A Little Women Inspired Christmas Breakfast
Hello, Dear!
It snowed! Can you believe it? The first snowfall in Iowa this past week was my favorite kind. It fell down slowly all night, and we awoke to a beautiful fairy-like dusting. Everything looks different after it snows. My favorite part about this kind of weather is that the world quiets down for a while. When you step outside, the snow blocks out the rushing of the wind and the animals are quiet. I never understood why I liked that this happened so much until I learned that I was neurodivergent.
Today, I am so happy to share with you a cozy new video and collection of thoughts and recipes highlighting one of my favorite winter stories: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I thought that it would be fun and cozy to showcase what the March girls might have enjoyed at their Christmas breakfast table.
a little women christmas:
In this week’s YouTube episode, I thought that it would be fun to make a Christmas breakfast spread inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. In this classic story set in the 1860s, the March sisters and their mother, Marmee, face many seasons during the American Civil War and beyond. The story details their feminine domestic life, and it was one of the first novels of its kind and became an instant bestseller.
Christmas is a highlighted event throughout the novel, and it is an interesting thing to study. If you know anything about the history of modern Christmas celebrations, then you know that the entire holiday wasn’t much celebrated prior to the 1840s. The popularization of the holiday was made relevant by a few factors, including 19th century German holiday traditions, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843), and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert sharing an engraving of the royal family decorating a Christmas tree in 1848.
Personally, I am not a Christian and I find it fascinating to follow the historical movement of this holiday from ancient pagan celebrations to medieval German celebrations like Julfest or Scottish Yule to now what we know as Christmas.
You can really see how the popularization of the holiday plays into Alcott’s writing. Alcott herself was born in 1832, which would mean that by the time the Victorian’s Christmas Tree was a regular tradition, she would have been anywhere from 14 to 20-years-old. Have you noticed that it is when we are this age that we begin to hang on to the traditions, styles, music, etc that really shapes who we are as people? I find the paper trail of history truly spellbinding!
eating like its the 1860s:
So what did the March Sisters eat at their 1860s Christmas breakfast? There are several ways we can determine this. The first would be to look to the novel itself. You can actually find all of the food mentioned within the book here.
In the second chapter, this is what is mentioned at the breakfast table:
“This was a surprise even to the actors, and when they saw the table, they looked at one another in rapturous amazement. It was like Marmee to get up a little treat for them, but anything so fine as this was unheard of since the departed days of plenty. There was ice cream, actually two dishes of it, pink and white, and cake and fruit and distracting French bonbons and, in the middle of the table, four great bouquets of hot house flowers.”
They also have buckwheat cakes, cream, and muffins.
Would they really have had ice cream for breakfast in the 1860s? This would have been quite the treat, especially during war time!
From what I have researched myself, during the 19th century breakfast was rather a plain affair, at least for middle class and even upper class families. The main meal of the day was dinner, or what we now consider lunch, as this was the best time to fill your belly to continue working throughout the day.
For breakfast, the very first meal of the day, porridge or oatmeal was the typical food of choice. They might also have leftover bread, coffee, ale or beer. It was not often that a full breakfast spread was made because it took hours before the coal or wood stove was ready to cook on! Trust me, I have cooked like this before. The fastest meal you could make is heating up a pot of porridge, frying an egg or sausage, and it was unlikely that they were baking anything.
However, this is Christmas! It’s a special occasion, and one of the only special events of the year. So year, Christmas breakfast was a very exciting time and it was likely that time was spent preparing this wonderful meal.
a 19th century christmas breakfast menu:
From “Table Talk” printed December 1890.
Breakfast, at 8 o'clock: Fruits, Breaded Chops, Tomato Sauce, Baked Potatoes, Buckwheat Cakes, Maple Syrup, Coffee.
Dinner at 2 o'clock: Oysters on Half Shell, Almond Milk Soup with Rice, Salted Almonds, Celery, Olives, Halibut baked with fine Herbs, English Drawn Butter, Persian Potatoes, Roast Trukey, Cranberry Sauce, Rice Croquettes, Asparagus Tips, Braised Duck, Baked Macaroni, Lettuce Salad, Wafers, Brie, English Plum Pudding, Brandy Sauce, Coffee, Nuts, Fruits, Sugar Plums.
