The Wave of Grief Came So I Swam into My Kitchen #ItsHowICope

Grief has no particular time frame. The cliché that it “comes in waves” is the only tangible way to describe that overwhelming feeling one experiences when you least expect it. Just when you think you have your grownup bootstraps up just so, it all comes tumbling down. Cascading is another word that comes to mind for this emotional surf that engulfs you enough to stop right then and there.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but someone had the well intentioned and yet devastating suggestion that the second year mark of a loved one’s passing was far gloomier than that one-year mark. Thanks, thanks a lot.

Fortunately, I have my garden to keep me busy and preoccupied for this looming date. I had every intention of canning my tomatoes in to sauce this past week, but life got in the way. I did manage to blanch and peel and deseed over 50 pounds of tomatoes Friday night. My back is aching in pain but it was worth it. Canning the results will just have to wait. I am too tired!

My alternate task was creating a breakfast casserole. I have been noticing a great deal of recipes from blogs I follow and Pinterest about fantastic make ahead breakfast sandwiches. Whatever. For one thing, I would rather have my carbs in the form of a vegetable vs. a bread product. For another thing, I had five medium large Yukon potatoes I needed to cook up. A bell pepper and red onion from the garden plus a red jalapeno pepper. Farm fresh eggs were calling to be included!

Yukon Potato Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

Five medium-large Yukon potatoes, washedse
1 medium red onion
1 bell pepper, color of your choice, I used orange
1 red and 1 green jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
1 one-pound package thick sliced bacon, baked & crumbled
OR
1 roll Isernio package chicken breakfast sausage, cooked & crumbled
(reserve any grease)
2 cups shredded Asiago cheese or your choice cheese: feta, pecorino, etc
8 farm fresh eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon garden herb salt

Preheat oven to 375°. Using a 10x15x1 or 9x13x2 baking sheet with rim, melt 1 tablespoon of bacon grease over entire surface.

Shred the potatoes with a large hole grater, your food processor or what I used, a vintage Molineux grater/grinder. From my five potatoes, I ended up with 10 cups of shredded potatoes. Keep in large bowl of water and rinse twice. Drain in large basket colander and squeeze water with a towel. Set aside.

Chop the vegetables: red onion and orange bell pepper. The hot peppers should be deseeded and membranes removed before finely chopping. Chop bacon roughly and all these ingredients to a large bowl.

Add potatoes to vegetable mixture, add the grated cheese and toss in 1 tablespoon bacon or sausage grease. Fold in to sheet pan and level ingredients. Beat eggs with garden herb salt and slowly incorporate into the potato mixture. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven temperature and your altitude. Brown on a broil setting, if desired.

I cut the potato breakfast mixture in to squares that I knew would make a meal. Let it cool completely before bagging or storing in your container of choice, sealed of air pockets.

Freeze until you use. Defrost the night before if possible to avoid too much moisture. Depending on level of defrosting, microwave 1-2 minutes then bake in 400° oven to brown.

I’m warning you, you may need sour cream and salsa for toppings!

#grief #CookingIsHealing #breakfastcasserole #recipe #makeahead