The Anatomy of a Winter Brunch ☕️
Happy Monday!
I hosted a post-bar mitzvah brunch for my sister-in-law and her husband’s out of town guests yesterday. I thought I would share the details so you can see how I approach hosting a brunch without stress.
The two most important strategies:
Pick the menu quickly and early and move on
Do as much ahead of time as possible
Other important tips:
Don’t bite off more than you can chew
Not everything has to be homemade
Disposables are 100% fine
When doing a brunch after a bar mitzvah, you may have leftovers from the luncheon the day before or even the party, like fruit, extra cream cheese, or sweets. We were able to incorporate some of those leftovers into the brunch.
Here was my menu for 24 people, buffet-style. Invitation called for 9:30 am, open house style.
Regular and Decaf Coffee
Hot water and tea bags
Oat Milk and Regular Milk
Typical sweeteners
Orange Juice
Water
This was not a boozy crowd, so I did not serve alcohol.
Bagels and cream cheese (ordered 2 dozen bagels)
Lox and condiments (tomato, pickled red onion, cucumber, capers, lemon, fresh dill)
Avocado
Cream cheese
Butter
Frittatas 1 of each in pie plates. I do 8 eggs plus precooked vegetables in each. Here’s one frittata on my site that you can use as a template recipe, but I have many. I originally planned to do 2 of each, but 1 of each was perfect.
Broccoli, roasted red pepper, onion
Mushroom, spinach, onion, thyme, gruyere
Deli board with turkey, smoked turkey, three cheeses, Russian dressing, coleslaw
Apple Oatmeal bake (I used this recipe, swapped in pre-sauteed apples and doubled it in my Staub 12-inch braiser)
2 Coffee cakes (provided the recipe through Instagram and my Thanksgiving ebook. Only 1 was needed, but Hubs wanted enough leftovers.)
Assorted Trader Joe’s croissants (I buy them frozen and bake in the morning. They’re great!)
Mixed greens salad + fresh herbs and everyday salad dressing #2
Mixed berries
Citrus and pomegranate with mint
Decor: I “borrowed” some centerpieces from the bar mitzvah party.
PREP AHEAD LIST AFTER I COMMITTED TO A MENU:
Order plates
Order coffee cups
Order flatware and napkins (I love these pre-rolled napkins+flatware.)
Bake crumb cake and freeze
Make salad dressing and freeze
Order bagels + cream cheese
Saute onions for frittata and freeze
Wednesday
Grocery shop for everything
Pickle onions
Thursday
Pull platters
Wash lettuces
Fill water bottles and chill
Friday
Cut all citrus, wash and dry strawberries and blueberries (raspberries and blackberries will be done Sunday)
I saved the citrus rinds to use for a “Winter Simmer Pot” during the brunch.
Set buffet table
(Hubs does this) Assemble bar: ice bucket, tossware, coffee cups, sweeteners
Defrost salad dressing
Saturday
Saute vegetables for frittatas
Coffee cakes
Slice cucumber for lox platter
Assemble Oatmeal Bake and refrigerate
Saturday overnight
Defrost croissants at room temp
Defrost crumb cake in fridge
Defrost onions in fridge
Sunday
Music on (Hubs)
Make coffees and keep warm in carafes
Set up bar for all drinks (Hubs)
Assemble fruit salads
8:00 am Pick up bagels and cream cheese (Hubs)
Bake croissants
8:30 Bake frittatas
9:00 am Bake oatmeal
Add citrus rinds and a couple cinnamon sticks to a pot and cover with water. Simmer and continue to add water as needed. It makes the house smell wonderful!
Assemble baked goods
Assemble lox platter
Toss salad
xx, Pamela