Mother's Day Brunch

Hello Kittens!

Hopefully everyone had a fabulous Brunch-filled Sunday!  Unfortunately, I was Brunchless...I'm really in a slump!  I say that and now I'm going to follow with a brief recap of the Mother's Day Brunch that my sister and I prepared.  That seems contradictory, though, in my defense, making Brunch can be stressful and that is something that Brunch should definitely not be.

I would say that the whole of last weekend was stressful, but that's not entirely accurate - more accurately, coordinating last weekend was somewhat stressful.  Since I took Stephanie out for her birthday on Saturday in Irvine, and I was already pretty far south, I opted to spend the night at my mom's house instead of driving 50 miles north, just to go 40 miles back east in the morning.  It was the obvious choice.  This way, I did not have to sit in traffic with all those other people who wanted to be good children and do something for their mothers.  I had a fabulous evening with my mom (despite the oppressive heat) once I got to her house and I then got up on Sunday morning to start on Brunch!  Per usual, I was not prepared the way I should have been.  When I got to my mom's on Saturday evening, it was later than I had planned on, so I did not make a trip to the grocery store and thought I would be up early enough to make that trip in the morning.  Who thinks things actually worked out that way?  Show of hands.  No one?  Y'all are smart little cookies!

I received the Bubby's Brunch Cookbook the week prior, which was perfect because I was able to use that as a reference in planning our menu!  After I returned from the grocery store, we had some bubbly and my sister and I got to the cooking.  We were at it for a while, but it cannot be said that we did not have a good time - really, with Oma's fun aprons, it was impossible not to!

Sylvi and I (and Oma's kitchen) have come a long way!

The process of preparing Brunch is always more complicated and time-consuming than you originally anticipate...always.  When will I learn?  Perhaps the first lesson is to not make too many things?  No - variety in your Brunch menu is absolutely necessary.  Our menu was as follows:

-Mimosas or Hibiscuses** or a mixture of both (a personal favorite of mine)
-Mixed fruit - oranges, nectarines, red pears, strawberries, and bananas
-Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Scramble
-Breakfast Potatoes
-Turkey Bacon
-Blueberry Johnnycakes
-Chocolate Croissants

While I somehow have no photos of our finished product, I'm doing my best to give you the highlights from the vastness of the internet.  The scramble (modified with Eggbeaters for my sister) and the johnnycakes came from the Bubby's Cookbook, so while everything tasted fantastic, this is what these items were supposed to look like.

This may look familiar since it is the cover shot of the cookbook.  These are A-Mazing!  If you've never had Johnnycakes before, they are the precursor to the pancake...a cross between pancakes and cornbread.  SO good!  If you do not have the Bubby's Brunch Cookbook, I recommend you remedy that immediately.  You can purchase one from Amazon.  I found the photo above along with the recipe here.  You are welcome.

While this is not the actual Bubby's recipe or photo, the closest that I could find comes from Just a Pinch recipes.

We had a DELICIOUS Brunch and a wonderful day.  It was truly a great way to spend the day with the ladies in my family who are all beautiful and very special to me!

**I have always known Bubbly and Cranberry Juice to be called a Hibiscus, but when I look that up, I am inundated with cocktail recipes involving actual hibiscus flowers.  From my research, I'm gathering that while 'Mimosa' is a universally accepted, 'Hibiscus' is not.  This combination is called different things in different regions from 'Buck Fizz' to 'Pink Magnolia' to 'Hydrangia' to 'Poinsettia', though some of these cocktails incorporate other spirits or liquers.  I'm just going to keep calling it a Hibiscus.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day and celebrated these wonderful women!

Join me in raising a glass to the fabulous mothers and grandmothers that helped make us who we are, pretty fabulous people in our own right!

XOXO