The author watching a film with her mother and brother.
By Katie Arthurs
A little over a year ago, I awoke to dozens of missed calls and urgent messages from family and friends. It was in that moment that the world slowed and I learned my mother had suddenly collapsed from a heart attack. Later that day, despite flying from California to Texas as fast as I could, I felt it stop when I learned she had passed before I was able to get there. In that moment, which felt like it would never end, I was adrift without an anchor.
As this first year without her passed, somehow both as slow as molasses and as fast as lightning, I found myself longing to connect to my mom in some way even though she wasn’t physically here anymore. I was drawn to old memories, photos I’d forgotten about, stories about her, and recipes she loved. Sometimes I would seek them out — like looking at old photos of my mom when she was young — other times they would find me, like when I was shopping and the smell of perfume brought me back to the faint smell of Chanel No. 5 in my mother’s hair when she would give me the longest hug at the airport baggage claim when I’d come home for the holidays. Through this journey of reconnecting with her, my world began to move again.
With this reconnection journey on my mind, I knew I wanted to highlight a movie that, to me, perfectly captures this feeling: Wayne Blair’s Top End Wedding. Premiering back at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Top End Wedding is a story of reconnecting with culture and family. It will make you laugh, cry, and is just a solid good time. (It is currently streaming on Hulu.)
Immediately after her engagement, Lauren rushes home to learn her mother has left her father and disappeared. Following a hilarious trail of evidence, she soon finds herself on a path that will not only reveal where her mother has gone but also help solve a long-standing mystery about her mother’s past. Homecomings can be stressful, and the fear of being rejected can keep someone away. But in Top End Wedding—which was co-written by lead actress Miranda Tapsell—returning home is a bittersweet, heartfelt journey with song and dance, making you wonder why you’ve stayed away for so long.
Growing up, I learned to cook by watching my mom, my memaw, my grammie, and my pawpaw. In their kitchens, recipes were more of a suggestion and your eyes, nose, and tongue were the true guide to cooking. Combining the southern cooking traditions of my mom’s side and the Indigenous cooking traditions of my dad’s, it was truly a master class in how to cook.
When thinking of what recipe to share, I was drawn back to a classic in my family: Breakfast Burritos. Every Christmas morning, after opening presents and stockings, my mother would cook all of the fixin’s for us to make our own breakfast burritos. As I have grown older and moved out on my own, I’ve taken my mother’s recipe and put my own spin on it to share with all of my loved ones. When I cook these, it is another moment when I feel my mother with me, and I hope they bring you as much love and joy as they have brought my family over the years.
Arthurs Family Breakfast Burritos
Feeds 3-4
INGREDIENTS
1 package (16 oz) of Hot Breakfast sausage (I personally use Jimmy Dean Hot)
1 package (20 oz) of hash brown shreds (I personally use Simply Potatoes shredded hash browns
Shredded cheese to taste (I personally use cheddar)
8 eggs
6 oz of pure maple syrup
Burrito size flour tortillas (I personally use La Banderita)
salt
pepper
cooking oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
Optional:
Hot sauce or salsa
Tony Chachere seasoning
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to between 170–200°F. This will be used to keep food warm during preparation.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add your cooking oil so it coats the base of the pan. Once hot, add in your hash brown shreds. Cook for about 6–8 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Once cooked, add to an oven safe pan, cover with foil, and let warm in the oven.
- Next, either wipe out that same skillet or use a new one and add your hot breakfast sausage to the skillet over medium heat. Break up the sausage in the pan until it is ground. Let it simmer, occasionally mixing, until it starts to brown.
- Add in your maple syrup and mix it into the sausage. You should be able to smell the mix of sweet and savory. Let the sausage finish cooking and caramelize in the syrup, being sure to mix occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
- Once there is a nice color on the sausage, remove it from the pan, being sure to leave some of the fat and syrup mixture leftover from the sausage in the pan. Move the cooked sausage to an oven safe pan and put it in the oven to keep warm.
- Crack your eggs into a bowl. Add pepper and salt to taste or add Tony Chachere seasoning to taste if you want more of a kick. Whisk the eggs with a form until the yolks are broken and mixed with the whites (making a scramble mixture).
- Using the skillet with some of the leftover fat from the sausage, heat it over medium heat. Once warm, pour in your egg mix and scramble those bad boys with a spatula or spoon.
- Once your eggs are light and fluffy, remove them from the skillet. Remove all of your warming ingredients from the oven. It is now time to roll some burritos.
- With a new skillet, warm a tortilla on both sides so it is easier to fold. Once warm, plate it and add your desired toppings (I personally recommend hashbrowns first, sausage, eggs, then topping it with cheddar cheese shreds). Be sure not to over fill it so it can still be closed.
- Once filled, fold your burrito closed. Once closed, add it to a hot pan to toast it on both sides to a nice golden brown.
- Let it cool just enough that you won’t burn your mouth and enjoy!
