A Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party

Summer is finally here, and let me tell you, we are ready. We've been packing our calendars full with plans for outdoor movies and concerts, lazy days at the beach, and lots of dining al fresco. If you ask us, fresh-air dining need not be limited to barbecue lunches and dinners, either - you may not be surprised to learn that we’re big proponents of taking brunch outside, too. In fact, it’s hard to imagine anything more lovely than spending a warm summer morning in the backyard, sipping mimosas with friends... except, perhaps, if there was an entire mimosa bar, full of bright, fresh juices, crisp Prosecco, and plenty of colorful, in-season fruit. I ask you (as rhetorically as Ina Garten might), is there anything more delightfully summery than that?

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

For our recent Mimosa Bar party, we knew we wanted to mix things up and offer a fun twist on the traditional mimosa (plain old orange juice and Champagne is just so expected, isn’t it?). To start, we turned to Mionetto’s Prosecco as the base for our bubbly bar (or should we say... #MioMosa bar? FYI, Mio in Italian means “My,” and that’s what MioMosa is all about – My Mionetto Miomosa is a personalized creation made entirely your way). And yes, we love the crisp, dry bubbly on its own, but it’s truly special when paired with a splash of fresh, tangy fruit juice and some colorful fruit garnish. And while we couldn’t in good conscience skip the old-standby OJ entirely, we knew we wanted to offer a variety of juices for our guests to choose from when concocting their cocktails - so we created a rainbow of juice around the orange with carafes of cranberry, grapefruit, and mango-orange juices. To round out the offerings, we stocked our little bar with a full spectrum of berries and citrus fruits. The cocktail-crafting possibilities were endless!

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

And because no responsible brunch host would serve only Mimosas, we made sure to stock our bar with some snacks and treats as well, sticking steadfastly to our rainbow theme. We plucked pretty little macarons from a local bakery, set out some delicious and not-too-sweet raspberry rugelach, and piled cake stands high with donuts from our favorite neighborhood shop (Donut Hut in Burbank, if you were curious). Did we have a sugar high afterward? Yes we did. Did we care? Decidedly not.

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

Are you hoping to throw a MioMosa party of your own this summer? Here's a bit of our best advice for building your very own beautiful (and delicious) Mimosa bar:

1. Start with the good stuff. Find a bubbly wine that you’d enjoy just as much when sipped on its own, and that’s not so sweet that it couldn’t stand up to a little added juice. For us, that was Mionetto Prosecco - Johnna’s favorite is the Rosé Extra Dry, while Veronica prefers the DOC Treviso Brut. Find your favorite and introduce it to your friends!

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

2. Get creative with mixers. Whether you take inspiration from classic cocktail combinations (cranberry + lime, anyone?), seasonal fruits and veggies, or a juice from your favorite juice bar, remember to think outside the classic mimosa! There’s a whole world of flavor combinations to choose from, and your guests will appreciate an opportunity to show their creativity.

3. Pick a color theme. Any party table will look best when a color theme is kept in mind, especially if you can carry that theme all the way through the food and drink you serve! We knew our Prosecco bottles would be orange and pink, so we chose a rainbow theme that emphasized yellow, orange, and pink.

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

Build-Your-Own-Mimosa Bar Party, featuring Mionetto Prosecco - Brunchographers

4. Add some pretty details. Finally, for those who are crafting-inclined, consider tying your party spread together with a few charming, handmade touches. For this party, Johnna lent her calligraphy skills to create a gorgeous chalkboard sign, while Veronica got crafty with some colorful floral arrangements. And to help guests tell whose glass was whose, we made some quick little tassel charms in our color scheme and attached them to the champagne flutes. For us, these little projects were just the right level of Martha-ness - try spending a few minutes on Pinterest to find the perfect project for you!

This post was graciously sponsored by Mionetto USA. As always, all opinions are our own!

A French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch with Blason Louis

There is a timeless, undeniably romantic quality to all things French - the way they live, the way they eat, the way they drink their wine. As a lover of food, it's especially easy to be a Francophile (and after reading and re-reading the charming diaries of Peter Mayle's culinary adventures in the French countryside, who wouldn't harbor secret dreams to retire there?). So when Blason Louis, a wine company that imports all its wines directly from independent vineyards in France, reached out to us to collaborate, we leapt at the chance to host an oh-so-French wine tasting brunch for some of our dear friends. 

