host the shower, she makes a fabulous brunch. And the star of the show is this egg bake.
This is the kind of recipe that we love here at the Cafe... Janet got it from a friend, who got it from a friend, who copied it out of one of those community cookbooks.
Along the way, the original recipe has been tweaked and adjusted as necessary (for instance, the original called for a loaf of Publix Egg Twist bread - not so easy to find when you live thousands of miles from the nearest Publix Super Market!).
So when you try this recipe for your next get-together, be sure to experiment with your own tweaks. Own the omelet!
Janet's Twenty-four Hour Omelet
ingredients:1 loaf Egg Twist bread (aka Challah) or a similar sweet, rich bread (Janet uses 10 King's Hawaiian Rolls).
8 Tablespoons butter (one quarter pound stick)
6 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese
8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups milk
10 eggs
1/2 Tablespoon salt (or to your taste)
1/2 Tablespoon dry mustard
a dash of cayenne pepper
sliced scallions (aka green onions) or chives for garnish
Remove the crust from the bread. This is a key step, so don't skip it!
Tear the bread into chunks and lay them in the bottom of a greased 9" x 13" baking dish. Melt the butter and pour it over the bread.
Cut the cream cheese into small chunks and mix with the shredded cheeses. Layer this mixture over the bread.
Beat the eggs, milk, and spices together and pour this over the bread/cheeses.
Sprinkle the sliced scallions or chives over the top.
Refrigerate overnight.
Bake, covered, at 325° for approximately 90 minutes, or until done. Remove the foil for the last ten minutes of cooking.
Enjoy!!!!!!
What is it about showers that we love so much? Whether it's a baby shower or a wedding shower, there's just something about celebrating the continuation of life, isn't there?
What is your favorite food for parties like this?
Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.
Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com
What a lovely tradition! How large is your church? I'm attending a smaller church now -- maybe 250?-- but we haven't set up any traditions like that though there are lots of baby bumps hanging out in the lobby. :-) I think they are scared of missing someone and causing hurt feelings? But I've often thought it would be lovely to acknowledge the arrival of a baby in some way --- even if it's just a 'welcome to the world' basket or something that people could contribute to. I used to sew baby blankets at another church (larger) and just present them to new mums at church on Sunday. But I've never been to a church that celebrated the way yours does, Jan. Maybe I need to move to a small town?
ReplyDeleteThis recipe sounds delicious and pretty foolproof. (At least I hope so!) I'm always a nervous Nelly when it comes to bringing food to a gathering. Being a vegetarian, what I think is normal isn't necessarily what others think of as normal and the biggest complaint I get from non-vegetarians is over the texture of the food so I usually end up bringing a dessert. I might have to branch out with this recipe though.
I hadn't thought of this recipe being vegetarian, but it is! And this is SO delicious, none of your non-vegetarian friends will be complaining!
DeleteAnd I had to laugh at your description of a "smaller" church! We've belonged to fairly large churches (700 attending regularly) and small churches (20-30 people). But those are my definitions! What we think of as "small" or "large" depends on the size of our urban area, I think!
Our church here in the Black Hills is a decent size, with 80-100 attending regularly. It's large enough to have a good variety of people (I love that part), but small enough to still know everyone pretty well.
I think that doing something like our church does - a shower for every baby and wedding - requires someone to step forward and say, "I'll be the organizer because this is something I care about." For us, that's Janet, who gave me this recipe. :)
Oh, my goodness, this sounds AMAZING! I love King's Hawaiian bread and think it would make a fantastic casserole. I can't wait to try this, Jan! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe King's Hawaiian bread adds a richness and a slight sweetness to this casserole - just delicious. :)
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