6 Ways to Make an At-Home Brunch Special
Enjoying brunch at home is a fun way to make the weekend more special, spend quality time with your family, or celebrate a Spring holiday. You may associate brunch with elaborate, over-the-top buffets, staffed omelette and waffle stations, and bottomless bubbly bars but doing your own at home doesn’t have to mean a ton of work (or a staff of 20!)
Try some of these easy ways to make an at-home brunch feel special yet simple enough to put together that you get to enjoy it too!
1. Set a Pretty Scene
This is the perfect opportunity to break out the china, your prettiest serving pieces, cloth napkins, a tablecloth or runner, a pitcher for water, and that cream and sugar set you never use. Fresh flowers from the supermarket or greenery from the garden will also make your table look festive. Clear clutter (or your home office/homework gear) off the table and set it the night before to save yourself time in the morning.
2. Create a Cute Beverage Setup
It wouldn’t be brunch without coffee or tea, fresh juices, and maybe Mimosas and Bloody Marys. If you have one, transfer your coffee or tea into a stay-warm carafe to keep on the table to make it easy to refill mugs or tea cups as you eat. Find or place a small piece of furniture near where you’ll be eating to setup a cold drinks station. This can be a bar cart, console table, set of bookshelves, or even just a small folding TV table with a cloth over it. The night before your brunch, transfer fresh juices into empty glass bottles (a funnel works great for this) and put your Bloody Mary mix in a pitcher to have ready to go in the refrigerator. Place an ice bucket, glasses, bubbly, and vodka along with juices at your bar setup in the morning with a small vase of flowers for a cute self-serve bar.
Tip: when it comes to juices try adding variety beyond your basic OJ like mango juice, peach or pear nectar, cranberry or pomegranate juice.
3. Go Big with Bloody Mary Garnishes
If you are serving Bloody Marys you can really have some fun here! Put out a platter with skewers and a slew of fun garnishes like olives, sliced salami, pepperoni, cubes of Locatelli Pecorino cheese, pickles, pickled onions, cornichons, pepperoncini or hot cherry peppers, cooked shrimp, slices of crispy bacon, or any other savory garnish you like!
4. Build a Beautiful Brunch Board
Grazing boards make such a statement on the table and let everyone assemble their own perfect plate. Grab your biggest board or tray and add things like bagels, lox, cream cheese, butter, jam, honey, croissants, fresh or dried fruit, and sliced cheeses like pecorino that pair well with anything!
5. Add Something Savory
Instead of standing over the stove making individual egg dishes all morning, consider putting together a savory strata instead. Just cube hearty bread and arrange in a greased casserole dish. Add diced cooked ham or crumbled cooked bacon or sausage, and sautéed veggies like peppers, onions, mushrooms, or spinach. Whisk together eggs with some milk and grated Locatelli Pecorino mixed in for amazing flavor. Pour over the bread mixture and bake at 350 until set in the center. Bonus! Stratas can be completely assembled the night before to pop in the oven in the morning and are just as delicious hot or room temperature.
6. Don’t Forget a Little Something Sweet!
It’s always fun to pair your savory brunch items with a little something sweet. Stop by your local bakery for some Italian biscotti to enjoy with your coffee, blueberry muffins, crumb cake, cinnamon rolls, danish, or cookies. If you like can also put out some fruit salad drizzled with honey and topped with chopped fresh mint for a pretty, Springy, bright touch.
Happy Brunching!
