It isn't an easy task hosting overnight guests. With the popularity of quaint little inns and beautiful B&B (Bed and Breakfast) places, the bar has been set a lot higher for all of us. Of course, we want our guests to be comfortable, but now many of us see an overnight stay as an opportunity to practice our decorating, cooking, and hospitality skills all at the same time.
If you want to go beyond clean sheets and a plate of eggs for your guests, just think about the things that make you feel pampered when you stay away from home. I'll bet a hearty, tasty breakfast pops into your thoughts first. Perhaps that delicious breakfast is the reason you would go back to that little inn again. The aroma from the kitchen wafting up the stairs wakes you up even before you smell the coffee. It takes all you can do to get dressed before you head down to the dining room to see what's on the table.
A breakfast casserole is one idea you can take away from your favorite B&B and make at home. You may not have lace edged linens or goose down pillows and comforters for your guests, but they'll feel plenty special when they sit down to a breakfast dish heaped with hearty ingredients coming bubbling hot right out of the oven.
Of course, you work hard to provide clean guest towels, fluffy pillows, plenty of blankets, and a cozy bed for your guests to sleep in. You may even include special chocolates on their pillows and pretty arrangements of flowers. Maybe those are luxuries you think any overnight guest should be treated to. All those touches add up to a nice stay in your home.
You pull out all the stops to be the perfect host for your guest. You have invited them into your home and you want them to feel comfortable and welcomed. That's why you go above and beyond to provide these little pleasures for them. There's no doubt that your guests appreciate all the amenities you have provided. But, again and again, it's the breakfast that gets talked about later. You want to make sure that your breakfast gets mentioned in glowing terms.
Fluffy pillows, pretty little soaps, and chocolates on the pillow are all so pleasant, but they get left behind when the breakfast bell rings. This most important meal of the day should go beyond what you eat on a busy day as you try to get the family off to work and school. A box of Wheaties, a carton of milk, and a bowl of scrambled eggs will tell your guests that you just don't care and would prefer it if they didn't come back. If that's the message you want to give, then by all means, serve that breakfast.
If you want the kind of breakfast that tells your guests that you love their company and you can't wait to have them come back, then you want to serve a big breakfast casserole. This kind of hearty, scrumptious breakfast is 'love in a dish.' It can be savory or sweet, filled with a variety of meat, poultry, seafood, fish, vegetables, herbs, spices, cheese, cream, bread, bagels, and even fruit and nuts. The common denominator is eggs – beyond that, the sky's the limit. Of course, there are even breakfast casseroles that eliminate the eggs. Use the season and your creativity and design your own specialty.
Being the 'hostess with the mostest' can be a tiring task, though. Morning comes early and your guests may be hungry the minute they smell the coffee brewing. The beauty of a breakfast casserole is that many of them can be made in advance and cooked in the morning. When you put that piping hot breakfast casserole on the table in front of your guests, you have successfully given the illusion that you got up way before they did to make this wonderful dish. When the reality is that you just planned ahead. A good host doesn't have to tell ALL her secrets!
Another benefit of making a breakfast casserole is you can serve a lot of people at one time. No more standing over the skillet making omelets. No more cold scrambled eggs. No more over-done or under-done fried eggs. Your guests (and even you!) can sit down and dig into a bubbling hot breakfast casserole and enjoy time together, chatting and planning the day.
Your guests will be impressed and truly appreciate the home-cooked hot breakfast that you have prepared for them. Of course, there may be one drawback... your guests may never want to leave! If you're willing to take that chance, then breakfast casseroles are the way to go. Start collecting recipes now to get ready for your next overnight house guests. What kind of breakfast casserole will you be serving?
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