An "Orphans" Christmas breakfast

Don’t worry, it’s not a Dickensian kind of orphans’ breakfast with just a measly scrape of porridge.

I’ve pretty much finished my main Christmas gatherings now — two lovely Christmas lunches and a Christmas dinner. All that remains is the “orphans” Christmas breakfast, which a friend of mine holds on Christmas morning. 

She invites any of her friends who either have no family or no family in the state, or who are just at a loose end on Christmas Day. It’s a lovely casual outdoor affair. There’s a barbecue, on which bacon, eggs and sausages get sizzled, and some people also bring a plate of something to share.  

I usually bring these little strawberry Santas, as the weather is usually quite warm. They’re just fresh strawberries with whipped cream — I usually don’t bother with the eyes. But this year the forecast is for quite a cool day — 16C (60 F) — which will please all the people slaving over a hot oven, so  it might not even be an outside meal.  So I might bring something else and I’m pondering the possibilities.

At one of the Christmas functions I attended recently the hostess served a warm, cheesy artichoke dish as a starter — a kind of dip, served with bread and corn chips. Both she and another guest said they didn’t much like artichokes, but she’d had this dish at another person’s place and liked it, so decided to make it for us. And we all liked it. It was delicious and  very very easy to make. There is a recipe here.  (My friend added a finely chopped onion and extra cheese.) So I might make that.

Or maybe I’ll make the little Italian almond biscuits (cookies) instead. Or what about warm banana bread, or warm blueberry muffins, (in the pic) or potato pancakes with smoked salmon and sour cream, or a vegie frittata? Or Mum used to make a tomato and onion tart that was quite yummy.  It was just thinly sliced onions and sliced fresh tomatoes baked on a tin pastry base — no caramelizing the onions, no cheese or herbs or other things — just tomatoes, onions, salt and pepper — but it was delicious. Possibly because the tomatoes were home grown.

Oh, the choices are endless. It needs to be something that arrives ready to eat — no reheating or last minute touches, as I know from experience the kitchen will be full of people.

Any suggestions?