How to Host a Holiday Brunch and Still Enjoy Your Guests

Being the oldest of five, growing up with a single working mother, leaning to cook was never an option. I learned much about the art of cooking and baking from my "sainted" grandmother. She would have some kind of pie, cake or cookies waiting for us boys' everyday when we came home from school. We didn't have much money, but it seemed that grandma could always put a great meal on the table no matter how little she had to work with.

I was eight or nine when grandma move back to Illinois. My mom always had two jobs to keep the wolf away and so being the eldest I was soon elected to be chief cook and bottle washer. Grandma shoes were indeed very big shoes to fill. Before leaving she had taken me under her wing and showed me how to cook most of our family favorites and so before my tenth birthday I was cooking and baking on a daily basis. At first, of course, I felt much put upon but I soon grew to relish having people enjoy the fruits my labors.

My Mother loved to entertain and whenever the budget allowed she would have brunch or dinner parties and so I was complied to add new "company food" recipes to the down home comfort food that I served nightly. Over time I perfected several crowd pleasers that I was able to prepare in advance, allowing me to have time to enjoy the event and our guests. With planning I found that I could join the festivities without having to sacrifice the pleasure of having people rave about the delectable offerings that would appear, seemingly without effort.

It was a tradition in our family to invite everyone over for a holiday feast. Over the years the number of guests grew larger each year. Now-a-days it is a rare holiday that I feed less than twenty. For the purposes here I will be giving you recipes for serving eight to ten. The following has become a much requested menu for our holiday bunch. You may want to print some extra copies as it is a rarity that someone does not ask for the recipe.

Breaking bread casserole;

This recipe has been in the family for as long as I can remember. Originally grandma used up any old stale bread, but over the years I've jazzed it up and add a few tricks of my own, It never fail to please.

INGREDIENTS

One 16 ounce loaf shepherd's bread {a good loaf of day French bead will work in a pinch}

Eight large eggs

One cup heavy cream, one cup half & half, one cup milk

Four teaspoons powdered sugar, ¾ teaspoons each of cinnamon and nutmeg with a pinch of salt.

DIRECTIONS

In a well buttered 9x13 baking dish cut the bread into 1 inch slices a layer out and overlap the bread evenly. In a mixing bowl beat the rest of the ingredients until well blended and pour evenly over bread, cover with plastic wrap and gently press down the bread into the mixture and refrigerate until an hour before your guest arrive.

Preheat oven to 350

Melt two sticks of butter add a cup of brown sugar and a cup of nuts [pecans or sliced almonds work best] stir in a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup. Stir until well mixed and spread evenly over bread. Bake for forty minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Serve with warm maple syrup.

I normally serve this with a decadent version of Eggs Portugal and my World Famous Bloody Mary and the combination never fails to impress. I would love to give you those recipes too, but this article is getting a little long. So I'll stick them in another article tomorrow.

Remember you don't need to wait for a holiday. Any Saturday or Sunday is a wonderful time to gather friends and family around for a brunch.