Smoked Gouda, Bacon and Egg Casserole and Cranberry Mimosas: Easy Holiday Brunch

It comes as no surprise to those who know me that I love cooking and have been entered into a cooking competition for Whole Foods Market Encinitas.  This is not like any other culinary competition I have ever been in before, in fact I am pretty certain I have never been in any kind of cooking competition.  I love cooking, but it is a learn as you go type of relationship.  I have only recently trained myself to start actually tasting as I go instead of waiting till the end to just see how it turns out.  I’m lucky that method worked for as long as it did.  I came from  household that cooked the same meals each week and they were cheap, simple and ordinary.  There was no experimentation, no creativity and very little flavor.  My grandmother, bless her heart, cooked like we were still in the great depression and fed us the bare necessities but didn’t ever seem to have fun cooking her food.  I like to have fun with cooking. I laugh at myself most of the time because I honestly do not know what I am doing, ironically enough I have many close friends who have gone to culinary school and are professional chef’s *thanks for not making me feel like an idiot guys!*.  This competition sounded like fun to me; An incredible challenge, waaaayyyyyy outside of my comfort zone and an exciting new way to share and learn some creative new recipes!