Supper, at 8 o'clock: Raw Oysters, Chicken Sandwiches, Coffee, Jelly, Cake.
From “The Woman’s Exchange Cook Book” by Minnie Palmer, 1901
Christmas--Breakfast: Breakfast cakes--any kind, maple syrup, breaded pork chops, tomato sauce, Saratoga chips, oranges.
Dinner: Clam soup, roat pig, lobster salad, apple sauce, green peas, canned corn, sweet potatoes, celery, mashed potatoes, currant or plum jelly, pickles, plum pudding, fruit cake, fruits in season, raisins, nuts.
Supper: Cold roast pig, escalloped oysters, raspberry jam, Vienna rolls and honey.
final thoughts:
I hope that you enjoyed learning more about what might be served at Christmas breakfast in Little Women as well as mid to the end of the 19th century. I find that this is the breakfast that I actually make several times a week! To think that a couple of sausages, fried eggs, and biscuits were once a luxurious affair only for the holidays. For my family, a really fancy breakfast would include several varieties of meats, perhaps a ham, eggs cooked in a difficult way like poaching, and a very sweet style of bread like cinnamon rolls or baked French toast.
What is a fancy breakfast for you? It is different for everyone. I would love to hear what your typical Christmas breakfast looks like!
xoxo Kayla
A Little Women Breakfast Schedule:
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454 g) ground pork, 25-30% fat
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tsp coarsely ground rosemary
- 1 tsp coarsely ground sage
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 2 1/4 cups (293 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (116 g) salted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
- 3/4 cup (80 ml) light or heavy cream
- 1 to 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried or fresh rosemary, chopped
- 6 to 8 large eggs
Instructions
- You can make the Palmiers in a day or two in advance! The dough can also be made up to 5 days ahead of baking and stored in the refrigerator. This makes for a really easy bake on Christmas morning.
- GET THE PALMIER RECIPE HERE.
- The butter can be made about 5 to 7 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
- CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE BUTTER.
- Begin by combining the ground pork, salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, cumin, and the egg in a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon or your hands, making sure that all of the ingredients are well mixed together.
- Shape the sausage into a log shape. Wrap the sausage in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to fry. If you want, this can be prepared 1 to 2 days in advance. The longer the sausage sits with the flavorings, the stronger it will taste.
- When you are ready to fry the sausage, divide the meat into about 12 little balls about the size of 3 tablespoons (45 ml) in size. Flatten out the sausages into patties.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and warm the olive oil. Fry the sausages in batches of 4 to 5 at a time, cooking about 2 to 3 minutes per side or until evenly browned and cooked fully through the middle. There should be no pink meat inside.
- Transfer the cooked sausages to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Them, cook the remaining sausages. Keep the sausages warm until ready to serve.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F (218° C). Set aside a baking sheet or 9 x 13-inch (20 x 30-cm) baking dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- With a pastry blender, fork, or your fingers cut the butter into the flour mixture until it forms coarse crumbs about the size of a pea. Pour in the buttermilk and mix everything together with a wooden spoon until it is no longer dry and crumbly.
- Knead the dough together, using extra flour if needed to prevent sticking to your fingers, and fold the dough over itself about 7 times.
- On a lightly floured surface, press or roll the dough out to 1/2-inch (1-cm) thick. The thicker the biscuits, the higher they will rise! Cut out the biscuits with a 2 to 3-inch (5 to 8-cm) round biscuit cutter. Do not twist the cutter, just cut straight down into the dough. Bring the dough together, if needed and re-roll and cut again. You should have about 8 biscuits.
- Arrange the biscuits in the baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and baked through the center.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in the cream and season with the salt, pepper, and rosemary.
- When the cream has just thickened, crack in the eggs. Lower the heat slightly and let the eggs cook until the whites are just set, about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Cover the pan and let the eggs continue to cook, another 2 to 3 minutes, until the yolks are slightly set yet still runny. Of course, you can continue to cook as long as you like for how you prefer your eggs.
- Serve the eggs right away.