Setting the Table for Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Blason Louis Wine - Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Setting the table for Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Blason Louis Wine Tasting Flaçons - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Blason Louis offers wine lovers a fun, new way to taste wines at home through their beautiful tasting kits. Inside each sleek black box are two flaçons of wine, each amounting to about one glass - a perfect way to test out a high-quality wine before committing to a full bottle. Or, for the more socially inclined, the little kits could be your very own wine tasting party in a box. We chose to design a brunch menu around our wine samples, using the helpful guides included with each pack that offer details and characteristics for each selection. We were also lucky enough to have a little help from Blason Louis' in-house sommelier (how cool is it that they have their own sommelier?), who offered us some further food-and-wine pairing suggestions.  

Blason Louis Tasting Box with Guides - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Pouring the Blason Louis Santenay - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Cheese and Charcuterie Board - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

We kicked off the meal with a sprawling cheese board, an obvious crowd-pleaser for a wine tasting brunch (or any gathering for that matter). Because every good board begins with a good cheese monger, we stopped by Wheel House Cheese & Wine in Culver City for guidance on what to serve. The shop's helpful staff set us up with a delightful selection of charcuterie, cheese, and fun accompaniments, each somehow more delicious than they were beautiful. For some color and variety, we included plenty of fresh fruit and veggies, some crunchy marcona almonds and pecans, and a bit of chocolate for something sweet. To accompany the spread, we sipped on Blason Louis' Santenay White. Strong and full of fruit, this wine picked up on the bright notes of citrus and berries, and offered a pleasant complement to the cheese and charcuterie. 

Cheese and Charcuterie Board - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Pouring the Blason Louis - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Sharing tasting notes - Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Wild Mushroom and Emmenthal Quiche - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

For a filling main course, we turned to one of our absolute favorite French imports: the quiche. To match the peppery Haut-Médoc Red, we turned to an old favorite recipe for Wild Mushroom Quiche. In this dish, fluffy, cheesy, eggy filling is cradled in a crisp and buttery crust, and is dotted with earthy mushrooms and shallots - it's truly a divine way to start your day. To make the dish feel just a little more French, we swapped out the Fontina cheese for an old favorite, Emmenthal. The light sweetness that this mild and fragrant cheese offered was a lovely contrast for the salty, earthy mushrooms. 

A simple salad, because we always eat our greens - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

A slice of quiche, anyone? - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

The French would surely agree that one of the most delightful things about le brunch is its ability to straddle the line between breakfast and dessert. And in France, there may be no better example of this balance than the sweet crêpe. Traditionally filled and then either rolled or folded, crêpes can be dressed up as either savory or sweet. And while we've never been known to pass up a savory crêpe stuffed with cheese and eggs, the sweet-style crepe is, in our opinion, the crème de la crème - especially when formed into the jaw-droppingly beautiful tower that is the crêpe cake. Sure, it takes hours to create (I kid you not), but at the end of the exercise, you'll not only have something that looks effortlessly gorgeous on your hands, but you'll also be a newly-minted crêpe-flipping expert. For our cake, we began with a hearty base of nutty buckwheat crêpes, and topped each one with a layer of whipped and lightly sweetened cream cheese, a sprinkling of chopped walnuts and orange zest, and a drizzle of honey. On top, a mound of fluffy whipped cream offered a light and airy sweetness to each bite. Alongside, a glass of Blason Louis' Sancerre 2015 Sauvignon Blanc was absolute heaven. 

Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Those Layers Though... Buckwheat Crêpe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese, Walnuts, and Honey - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Blason Louis Champagne, a perfect ending to our brunch - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Blason Louis Champagne - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Homemade Pain Au Chocolat - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Cheers to champagne! Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

To end the meal, we turned to a French party classic: champagne. Blason Louis' Grand Cru bubbly was bright, fruity, and slightly sweet. We sipped it alongside some simple miniature homemade pain au chocolat - bite-sized treats that offered just the right amount of buttery, chocolatey, crispness - and some perfect macarons from a local bakery in the loveliest spring colors. A perfect treat as we relaxed and enjoyed the company of our good friends! 

