Last year, Jeff and I were so busy around the holidays that I didn’t even decorate the house.

So, this year, I am all over it.

Christmas shopping? Already started.

Baking supplies? In the pantry.

And today, I’m starting the Big Holiday Clean. It’s like spring cleaning, but with cider instead of profanity.

How has a slacker like me become such a glowing beacon of productivity? I’ve finally embraced the truth that, if it isn’t fun, it won’t get done. So, I made myself a crazy-decadent, pre-cleaning breakfast: a Cherry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

Do you ever get Breakfast Boredom?

It’s that dreaded condition where the thought of eating the same thing for breakfast ONE MORE TIME makes you want to give yourself a lobotomy with a spoon.

When that happens to me, I like to make a big batch of Morning Glory Muffins.

Biting into one of these is almost like sneaking a carrot cupcake for breakfast. They’re sweet, cinnamon-spiked and absolutely loaded with crunchy-chewy goodness – grated carrots, shredded coconut, raisins, crushed pineapple, chopped pecans and grated apple.

Pair one with a serving of yogurt or a latte the size of Florida, and you’ve got a scrumptious meal that will keep the Breakfast Boredom at bay.

And the spoons in the silverware drawer.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

This morning, I didn’t want to do anything in the world but make Apple Fritters. Sweet, golden-fried pillows bursting with chunks of Granny Smith apple, with craggy edges that are just right for catching that sweet cider glaze.

The sort of thing you make purely for pleasure.

I didn’t even wait to get dressed, which was good, because it turns out that making fritters in your PJs while the rest of the world is mowing their lawns only improves the experience.

So does music.

There’s nothing like padding around in the kitchen, barefoot in your PJs, listening to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings while you chop the apples, whisk the cider into the glaze and catch that first whiff of cinnamon and nutmeg breathing life into the batter.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

Before Jeff and I got married, I had this fantasy that we’d eat breakfast together every day.

Isn’t that romantic?

Are you done laughing now?

Instead, I send him to work with The Breakfast Sandwich. A turkey sausage and cheese omelet on a whole wheat bagel. I can knock one out in about five minutes flat, usually while I’m still half-asleep. The way Jeff talks about it, you’d think I served it up topless in hooker boots.

But I only do that on Saturdays.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

I love the idea of a luxurious weekend breakfast. Something out of the ordinary that makes the house smell delicious. Preferably with a scrumptious compound butter, like the ones you see at restaurants. But this conflicts directly with my desire to sleep in on the weekends.

And sleep always wins.

But when I saw this recipe for Sweet Potato Pancakes with Spiced Pecans and Peach Butter, and I knew I could have both. Each component can be made in advance, including the pancake batter, so when you wake up, a fantastic breakfast is just a few minutes away.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

This Breakfast Fruit Parfait was inspired by the one that had me babbling from pure joy at Another Broken Egg Cafe in Jackson, Miss.

Jeff could not get why I was having a religious experience over some yogurt, fruit and granola, but that parfait was swoon-worthy, from the artfully placed fruit on top to the “why didn’t I think of that?” strawberry yogurt in the middle.

It was prettier than it had to be. A tall glass full of inspiration.

Obviously, I needed to rip it off ASAP. And here we are!

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

Meatless Monday can be all bulgur, tofu, kale and wheatberries.

But today, it’s Grand Marnier, half-and-half, strawberries and powdered sugar. Because last weekend, my friends Christina and Maggie each brought healthy baby girls into the world. Because this week, Mama is retiring. (Hold me!) And because, with so much heartbreak coming from all of these tornadoes, it’s important to just appreciate how good it is to be alive.

I tend to appreciate things with food, like this big, beautiful, boozy Grand Marnier French Toast with Strawberries and Almonds.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

I’m really not one to swoon over a bowl of oatmeal.

If oatmeal were really an orgasm in a bowl, then that Quaker would have a bigger smile on his face.

But I decided to try Jillian Michaels’ Steel-Cut Oats with Apples and Pecans, and I’ve eaten a bowl first-thing for 23 mornings in a row. Oats simmered in almond milk, sweetened with maple syrup and studded with cinnamon-spiked apples and toasted pecans. Just the right balance of creaminess and crunch.

When I realized I wouldn’t have to give it up for my week-long Vegan Challenge, I was actually excited. That’s how much I love this oatmeal.

It might not be an orgasm in a bowl, but it definitely qualifies as foreplay for a good day.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

So, I mentioned that one of my favorite finds of 2010 is Processor Danish Pastry, a really flaky, versatile pastry dough you can make right in your food processor.

Yesterday, I used half of the dough to make six Morning Buns. A half-batch.

What happened to the other half of the dough? Well, you can’t really test danish dough without making a few danishes. Anything for science.

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.

When we went to San Francisco last fall, one of my “must-do’s” was Morning Buns at Tartine.

If there is a more beautiful bakery than Tartine, I am completely unaware of it. Natural light streaming into the window where the bakers are mixing dough. Cases full of cakes, pastries, bread pudding, quiches and breads that make you more hungry than when you came through the door. Oversized cups brimming with hot coffee. A chandelier made of bread. And the smell is so intoxicating. It’s one of those places where you have breakfast and wish you could just stay until you were hungry for lunch.

I wanted to recreate that Tartine breakfast at home in Nashville, so I looked up a recipe for the morning buns online. I didn’t have enough time to make croissant dough, but I remembered Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Processor Danish Pastry. Pastry made for danishes using your food processor. Could anything that easy really work?

Baby. This pastry dough might be my favorite discovery of 2010

Continue reading: Morning Buns for Slackers

© 2011 Rebecca Crump. All rights reserved.