You probably wouldn’t call a recipe by this name today but political correctness (at least in this case) can kiss my ass. It’s basically “breakfast lasagna” – layers of bread, cheese and ham in a lasagna pan that is soaked in a scrambled egg mixture and baked in the oven. The “wife” saving aspect of this is that it can be assembled the day or night before Christmas, refrigerated and then simply put in the oven Christmas morning an hour before you’d like to eat. It’s easy, delicious and for me it conjures memories of Christmases dating back to my childhood. As a general rule we only have this Christmas Day and always have this Christmas Day. It can certainly “save” you any time you have a crew to feed but we think it tastes even better when you have it once a year.

Notes:

• The “16” and “8” are approximate but fairly close for a standard 9 x 13 pan.
• We exclude the onions and green pepper but if I were to include them, I’m not sure I would add them to the egg mixture because they would all be left sitting on top after the liquid soaks into the other layers. I would probably experiment with adding them on top of the ham and cheese so they are in the middle of the three layers. They should cook sufficiently there but if not, you could always sauté them in a pan before you add them.
• Making this ahead and refrigerating it overnight is more than a suggestion. It really improves the dish to do it this way.

Ingredients:

• 16 slices of white bread (crusts removed)
• 8 “regular” slices of black forest ham
• 8 slices of processed cheese (we use Kirkland sliced cheese, not processed cheese slices but you can do that too)
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 cup minced onion (optional)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper (optional)
• 1 – 2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
• 3 cups milk
• 1 dash of Tobasco
• 1/4 pound butter
• Corn flakes (crushed) or Special K cereal (about a cup)

Steps:

1. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish / lasagna pan (bottom and sides). Place a single layer of bread in the pan to cover the bottom entirely (you may need to cut pieces to size).
2. Cover the bread with slices of ham (it’s okay to overlap your ham).
3. Cover the ham with a layer of cheese and then repeat with a second single layer of bread.
4. In a bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add salt, pepper, dry mustard, Worchestershire, Tobasco and milk. Also add diced onion and green pepper if you are including it.
5. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. In the morning, melt butter and pour evening over the bread and then finish by sprinkling cereal on top.
7. Bake uncovered for one hour at 350F. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.