An Egg-cellent Brunch

I love dinner parties and cocktails parties but hosting a brunch occupies a very special place in my heart. Brunch is an ideal meal because you can serve a classic lunch menu, a breakfast menu or a combination of the two. My favorite brunch is the brunch that lasts all day. Friends arrive at 11AM and through the afternoon, sip on coffee and mimosas, chatting until the sun begins to set. That’s a perfect day, followed by an early bedtime after a day of imbibing. 

All images by Kirsten Valentini

If hosting a breakfast-leaning brunch, I structure my menu around a main egg dish accompanied by a sweet treat and a breakfast meat. This menu includes a caramelized onion, spinach and parmesan frittata, homemade breakfast sausages and blueberry muffins. And brunch would not be complete without coffee and mimosas!

I like to set up a little beverage bar for breakfast like this. Stock the bar with chilled champagne, a pitcher of orange juice, a carafe of coffee, a creamer of milk or cream and a sugar bowl. I usually provide real sugar and a sugar substitute, like Stevia. You can either offer to make beverages for your guests or allow them to do it themselves.

When buying alcohol for parties, you know your guests best! A bottle of champagne has 8 glasses in it. I’ll estimate 10 glasses for each bottle of champagne if we’re making mimosas. For my small brunch of 4, I purchased two bottles of champagne, assuming my friends will stay for awhile.

Tip: A great way to signal the end of your party is to stop serving alcohol.

With an egg cup collection as large as mine, I like to include them when I can. I love placecards, regardless of the size of the party and here, I’ve created placecards out of blown out egg shells and used my egg cups to display the egg shells. I recommend this video if you’re interested in recreating this: How to Blow Out an Egg. Then using a pencil or paintbrush, write your guests’ names on the shells.

Tip: if you don’t have egg cups, you can fill a shallow bowl or ramekin with rice, salt or sugar and use that as an egg cup. 

And don’t waste the egg from the blown eggshell! Use them for your frittata!