Mother's Day Brunch

I LOVE to entertain. Intimate dinner for 4, huge birthday party for 40, I love it all. Some of my favorite moments are spent gathered around my kitchen island with my best friends, laughing together and sipping wine, nibbling off a cheeseboard while I simultaneously tend to whatever's going on behind me on the stovetop. What can I say? Multi-tasking is kinda my thing.

I feel like being a good multi-tasker is kind of paramount when you're a mom, right?!

One event I have hosted annually for quite a while is Mother's Day Brunch. This always happens at our house, and we are usually joined by my mom and dad, my mother-in-law and her husband, my sister and her family, my brother, my grandma, my two uncles and my aunt. So we are looking at a guest list of around 18 people, including kiddos (our 3 and my sister's 2).

I'd say my thought process for for entertaining, no matter how big or small the group, follows a similar pattern. It goes something like this:

Step 1: Confirm the guest count

I usually send out an email, text or invitation a minimum of three weeks in advance that includes the date, time and type of event. I usually like to give the "eating time" as well as the "arrival time" so everyone knows what's going on; this might read something like "We plan to eat at 11 am but feel free to show up anytime after 10:30!" This allows people time to get the event on their calendar and get back to me. This year my mother-in-law and her husband weren't able to make it, so we were down 2 people but everyone else responded to my email that they would be there, so we were on for a group of 16. If we're a week out and I haven't heard from someone, that is the time I chase them down via text or phone call to find out if they're planning to come.

My mom, my grandma and my two uncles

Step 2: Plan the menu

This one is probably my favorite step, because it gives me an excuse to do one of my favorite things, which is come up with a theme for the meal and spread out a bunch of my favorite cookbooks on the floor to start flipping through (this is the point at which one of my kids will try to sit in my lap or my 22-month old will walk all over the cookbooks). Once you know how many people are attending, you can figure out how much food you will need. The theme for this event is pretty easy, because it's a brunch so I'm looking at brunch-y type foods like quiches, light salads, pastries, etc. This year I planned a somewhat ambitious menu:

• Appetizer Charcuterie Board: olives, cheddar cheese, crackers, giardiniera, fig spread, raw almonds

• Cranberry Orange Scones

• Blueberry Lemon Bread

• Ham/Cheddar/Green Onion Quiche

• Quiche Lorraine

• Broccoli/Red Pepper/Fontina Quiche

• Blackberry Orange Duck Salad

• Breakfast sausages

• Home Fries

• Mimosas (duh) with the option of orange or grapefruit juice (my personal fav)

I was initially only going to make 2 quiches and 1 pastry option and no breakfast sausages, but when I found out my sister's family was coming for sure I amended my plan because she has a 13 and 9 year old boy, and those kids can eat!

Step 3: Make a plan

Arguably the most important step is figuring out how you'll make your menu happen in a timely and (hopefully) sane manner. A big thing for me was having my husband available to boss around so he could do little things like clean, set the table, pick lilacs for the centerpieces, etc. while I focused on the cooking. In order for this to happen, I had to enlist some additional help with our kids. So, when my mom asked what she could bring to contribute to the brunch I responded nothing but yourself, 2 hours early. She agreed!

The only thing better than how they look is how they smell...

The next thing I considered in my plan was if there was anything I could buy premade instead of making every last thing from scratch. Not something I generally like to do, but sometimes it is necessary. For this brunch I decided to forgo making my own pie crusts and bought pre-made pie crusts for my 3 quiches. This was a pretty easy decision because although it pains me to admit it, I'm pretty bad at making pie crust from scratch. I would definitely also buy all of the items for my appetizer board pre-made. My salad recipe called for frisee and some other fancy greens that I would have to wash and prep, but I decided I would just buy a box of pre-washed spring mix to save time.

The last part of the plan was to decide when I would execute each dish and how much I could do the day before. I made my grocery list a week or so out and decided to grocery shop Saturday morning. Since I only have 1 oven and had lots of things to bake, I opted to make the scones, bread and 1 of the quiches the day before. That way the only thing I'd be baking the next day would be the other 2 quiches. I planned to top the scones and bread with a simple glaze, which I decided I could definitely pull off the day of.

Pickled Fennel-sooo good, who knew?! I'd throw it on a charcuterie board for sure.

