A Big Beachy Breakfast

This week is vacation week. Ahhhh.  The week we've been counting down to for approximately 180 days since we booked it.  It isn't just any vacation though, it's a big one.  As in lots of people.  In one house.  All together.

Every other year or so my hubs' side of the family tries to get away somewhere all together.  Some years it's been camping, some years it's been the beach, some years it's been a trip to Tennessee.  They are always wonderful, always full of laughs and a great way to keep all of our children connected. 

Believe it or not, the tricky part of keeping getting six to eight families together is planning the meals so that it doesn't fall on one person (usually MiMi).  Everybody wants a vacation, but unfortunately, we still have to eat.  With families as large as ours is, it's not as easy on the pocketbook to go out to eat for every stinking meal...though that would be the ideal vacation.  The answer for us is that we usually come up with a plan so that each family takes on one dinner.  That means, one family plans, buys, prepares and cleans up for one dinner to feed everyone.  Lunch and breakfast, we all sort of chip in towards and do our own thing. 

For this year's vacation we've done something similar, although we've added in the lunch and breakfast for the day you choose to feed everyone.  ONE DAY.  That's it.  So, out of seven days of vacation, you only have to work ONE.  The rest of your meals are provided for you.  Definitely one perk to vacationing with a group.  Weeks before our longed for vacation, we planned and sampled several easy recipes that would feed a crowd, be easy to prepare, and were kid AND adult "taste friendly."  Sometimes this can be tricky.

When traveling to a beach town as we have, where there are thousands of house/condo rentals, you've not lived until you've grocery shopped here.  Unless you've experienced preparing for a hurricane or other natural disaster, shopping for groceries will be an experience.  

In touristy towns, most rentals go from Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday.  Well, guess what everyone does as soon as they check in to their casa???  Grocery shop.  It's usually a bit chaotic to say the least.  The first time we experienced it, the local Wal-mart looked like something out of a disaster movie.  Many of the shelves were completely empty!  Milk?  Gone.  Bread?  Maybe in the next county!  It was insane.  The following years we brought the basics with us and shopped a few days AFTER the crowds did.  Our second resolve was to avoid Wal-mart...at all costs.  (Which is a rule we still abide by even when at home!)  With all of that being said, sometimes all of the planning in the world just doesn't work out if the store near your rental doesn't carry the items required for your planned meal.  SO, you have to be flexible and always have a back up meal plan.  

Even though there were endless breakfast options for feeding a crowd, we did not want to stand over a griddle and cook one hundred pancakes and a million pounds of bacon for three hours.  What kind of vacation is that?!  So for our meal, we opted for a grab and go breakfast on our day to cook.  Simple. Easy. And DELICIOUS.  Good warm or cold.  If you wake up early or sleep late.  Eat it on the balcony or on the beach.  Give these Honey Ham Sliders a try sometime, the masses will thank you.  (If not, I bet there just might be some milk and cereal around.)

 WHAT YOU NEED:

-- Canned Grands Biscuits, as many as your family will eat
(your fav, although the flaky ones work well)
-- Thinly sliced Ham, one slice per slider (we used Black Forest)
-- Swiss cheese, one slice per slider (we used shredded Mozzarella)
-- Honey Mustard (we made our own)
-- Honey (a few tablespoons)
-- Butter (a few tablespoons)

WHAT TO DO:
Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Remove biscuits from the package and split in half.
This is the part that is easier if they are the flaky variety,
but most will still separate fairly easily.
Spread the insides of each half with honey mustard.
Tear each cheese slice in half and lay one half on each bottom half
of the biscuits and top with a slice of ham.  Cover each ham slice
with more cheese and cover with the top half of each biscuit.
You got all that?!
Brush the tops with melted butter and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Brush with a bit more butter and immediately drizzle
honey on top of each biscuit. 
Serve. 
My husband likes his with a fried egg as well.
Spoiled.
Mix it up and add bacon or do some with turkey
or just whatever you like.
You'll be glad you did.

Time to head to the beach for the last time!

ENJOY!