Christmas Breakfast: Day 5

I have 2 goodies for you today- a savory breakfast meal and a simple no-bake cookie. With all the cookies and bars you've all been baking, I'm sure you can appreciate a cookie that can be whipped up in minutes.

First up, we have migas. Migas are crispy fried corn tortilla strips, scrambled with eggs, cheese and pico de gallo- diced onion, cilantro and tomato. But I don't like onion and cilantro so I leave those out and just fold in some chopped tomato at the end. You could also add some minced jalapeno as well.

I don't have a written recipe for this because I just make it, but I'll do my best to give you a recipe if you choose to make it.

Migas For 2 from Monica H

• 5 eggs
• 3 corn tortillas, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1/8 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. paprika
• 2-3 Tbsp. pico de gallo, or combination of onion, cilantro, jalapeno or tomato
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• salt and pepper to taste

Over medium high heat, coat the bottom of a saute pan with vegetable oil. When it gets hot and shimmery, fry the corn tortillas until crispy, golden and the tortilla nuggets are borderline hard. Don't rush this, you don't want them to burn, but you want them rigid enough that they're not going to get soggy when you add the egg.

Whisk up eggs in a bowl and set aside. Drain off any excess oil, then add cumin, garlic powder and paprika. Coat the tortillas with the spices then add the eggs. Cook the eggs til almost done, then fold in the pico de gallo. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just before the eggs are set, fold in half the cheese. Then add the rest of the cheese to the top and allow it to melt. Serve right away.

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Next up is a Peppermint Bark Cookie. I got the idea for these through the Williams-Sonoma catalog. They had 12 white chocolate covered chocolate wafers, sprinkled with crushed peppermints for $13. That's over a dollar a cookie- I don't think so. Why buy them when you can make them?

I used Nabisco chocolate wafers, and instead of fully coating them with white chocolate, I decided to just add a bit to the center, to cut down on the sweetness. And also because I liked the look of the dark and white showing. Pretty and much less expensive than the "gourmet" variety.

Peppermint Bark Cookies from Monica H

• Nabisco Chocolate Wafers
• White Chocolate or White Candy Melts, melted
• Hard Peppermint Candies, crushed

Place the chocolate wafers, face side up on a sheet of parchment paper. Place a mound of melted white chocolate on the cookies. Using the back of a spoon or your finger, smooth out the chocolate. While chocolate is still wet, sprinkle with crushed peppermints.

Allow to dry completely and store in an airtight container if not serving right away.

And here are more of my Christmas decorations. I have a TON of ornaments. I love them! So every year I buy more when they're on sale. I probably have enough ornaments to fill 2 full size trees, but I usually cram them all onto one, so this year I decided to put some of my favorites in my favorite bowls and place them around the house.

This bowl is in my guest bathroom. The bowl is from Hallmark, the pine cone ornaments are from Sears and the little trees are from Home Depot. I got the mercury glass votive holder at Crabtree & Evelyn 10 years ago when I worked there. This one went together on a whim, but it's my favorite, I think.

This is one of my favorite bowls. This is not the greatest photo of it, because it's footed, but it's called the Saddle Bowl from Nambe. The giant mercury glass ornaments and the smaller red ones are both from Target. This one sits in the center of our breakfast table.

And this one is on my dining table. The red glittery bowl is from Target. I got it 3 years ago for my birthday. Aint she purdy? It's filled with white and red frosted ornaments that I've had forever. The striped ones and the black ones are from Target as well.

That's all for now. I'll be back tomorrow for one last Christmas morning breakfast. One more day!