When a night owl has to make breakfast

I am not a morning person. Ever since I can remember, I have preferred to stay up late and sleep in the next morning. (If you Making it to the office on time has always been a struggle, and although I have done it for decades, it never seems to get easier. So when I have to make breakfast for guests, I employ a make-ahead strategy so I don’t have to think too hard first thing in the morning. It took me longer than it should have to figure this out, but not only does it help this night owl seem more like a morning person, the food is great.

There are three basic items in this make-ahead breakfast repertoire. First, and always a crowd-pleaser, is a breakfast strata. Popular on Christmas morning, strata allows you to spend more time visiting with family or unwrapping presents than on fussing with the meal. You can switch it up to accommodate a wide range of preferences. My secret weapon is to whizz up a bit of roasted red pepper with the eggs and milk to give the strata more pizzazz.

The other two items are on the sweeter side: yeasted waffles and cinnamon rolls. It’s hard to beat Marion Cunningham’s yeast-raised waffles. The recipe is so good it has been published in multiple magazines, websites, and cookbooks including Food52 Genius Recipes, because it is, indeed, a genius recipe. Making waffles first thing in the morning can be a challenge (at least it is for me), but at least you don’t have to do all of the measuring and mixing; you can just pop the batter right into the waffle iron. While you might not think of cinnamon rolls/buns as a good make ahead option, Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice includes instructions on holding the dough in the refrigerator. Discovering that nugget was a game-changer. If any of our Members has another great make-ahead breakfast dish, I would love to learn about it.