My salad had a homemade pickled fennel in it, so I knew that would be an easy one to take care of the day before, as well as the orange ginger vinaigrette that would dress the salad. Other items I knew I could prep in advance would be slicing the cheese for the appetizer board and prepping any of my other ingredients that would keep fine in the fridge overnight if they were cut up. I planned to chop my onion and slice my bacon for my Quiche Lorraine and put those in containers (btw a great tip for cutting raw bacon: put strips of bacon in the freezer for about 30 minutes before you slice them; it's much easier to cut than when it's fridge temperature). I could cut up my broccoli and red pepper and store that in a container. I could shred all of my cheeses for the quiches and store those in separate containers. You probably get the picture at this point; my fridge looks like one big storage hub for Pyrex containers the day before I entertain. This was crucial though; it saved me a ton of time the next day. I knew I would also try to get most if not all of my cleaning done the day before too, as well as setting up extra tables since we would need two big tables to eat at for this amount of guests.

I opted to add this blueberry lemon bread to my menu because these are 2 of my mom's favorite flavors

Once I had the plan for the day before, I made a plan for the day of. Since quiches need some time to sit after you bake them anyways and are fine served at room temperature, I planned to get to work on my 2 remaining quiches first thing in the morning. While those baked, I would arrange my scones and bread on platters, then make the lemon glaze to drizzle on those. I bought 2 bouquets of flowers at the grocery store, which I would mix and match along with some lilacs from our yard to make centerpieces for the two tables.

At that point, I would have done most of what I could do well in advance and would have to pay attention to time a little more closely. About an hour out, I would pull the duck breasts from the fridge, season with salt and pepper and let them sit until we were about 30 minutes away from eating. I would put the salad greens in the salad bowl and wash and cut the blackberries and oranges and add them to the mix. I would cut up my potatoes and get those going. I would pull other serving platters and utensils that I knew I would need and get them ready on the island, where I like to serve my buffets.

About a half-hour out, it would be crunch time. I would put out the appetizer board, so that anyone who showed up a little early would have something to graze on. I would start the breakfast sausages on the stovetop (my husband ended up moving them to the smoker to add a little smoke flavor). I would put out the juice carafes and sparkling wine, as well as brew a pot of decaf coffee (once that was brewed, I would transfer it to an insulated coffee pot and put on a pot of regular). I would put my duck breast on the stovetop to sear so that it would have a little time to rest before slicing and topping my salad.

Blackberry Orange Duck Salad; man this was good!

About 10 minutes out, I would dress my salad while greeting family members coming through the door. I would also be pouring mimosas and coffee at this point. My experience working in the service industry taught me that as long as someone has a drink in their hand, they are usually happy, so I try to get drinks to my guests right away in case the meal will be a few minutes late (which it often is). I would also make sure we had carafes of ice water out on the tables.

I like to have the silverware and water glasses on the table, but the plates up on the buffet.

Once the food is ready to go on the buffet, I have my kids run around and gather everyone together so I can explain what everything is (if I've decided not to label the dishes; sometimes I do) and we can get to eating!

Step 4: Consider other aspects of the day besides the meal

Although the meal is the main event, my family usually sticks around long after to enjoy being together, so if it's a nice day we make sure the deck is in order. If the weather forecast looked bad, I might have thought to have some board games or decks of cards handy. This year, the hit of the event was a huge bubble wand I had bought for the kids. Everyone, young and old enjoyed the challenge of trying to create huge bubbles that would drift off into the breeze. My two oldest kids were the best at it-but, they've had the most practice. My mom also took a few of the kids for a walk around the neighborhood. Springtime in Minnesota is kind of special because we are SO appreciative of the sunshine and warm air after a long cold winter.

Pretty mesmerizing!

A few hours after the meal, I pulled the leftover elements of my charcuterie back out on the board, included a small log of herb goat cheese that I hadn't put on the original board, and brought it out to the deck in case anyone was feeling a little snacky (I was). My husband also took drink orders since late afternoon in the sun had everyone feeling a bit thirsty.

Step 5: Evaluate

At some point, after everyone has left, the leftovers are packed up and most of the dishes are washed (thank you, husband), I sit and reflect on how the meal went. Being a teacher has taught me that you can always improve, and the best way to do this is to evaluate the day soon after so you don't forget anything (maybe even take notes if that's your style). My thoughts this year: I wasn't a huge fan of the scones, so I wouldn't make those again. The salad bowl was practically licked clean, so that was a real winner. 3 quiches was maybe a tad too ambitious; I don't think I'd try to do that many for one event again. Having the backup log of goat cheese was clutch in the afternoon to make a refreshed cheeseboard. Now that we're almost out of bubble soap, I'll have to buy more :)

Cheers!

Living proof that you're only as old as you feel :)