In my mind, brunch is synonymous with luxurious and upscale living. I often make brunch for us on Saturday mornings, but I’ve never served it when entertaining. I decided to recreate the feel of a country club style brunch on Mother’s Day with a pretty buffet and a menu that was different than what I usually serve. Here’s how I did it!
The Menu:
- Cheesy Breakfast Casserole (I doubled the recipe and used ham and bacon instead of sausage)
- Pigs in a Blanket: The Trusty Farmer Breakfast Sausage Links wrapped in Puff Pastry Dough
- Cinnamon Monkey Bread (from the bakery at Lowes Foods – delicious and a great time-saver!)
- Deconstructed Fruit Salad with Honey-Yogurt Dressing
- Coffee, Orange Juice and Apple Juice
Because I was serving this on a Sunday, I needed a menu that I could prepare ahead of time and that would be ready less than an hour after arriving home from church. I spread my prep over the weekend which resulted in relatively light work loads each day.
Two Days Before:
- finalized menu & picked up last minute items
- chopped peppers for casserole
- cooked bacon for casserole
- cooked sausage for pigs in a blanket
- cut up cantaloupe
- took monkey bread out of the freezer to thaw
The Day Before:
- set the table
- set up the buffet with decor and serving pieces
- assembled casserole so it was ready to go in the oven
- baked pigs in a blanket (tip: make sure they cool completely before refrigerating, then bring to room temperature before reheating in the oven. I left mine out for an hour before reheating at 350, loosely wrapped in foil, for about 15 minutes. This method keeps them from becoming soggy when you reheat them!)
- made fruit dip
The Day Of:
- allowed casserole and pigs in a blanket to come to room temperature before baking/reheating
- baked casserole
- during the last 20 minutes of the casserole’s baking time, heated monkey bread and pigs in a blanket in the oven
- sliced strawberries and oranges
- assembled fruit tray
- made coffee
- poured juices into pitchers – this can be done earlier if you have room to store the pitchers in your fridge
- poured cream into creamer (that’s what it’s called, right? a creamer?)
I was so pleased with how everything turned out! I wasn’t exhausted and was able to really enjoy the morning! Here are the things I recommend when hosting brunch:
- Don’t let your menu get too large. I had four entrees to prepare, which was very manageable.
- Don’t feel like you have to make everything from scratch! The cinnamon monkey bread from Lowes Foods was delicious! It came in an oven safe container, so I heated the bread in the oven and served it on a pretty cake pedestal. Nobody knew it wasn’t homemade! 🙂
- Put some thought into your tablescape and buffet setup. It makes a big impact when there are layers and textures on the tables. I used a mixture of my basic entertaining favorites: chargers, mix and match white plates, basic linen napkins and decor from my household stash! If you need inspiration for a lovely seasonal tablescape, check out this post from Wayfair. It’s loaded with so many great tips and ideas (and features a previous tablescape from yours truly!).
- Do as much ahead of time as possible. The only prep dishes I dirtied on Sunday were a cutting board, a few knives, a cookie sheet and a cake pan. I snapped a quick picture of my kitchen right before we sat down to eat – cleaning up afterwards was a breeze!
Who’s hungry for brunch? 🙂
Come Home For Comfort 
So pretty!
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Thank you!
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Just back from the country so catching up on your posts. And yes…that looks amazing Whitney. Pam would make you a member of the Fine Things club.( is that the name of it? My daughter and I always laugh about that cute little club on the office.)
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Aww, thanks! Yes I would love to be in the Finer Things Club – I even have a 3-tiered plate stand for serving sandwiches! 🙂
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I’m coming to your house for brunch! I agree with you on brunch. It seems so luxurious and upscale.
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Come on over! I would love to host you for brunch! 🙂
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Your guests surely felt so special and welcome! You did a beautiful job.
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Thank you, Shelly! It was a lot of fun!
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Everything looked beautiful, Whitney. Anyone would be delighted to enjoy that mid-morning feast! I like how you displayed the fruit in rows; that way people can choose what they enjoy and it looks prettier than when it’s mixed together. Your buffet was so beautiful! Looks yummy!
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Thank you! I make mini versions of that fruit platter for Paul all the time, because he doesn’t like his fruit mixed together. 🙂 I thought it was really pretty like that, too!
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I love brunch!! Your menu sounds delicious. I love all the thought that went into you hosting Mother’s Day brunch. I’m sure everyone appreciated it and I love that you added in a family picture to your buffet. I’d love that if someone did it for me. Great tips to not make too much, divide up how many homemade things you’re making and get started a few days in advance. I also love that you had a table runner on your buffet and that you wrote out your menu. I really love labeling my food, too. You are a great hostess!!
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Honestly, I can be really lazy when it comes to entertaining…so I’m trying to work really hard to make things nice for my family. We eat at the buffet counter all the time, so adding a runner elevates it from the everyday use (at least to me)!
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That breakfast casserole looks amazing. I will definitely be trying this recipe. I have always wanted to host a brunch. It seems like it would be a lot of fun!
Della
http://www.delladevoted.com
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I definitely recommend that casserole recipe! It was SO good. I don’t like casseroles that have a bread base – this one just has potatoes, meat, cheese and eggs – so it’s not soggy. It’s great!
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Such a fun idea. We have never been big brunch people but I can definitely see that changing as our girls get to be a bit older :).
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I wasn’t big into brunch until I started work after college…and began to truly appreciate weekends. 🙂
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Whitney, It was indeed lovely! And I enjoyed every minute, bite and touch of your Mother’s Day Brunch! I can confirm that the recipes are great. And you gave a great tip on reheating bread so that it’s not soggy. The picture was a sweet touch, and the kind that usually makes me cry (you know what I mean :)) Those things remind me how blessed I am and how fun it was to rear the guys!!! I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun putting the meal together. 🙂
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Me! I’m hungry for brunch! lol You did a great job, and the family photo was such a sweet touch. Does Paul come from a family of all boys??? Bless his momma! That’s no small job. 😉 Looked like a lovely meal, Whitney!
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Thank you, friend! I had a lot of fun putting this together! Yes, Paul is the oldest of three boys. My MIL loved being a boy mom! 🙂
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