Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

Every year or two, Southern Living puts out another Christmas Cookbook. In 2008 they published Southern Living Christmas Cookbook: All-New Ultimate Holiday Entertaining Guide. It is filled with a lot of recipes that feature canned soup, like the one below and they have a certain inconsistency in recipes. On Amazon, several people complained that the recipes didn't work and the timing was off. That may be the case in one or two recipes, but if you cook several recipes and they seem to all be off, then I would suggest that it is far more likely that your oven is calibrated wrong. Instead of buying a cookbook you might want to buy an oven thermometer.

Still, if you want an easy, general Christmas book, Southern Living keeps churning them out.

I make a variation of this recipe in a large pan and love it. My recipe features NO mushroom soup, just milk. I am certain you can eliminate the canned soup by just adding a bit more milk. Though in individual coffee mugs this should be a sow-stopper.

Mini Sausage-and-Egg Casseroles

1 1/2-oz. sourdough bread slices, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Vegetable cooking spray
1 (12-oz.) package pork sausage
2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1. Divide bread cubes evenly among 10 (8- to 10-oz.) ovenproof coffee mugs coated with cooking spray, placing in bottom of mugs.Top evenly with sausage which has been cooked in a nonstick skillet until browned and then, crumbled. Whisk together 2 1/2 cups milk, eggs, and Dijon mustard. Pour evenly over bread mixture in mugs.

2. Whisk together buttermilk and cream of mushroom soup. Spoon over bread mixture in mugs; sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Place coffee mugs on a baking sheet.

3. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until casseroles are set and puffed. Serve immediately.

Note: Unbaked mugs of casserole can be covered with plastic wrap, then foil, and frozen up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Bake as directed.

This is such a "Southern" suggestion, to wrap them and freeze them for a month! Seriously, it takes longer to thaw them than to make the recipe from scratch. Southerner women are notorious for keeping a casserole in the freezer "just in case someone dies."

Don't freeze them, (unless you are anticipating someones demise in the near future)bake them today.

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