On the 6th Day of Christmas My True Love Sent to Me, Six Geese A-Laying (or Mexican Sunrise Scramble

Traditions are held closely in my household.  For my older son, Ryan, traditions are especially important.  So when my boys were young I started the tradition of celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas.  Now I know the 12 days are supposed to be from Christmas day through January 5, but we celebrated the 12 days leading up to the 25th of December.  This tradition became a fun way to count down the days to that special holiday they seem to be waiting for all year.  Using the song, The 12 Days of Christmas, I would do something special for the boys each day that somehow aligned with the lyrics.  Sometimes it was a small toy, gift or tree ornament waiting for them at the dinner table, but most often the something special was tied to food. 

I will admit I became very creative.  For example, “Five Golden Rings” were onion rings served as part of our dinner, “Two Turtle Doves” were represented by a gift of Dove brand chocolate (one year they even had dove shaped chocolate), “Eight Maids A-Milking” became a milk shake or malt for dessert, and so on.  One that I am particularly proud of was the year we had swan shaped cream puffs for “Seven Swans A-Swimming.”  I tried hard to not repeat the same things year after year but there were a few that were simply too good to not repeat.

Such is the case for “Six Geese A-Laying.”  I always served an egg dish of some sort.  My boys simply love eggs, in any form.  I like to use Land O Lakes Eggs because I know I can trust the quality.  I also know they are handled with the utmost care.  And, they are a quick meal for me to prepare after working all day. As the boys described it, “having breakfast for supper,” was a special treat in its self.  Because scrambled eggs are always a favorite I often made some version for the sixth day of our countdown.  I tried to come up with ways to make them a little more special and looked for ways to “spice them up a bit.”  Mexican Sunrise Scrambled Eggs is just the ticket.

The prep time is only about 15 minutes so I assemble all the ingredients before I start cooking.  While I cook the boys set the table, pour the milk or juice and put out the rest of the meal so when the eggs are done we are ready to eat!

Because I don’t want to add much additional liquid to the eggs once they are cooked it is important to seed the tomato.  To seed the tomato simply cut the tomato in half and gently lift the seeds and fibrous portion out of the tomato.  This process also removes some of the tomato’s moisture.  Once seeded you can chop the remaining tomato flesh and set it aside until you are ready to add it to the eggs.

To make the eggs, beat the eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl with a wire whisk until well beaten.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet until sizzling.

Add the beaten eggs and cook over medium heat, lifting slightly with a spatula (I like to use a heat resistant silicon spatula) to allow the uncooked portion of eggs to flow underneath.

Cook until the eggs are almost set.  This only takes about 4 to 5 minutes.

Now add the cheese, chopped tomato and green chilies to the eggs.

Stir gently and continue cooking until the eggs are completely set, the tomatoes and chilies are heated through and the cheese begins to melt.  This will only take a minute or two but it is very important to completely cook eggs so make sure there is no visible liquid remaining.

To serve, spoon the scrambled eggs onto individual plates.  Top each with salsa (one of my boys’ favorite ingredients), sour cream and green onions.  Serve with warm tortillas.

  “On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, six geese a-laying…”  I think I had as much fun coming up with the ideas each year as the boys did celebrating this family tradition.  Leave me a comment about your ideas for celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas and let me know what you think about Mexican Sunrise Scrambled Eggs by rating and reviewing the recipe.

Come back in a few days when Julie will share a festive holiday treat.

Becky Wahlund is the Director of the Test Kitchens for Land O'Lakes and writes for our Recipe Buzz® Blog.