Macarons - Cheese and Charcuterie Board - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Blason Louis Wine Tasting Kit - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

In case you're interested in having your own little French wine tasting party at home, the kind folks at Blason Louis put together a special offer for Brunchographers readers - one free month of their wine tasting program! That's 20 bucks of free wine - who could argue with that? To access this deal, click here, and enter "brunchographers" under "who invited you?" Happy drinking! 

Cheers to good wine shared with good friends! - Brunchographers' French-Inspired Wine Tasting Brunch

Special thanks to Blason Louis for providing the wine for this event! As always, all opinions are our own. 

The Lazy Girl's Brunch

It's true: we love throwing beautiful, over-the-top brunches for our friends. All those hours spent flipping through the glossy pages of Martha Stewart Living are probably to blame; we are forever enchanted by idyllic soirées in which everything - from the napkin rings to the croquembouche - is handmade. But as wonderful as a picturesque Martha-worthy brunch can be, sometimes, you need to keep it simple and hang out on the couch in your yoga pants. And so, The Lazy Girl's Brunch was born. 

There is only one rule for throwing a Lazy Girl's Brunch: keep the effort to a minimum, for all parties involved. Invitations must be web-based (don't you dare use a stamp); a text message chain is even better. Friends should roll out of bed and wander over to the party makeup-free and with hungry tummies, ready for some late-morning relaxation. The host shouldn't do much more than a quick vacuum or tidy, and can acceptably use (compostable) paper plates and utensils to avoid doing extra dishes. As for the food, the less cooking, the better - and bonus points for ordering online and having groceries delivered to your doorstep.

For our brunch groceries, we turned to Milk & Eggs, a local service that delivers all of our favorite products (including the natural and organic stuff that we usually have to go to specialty stores to find). The website is packed with goodies both from local farms and suppliers and from big-name health food brands - it feels kind of like what would happen if you married a farmers market with a natural grocery store. Truthfully, the process could not have been smoother - we placed our order online, chose a delivery date, and woke up that morning with the carefully packaged order waiting at our front door. 

To keep with our lazy theme, we chose brunch items that would require very little preparation: plenty of seasonal fresh fruit, cups of yogurt with granola, a bagel bar with all the fixings, and a loaf of banana bread for a little something sweet. For drinks, we chose Califia Farms' orange juice and Black & White Cold Brew (not only the easiest way to serve cold brew, but also the most delicious - I'm hooked for life). 

Friends could choose to dress up their bagels as either sweet or savory (or, in most cases, one of each). Some went for the classic cream cheese, smoked salmon, pickled onions, and capers combination, while others turned their bagels into circular avocado toast topped with egg and tomato. An adventurous friend layered her bagel first with cream cheese, then with Justin's peanut butter, banana slices, and honey - a combination so surprisingly delicious that we wouldn't be mad if it became the new toast trend. 

Using organic Greek yogurt and Kesson's Kitchen's delicious, grain-free granola, some guests made pretty parfaits topped with sliced fresh fruit. Or, for something a bit sweeter, we sliced into Bread Lounge's banana bread with chocolate chips and pecans - smeared with yogurt and a little honey, this was a filling and scrumptious treat.

With all the impending holiday hubbub, we can't think of a better way to kick back and relax than with a Lazy Girl's Brunch - it's the perfect marriage of all the best parts of brunch: leisurely time spent with friends over coffee and delicious food, without ever having to change out of your comfy clothes.

This post was created in collaboration with Milk & Eggs, who graciously provided the groceries for our brunch. All opinions are our own. 

A Yuletide Brunch with Friends: The Food

That magical time of year is upon us: trees and homes are lit up with tiny twinkling lights, fireplaces are festooned with swags of pine and ribbon, and old friends gather to make merry and share fond memories of Christmases past. 

