The family looks forward to our summer rental spot all year long. We book a place big enough for everyone. There will be laughter, laundry, late-night board games, beach time and plenty of cooking together.

I pack a small arsenal of tools to make cooking in a rental kitchen easier. We’ve learned to bring a couple of sharp knives and a large nonstick skillet. That way, we can cook pancakes and eggs for breakfast and chop farm stand veggies to accompany grilled meats.

Truth be told, I also pack a box of condiments and seasonings, so flavor additions are readily on hand. Toting a French press coffee pot and a pound of coffee ensures a good cup of coffee, no matter where we stay.

A beach day requires a hearty breakfast. Start with tostadas spread with crushed beans and scrambled eggs. Crisp corn tostadas from the local market offer a fun alternative to toast. When they are not available, warm fresh corn or flour tortillas in a damp towel in the microwave oven until pliable, then use them for breakfast tacos.

For the eggs, buy them from local farms or farm stands for maximum freshness. You’ll immediately notice a difference in the color of the yolks, which are deeper and richer, and in the clearer whites. Softly scramble them before adding cooked meat, vegetables, or cheese.

For elaborate tostadas, start by sauteing fresh onions and peppers, which are almost always available at small-town markets, into strips. Of course, feel free to save time by swapping in frozen veggies. Just be sure to sauté them long enough for excess moisture to evaporate.

Mexican-style chorizo adds flavor to the eggs and cooks in about 10 minutes. Chicken chorizo is less rich than pork or beef, but all work well here. Remove it from the plastic casing, cook it thoroughly, and drain the cooked sausage on a paper towel to absorb excess fat. Diced ham makes a fine substitute.

Serve the tostadas with cut-up fresh fruit and squeeze limes over everything. Add a pinch of ground cinnamon to the coffee grounds before brewing, or sprinkle cinnamon onto steamed milk.

Don’t worry — all this cooking still feels like vacation. Plenty of hands help with cooking and setting the table, and the dirty dishes are not my problem; I did all the planning!

Breakfast Tostadas with Bacon, Chorizo and Three Peppers

Makes 4 servings

Note: This recipe doubles easily for a crowd. Just be sure to cook only four eggs at a time for maximum control.

1/2 each, seeded: red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, poblano

2 thick strips smoky bacon

1 small red onion, quartered, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic crushed or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, optional

1 package (10 ounces) uncooked Mexican-style chicken or pork chorizo

1 can (15 ounces) black beans

1/2 teaspoon red pepper hot sauce, or to taste

Salt, freshly ground black pepper

8 crispy corn tostadas or small corn or flour tortillas

About 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican-style cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 medium-size ripe avocado, pitted, diced

4 to 6 large radishes, thinly sliced or cut into matchsticks

8 large eggs

3 tablespoons half-and-half, milk or water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for high heat cooking, such as expeller-pressed canola or avocado oil

Salsa, for serving

1. Cut peppers into strips about 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long. You will have about 3/4 cup each pepper.

2. Cut bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Put into a 10- or 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until crisp, about four minutes. Remove crispy bits to a plate. Add peppers and onion to bacon fat to skillet and cook until tender, five or six minutes. Add garlic and oregano; cook for one minute. Remove to a plate.

3. Remove chorizo from casing. Crumble into the same skillet with any remaining bacon fat and cook until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper toweling. Wipe out skillet.

4. Tip off about half of the liquid from the can of beans. Put the beans with the remaining bean liquid in a shallow bowl and mash coarsely with the back of a large fork. Stir in hot sauce and season with salt and pepper

5. Heat oven or toaster oven to 400 F. Smear beans over tostadas and place on a baking sheet. Have peppers, cheese, cilantro, avocado and radish ready.

6. Cook eggs in two batches: For each, whisk together four in a large bowl. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of the half-and-half, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

7. Heat skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat. When hot, add egg mixture to skillet. Cook, gently scrambling by moving the liquid eggs into the center of the skillet, until almost cooked, one to two minutes. Stir in 1/2 of the cooked chorizo and fold together. Tip eggs out of skillet to a plate. Repeat for remaining eggs and chorizo.

8. Pile some of the eggs onto each tostada. Top with a few of the peppers, then a sprinkling of cheese. Put into oven to heat through, two to three minutes.

9. Serve sprinkled with crisp bacon, avocado, radish and cilantro. Pass salsa.

Cinnamon-Orange Coffee

Makes 4 servings

Note: Make this in a French press. If a drip coffee brewer is available, put the orange peel, spices and sugar in the bottom of the carafe before brewing, then brew the coffee into the carafe as directed by the machine.

24 ounces water

8 tablespoons ground dark roast coffee

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cloves, optional

2 strips fresh orange peel

Warmed milk or half-and-half

1. Heat water to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, put coffee grounds, sugar, cinnamon nutmeg and orange peel into the bottom of a large French press coffee pot. Add 24 ounces boiling water and stir well. Put the lid on the pot (don’t depress the plunger yet) and steep for four minutes.

3. Slowly depress the plunger and serve. Pass warm milk as desired.

(JeanMarie Brownson is a James Beard Award-winning author and the recipient of the IACP Cookbook Award for her latest cookbook, “Dinner at Home.” JeanMarie, a chef and authority on home cooking, Mexican cooking and specialty food, is one of the founding partners of Frontera Foods. She co-authored three cookbooks with chef Rick Bayless, including “Mexico: One Plate at a Time.” JeanMarie has enjoyed developing recipes and writing about food, travel and dining for more than four decades.)

©2026 JeanMarie Brownson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.