Rewind: Christmas Day Breakfast

This year I got to make all of Christmas dinner. This might not sound quite so exciting to some people, but I was really happy. We always do a big multi-family Christmas Eve event, and this year it was just my parents, myself, and my brother for Christmas dinner, so I figured it was the perfect time to try cooking it all.

Our family always starts with stockings and then breakfast once we've opened them. My brother and I have gorgeous stockings that my mom adds buttons to every year (yes, still). This year my brother and I decided that it was about time our parents got stockings too. They loved them!

I'd found Shutterbean's recipe for spiced orange popovers recently, and remembered that I'd found a cast iron popover pan last time I was at my Grandma's. I figured it was the perfect brunch item to make.

They're popping! So exciting to watch this happen.

Here's the recipe:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk (and def use whole--I read up on this and the fat in the milk apparently helps the consistency or something)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (I usually do a little less)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or a pinch. I can never be bothered to measure salt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil*

*Note: I have a popover pan with eleven cups...yeah I dunno. I guess it's a normal thing. We tried to figure this out. Anyway, I put about a 1/4 t of oil in each and it worked perfectly.

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Blend the eggs, milk, flour, melted butter, salt and vanilla in a blender until smooth. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

2. While the batter is resting, measure 1/4 t of oil into each cup (or more if you have the bigger 8-cup pans). After the batter has rested for 20 minutes, put the pan in the oven to heat the oil for 10 minutes.

3. After the pan has been heating for 10 min and the batter resting for 1/2 an hour, pour the batter straight into the hot pan, dividing between the cups.

4. Bake for 20 minutes (don’t open the oven door) until golden brown on top. Turn out on a rack and let cool. They're really steamy inside so be wary.

For the orange cinnamon clove sugar topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

This made more than I needed but I wasn't complaining. It's amazing.

1. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest in a small bowl.

2. Brush each popover all over with the 1/4 cup of melted butter, then roll it around in the sugar mixture. Apparently they're especially awesome with coffee.