I love winter. It’s why I’m always writing holiday stories like my anthology collection HOLIDAY EVER AFTER (three previous digital Shalvis novellas in print all in one place!) To me, winter is made for watching the snow fall, sitting in front of the fire while the scent of cookies baking fills the house – or in my case, the scent of burning cookies… 

A bunch of years ago when this happened, our new fire alarm went off and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off.  We have really high ceilings and there was no way to reach the smoke detector.  A neighbor called the 9-1-1, and a sheriff came to the door.  He looked a little rumpled and a lot overworked, but he smiled when he saw the burnt cookies.

“My wife does that a lot,” he said with obvious warmth and love.

Note to self: remind Alpha Man he’s supposed to be amused by me…

Anyway, ever since then, in order to avoid a wash and repeat, Alpha Man actually does most of the cooking.  He won’t bake, but he will make his famed Good Morning Breakfast casserole that never fails to bring everyone running.  He makes it for sports tournaments, every major holiday, and birthdays by special request.  People come out of the woodworks for this dish, I’m telling you.

Give it a try (recipe below), but first make sure to order HOLIDAY EVER AFTER!

Good Morning Breakfast Casserole

(9x13 casserole dish)

Ingredients:

1 layer of tater tots

1 layer of ham or sausage cubes (or crumbled bacon, whatever makes your skirt blow up)

1 layer of grated cheddar cheese (there’s no such thing as too much cheese in Kick-Ass breakfast)

Pour this over the layers:

6 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp. salt (or more, if no one’s looking)

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 cup of chopped onion

3 cups of milk

2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

Add 1/2 cup melted butter over all that.  Cook 1 hour at 350 degrees uncovered.