December is a month in which you really don't need an excuse to host a fête. There is so much to celebrate this time of year, you'd be a bit of a Scrooge if you didn't attend a holiday party or two. So, it's really no surprise that the Brunchographers assembled once again to hold a festive brunch for our wonderful gang of thoughtful ladies. 

Cheers! 

Delicious spread and twinkle lights 

Our theme this time around, you ask? Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Our motto was "the simpler, the better." Throwing a party can be a lot of work, especially amidst a season that is exhausting in and of itself - so we thought, why put more stress upon ourselves? Let's keep it simple, keep it yummy, and have some fun. 

Vibrant winter squash salad 

Perhaps the most effective way we enacted our "the simpler, the better" rule was through pre-preparation. By breaking down our recipes and identifying tasks that could be done in the days leading up to the party, we were able to keep our day-of preparation to a minimum. This gave us plenty of time to focus on the details without feeling rushed or overwhelmed, and the food was just as delicious as some of our more ambitious brunches have been. 

Topping off the Overnight French Toast with powdered sugar 

We kept the decor bright, simple, and classic (and we'll be posting more on those details later this week), and chose an casual buffet-style setup for the food. This allowed guests to pick and choose which dishes they wanted to sample, and made it easy to come back for seconds if desired. 

Cranberry Scones with Herb Butter

As a light and sweet treat to start, we set out some cranberry scones with whipped herb butter. Friends could nibble on them while they chatted and waited for everyone to arrive (or, cough, waited for us to stop photographing them). These were just the right amount of sweet, with a light, buttery texture. The herb butter - deceptively simple and rich in flavor - offered a perfect compliment to the sweet pastry dough and the tart cranberries. 

Cranberry Scones with Herb Butter  

Next, a warm and wonderful indulgence: baked brie topped with blackberry compote and toasted pecans. Can you imagine a prettier appetizer than this? The cheese absolutely liquefied into a warm cheesy pile of heaven, and it was perfect atop those incredible rosemary crackers from Trader Joe's (you know the ones). This recipe, which we found on a blog called Foolproof Living, is so simple yet looks very impressive - definitely one to bookmark for your next gathering!

baked brie topped with blackberry compote and toasted pecans and crackers

If you recall, we have a very important brunch rule that we take quite seriously: whenever possible, include some greens with your meal. Winter is the perfect time for greens, as the nutritious, dark leafy varieties are in season. For this salad, we started with a base of roughly chopped kale, layered on slices of roasted acorn squash, sprinkled the top with slivered almonds, pomegranate seeds, and ricotta salata, and finished with a light vinaigrette. The end result was a wonderful combination of vibrant winter flavors that looked just as festive as it tasted - and doesn't it look a bit like a Christmas wreath dusted in snow?

Salad with kale, roasted acorn squash, pomegranate seeds, almonds, and ricotta salata 

The first main dish was the epitome of easy - overnight french toast casserole with cream cheese and blueberries. There is nothing more wonderfully lazy than waking up in the morning and popping a casserole in the oven while you sip your coffee and read the paper. And after about 45 minutes, you get this ooey-gooey, custardy, sweet mess of a reward. Yeah, it's not the prettiest thing we've ever made. But it tastes so good, it really doesn't matter. Make this. Preferably for Christmas breakfast. You won't regret it. 

Blueberry Cream Cheese Overnight French Toast with a pecan streusel topping 

Check out that sweet slice action on the Overnight French Toast with blueberries and cream cheese!  

Next up, another make-ahead gem. These beautiful Eggs in Purgatory only look like you were slaving over the stove all morning - by pre-making the sauce, you'll only need a few minutes of hands-on work to put these together for your guests. These are also an ideal egg dish when cooking for a group, as many of them can be prepared at once in single-serving ramekins, rather than having to individually poach or fry eggs on the stove. This sauce is bright and flavorful with a spicy kick, and it's absolutely sinful when combined with runny eggs and soaked up with a thick slice of toast. 

Individual Eggs in Purgatory and thick-sliced toast

Gettin' saucy with some Eggs in Purgatory

No good brunch would be complete without some side dishes, and we wanted to offer a few choices for our guests' varying tastes without over-complicating things. So, we (liberally) took some advice from our culinary idol Ina Garten, who taught us "you don't have to make everything from scratch," and headed to our local Whole Foods. There, we were amazed to find a bacon bar, which included the incredible sweet and savory blueberry bacon. We also picked up some of our favorite roasted baby potatoes, and a package of turkey bacon to fry up for guests who prefer something a bit lighter. 

