I was so excited to host Christmas brunch this year that I got a little in over my head.
Hmmm…brunch things…
I thought to myself what would be a great menu for the perfect family gathering. My husband’s favorite and our Christmas breakfast tradition has always been B’s & G’s (biscuits and gravy), so that is a must.
Cinnamon rolls! Everyone loves gooey cinnamon rolls for Christmas!
Then I realized that those were quite heavy things and not very nutritious. So I found a lovely quiche recipe to sprinkle in some healthy.
- Biscuits & Gravy
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Quiche with spinach and artichoke
Perfect!
Come Christmas Eve, I decided I would prep whatever I could ahead of time (and thank goodness I did). I pulled up all of the recipes on my laptop, along with some Christmas music and set it on my kitchen table to get going. It’s Christmas and it’s the one time you can make real food and not take shortcuts, right?!
{Cracks knuckles. Rolls up sleeves}
What can I make ahead?
- Biscuits & Gravy = dough
- Cinnamon Rolls = dough
- Quiche with spinach and artichoke = pie crust/more dough
yikes.
5 hours later, and one package of Crisco splattered on the floor, I went to bed.
Now it’s great to prep your dough a day in advance – in fact, I learned that both pie crust and cinnamon rolls do much better when the dough is chilled or frozen before rolling. Since I hardly ever make dough, I even got spooked when I popped my head in the refrigerator to see an overflowing bowl of squishiness.
(It reminded me of those videos of cats having a conniption when they see a cucumber. Seriously, check it out if you have a few extra moments to waste, which I’m sure you do since you are reading a blog about dough-don’ts.)
However, I didn’t take into account the added time needed the day of to: Thaw. knead. Roll. Patch together and re-roll after placing into the pie pan incorrectly and/or roll into a large slimy cinnamon roll snake. My table was covered in cinnamon, butter, and sugar just 30 minutes before company was to arrive and I still had yet to make biscuits! That’s when I came to my senses and remembered there was a canister of trusty Pillsbury biscuits in the fridge – done.
Moral of the story when it came to dough – I really did bite off more than I could chew. Next year – I will make cereal and toast.