Shortcut sides: turkey bacon, blueberry bacon, and roasted baby potatoes

Shortcut sides: turkey bacon, blueberry bacon, and roasted baby potatoes 

This menu offered a blend of festive flavors while remaining simple and fun to prepare (no stress-inducing over-complication here!), so we could enjoy our friends' company and laugh together over a delicious meal. The moral of today's story is that sometimes, it's OK not to be superhuman. Trust us, those pre-cooked potatoes from Whole Foods will not make or break your party - so go for it, sit back and enjoy yourself a little bit more. 

Topping the French Toast with syrup 

Oh-so-tempting plate of goodies 

Stop back in on Saturday for details on a delicious winter cocktail we whipped up and our simple-yet-impactful decorating strategy - much of which can be accomplished with things you already have (hint: we are now perennially covered in tiny shards of printer paper)! Until then, happy holiday brunching!

Recipe Index:

1. Cranberry Scones
2. The herbed butter was simple to whip up: soften two sticks of butter and mix with some chopped rosemary (about 1 tbsp) and honey (about 3 tbsp) to taste. 
3. Baked Brie with Blackberry Compote and Spiced Pecans 
4. The salad was inspired by this recipe, though we switched up the squash, cheese, and a few other little details. 
5. Blueberry Cream Cheese Overnight French Toast
6. Eggs in Purgatory, which was adapted to omit pancetta as a vegetarian option

A Harvest Brunch with Friends

As is clearly evidenced by the title of our blog, we are very serious brunch enthusiasts. We love going out for brunch at restaurants, cooking brunch at home, and sometimes even eating brunch for dinner.  What may not be known is that we are also very enthusiastic about entertaining. We love sharing a meal with friends, and sometimes the coziest place to do that is at home! 

When entertaining guests, it’s always nice to have something to celebrate. It doesn’t need to be a major holiday, either; sometimes something as simple as a change in season can be cause for celebration. In this case, we wanted to host a brunch for some close friends in honor of that most nostalgic and heart-warming of seasons: autumn. 

I use the term “nostalgic” for a number of reasons; mainly that here in Los Angeles, fall doesn’t really exist. The past few years, it’s been so hot that September through November have really just been an unwelcome extension of summer. We grew up on the East Coast, in cities up north where boots, thick socks, and scarves are actually useful. So, every year we find ourselves looking longingly at our East Coast friends’ Instagram feeds full of freshly fallen leaves, cozy sweaters in pretty autumn colors, and apple picking in cute flannel shirts and knit caps. We each separately even tried out that apple picking bit, and we just wound up sweaty and sunburned with a bunch of apples we didn’t know what to do with (it was too hot to make applesauce). Folks, you can’t force cute and cozy fall clothing here in Southern California; trust us. You’ll just wind up a hot mess. 

I digress.

In honor of this nostalgia - of flannel and apples, of actual seasons and new beginnings, of cider and freshly fallen leaves - we celebrated the best way we knew how. With brunch. 

There were yummy treats a’plenty. To sip, a simple spiked cider with bourbon and hot coffee (we turned on the A/C). 

For the creative souls, a build-your-own toast bar with endless possibilities. Perhaps the most exciting topping was Johnna’s homemade ricotta in its perfect creamy glory. Paired with simple oven-roasted tomatoes and some fresh basil, it was heaven. Meanwhile, fresh farmers’ market figs and local honey satisfied those with a sweet tooth (me).

The centerpiece was a homemade quiche filled with roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, baby kale, thyme, and gruyere. 

Hearty accompaniments included chicken-apple sausages and simple roasted potatoes with garlic. And because we love to have greens with just about every meal, we couldn’t forget a big beautiful salad with arugula, roasted beets, candied pecans, pomegranate seeds, and avocado. 

No brunch is complete without something sweet, so we celebrated the fruits of the season with some beautiful pastries that are deceptively simple to make: apple and cream cheese rosettes, hand pies with plums and thyme, and mini peach galettes. 

More photos and event details in the gallery below! 

Pretty Place Settings

Johnna hand-calligraphed the guests' names on to dried apple slices, and used twine to make a simple napkin ring. To get the color scheme just right, we chose fabrics from our local craft store and sewed the napkins and table runner ourselves. To add a touch of luxe and offset the deep green tones, we used gold flatware and chargers. 

Seasonal Treats

We picked up a lot of the ingredients for our brunch spread from our local farmers market. It's always so exciting to see the produce selection change with the seasons!

Autumn Salad

One of our favorite fall veggies to add to a salad is delicata squash - unfortunately they hadn't arrived at the markets yet on the day of our party. Instead, we roasted up some golden beets, which added their own unique sweetness to the salad that we really enjoyed!

Autumn Salad with Spiced Maple Pecans

For a sweet and crunchy addition to any salad, try adding some simple candied pecans. We tossed ours in a little maple syrup, sprinkled them with salt and cayenne, and put them in a 375 degree F oven for about 3-5 minutes. Delicious!

A Quiche for Fall

This quiche was a riff on Smitten Kitchen's version; it's easy to customize a recipe like this to make the most of the flavors of the season. 

Mini Nectarine Galettes

These are hands down the easiest to make, especially since we used store-bought puff pastry rather than making it from scratch. This shortcut saves tons of time, and still tastes great!

Plum and Thyme Hand Pies

These hand pies are super simple and have a really lovely flavor. We added elderflower liqueur to add a floral note to the filling. 

Apple Cream Cheese Rosettes

These rosettes are so. pretty. And believe it or not, they're incredibly simple. Check out this video for step-by-step instructions (the narrator is pretty entertaining)! We edited the recipe a bit by spreading some cream cheese inside the pastry before rolling it up. 

Homemade Ricotta

With just a few simple ingredients, you too can make delicious homemade ricotta! It's easier than you might think, and the results are absolutely delicious. 

Toasts for Days

With just a handful of simple toppings, guests could make a variety of different types of toasts! We offered a few types of bread to choose from as well - these were made with a par-baked loaf we picked up at Trader Joe's. 

A Sweet Twist on Toast

Depending on which toppings were chosen, guests could go sweet or savory with their toast! This one is built on a sprouted sourdough bread with ricotta, figs, and local honey from the farmers market. 

A Pretty Plate

Looking at this plate still makes me hungry! We chose simple white plates for this brunch because we knew the food would be bright and colorful, and we wanted it to really pop! 

A Simple Bar

To keep things easy, we chose to serve just one simple cocktail, along with the basics: water, coffee, and tea if requested. This made for a simple, no-fuss bar area! We decorated the window with a garland we made out of dried apple slices and twine. 

To Spike or Not to Spike

We wanted our guests to have the option of having alcohol in their cider or not, so we added bourbon to the drinks upon request. And since my family's from Kentucky, I of course always keep more than one type of bourbon in the house - so guests could pick their poison! 

A Spicy Garnish

To add a bit more flavor to our cider, we floated cinnamon sticks and apple slices in the glasses and in the serving pitcher. 

Keeping it Cool

We wanted to make sure that the cider stayed cool throughout the brunch, so Johnna made ice cubes with some extra cider the night before. This way, our drinks were cold and undiluted even by the second round! 

Gold Straws and Mason Jars

Yes, Mason jars used as glasses are a perennial hipster favorite. We couldn't help ourselves. To add a little shine and tie the jars in with the rest of the color scheme, we added some adorable gold straws that we picked up on the cheap from Target. 

Recipe Index:

1. Homemade Ricotta 
2. The sweet potato, caramelized onion, and gruyere quiche was created using this recipe as a guide.
3. The hand pies were an amalgamation of this preparation method mixed with a riff on this filling (plums instead of peaches; elderflower liqueur instead of bourbon; addition of finely chopped fresh thyme... what can I say? I'm a baking rebel).
4. Apple Cream Cheese Rosettes
5. The salad was greatly inspired by this one, with a few additions and subtractions.