Help with Brunch Menu

[Anonymous]

We have 25-30 people coming for brunch after my daughter's baptism. We'll be coming straight from church and a few guests have little ones (so they will need to eat and run to get home for naps). I'm trying to come up with a menu that would be mostly ready ahead of time so that all the food can be out within a few minutes of us getting home. (So no quiche, breakfast casserole, etc.) For my son, we did a honey baked ham and some appetizers (it was a late afternoon party), which would work fine, but I'm trying to come up with something different. I saw a cute idea on here of doing a big bowl of yogurt, little bowls of fruit and granola, and the clear plastic cups for make your own parfaits. I could do bagels with that, but still feel like I need some kind of more substantial protein based dish. Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

If you're doing bagels, you can do a big plate of smoked salmon, onions, tomatoes, capers, lemon slices, etc. Have it arranged and wrapped in the fridge; you can just slap it out there.

But a breakfast casserole, like a strata, would be easy too. Instead of just pre-assembling it, go ahead and pre-bake it too. That way all you have to do is reheat. That only takes 5-10 min. By the time everyone has their coats off, it's coming to the table. Everyone will appreciate something warm.

[Anonymous]

If you do the ham, do biscuits. People love biscuits.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I didn't realize the strata would reheat that quickly. We could definitely manage that. Anyone have a good recipe to share? I'm thinking on with sausage and cheddar and then one with spinach and Gruyere or something like that? Then I'll do a big salad with apples and dried cranberries, the yogurt and granola, bagels with cream cheese, and a fruit tray. Does that sound good?

[Anonymous]

Your menu sounds fantastic!! I'm putting this one in my back pocket for my next get together. hope you dont mind, OP.

[Anonymous]

Best spinach and cheese strata ever, and reheats super well!

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/12/spinach-and-cheese-strata/

[Anonymous]

Thanks, 18:37! I saw that recipe and thought it looked good. Will definitely do that! How many should I make for 30 people? I'm thinking 4?

[Anonymous]

A simple soup in a crock pot, salad and/or sandwiches. Or a chili bar. Put chili in a crock pot and have toppings like cheese, sour cream, frittos or corn chips, corn bread, green onions.

[Anonymous]

We like this sausage strata:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sunday_sausage_strata.html

Don't substitute low-fat cheese. Use the full-fat stuff. They already cut down the quantity of cheese to allow for that.

I've also done this with mushrooms instead of the bell pepper. Brown them first in a skillet with olive oil or butter before adding them in. When you're browning them, don't crowd them too much or toss them too much--they'll steam in their own moisture that way. Let them really sit and get brown, tossing just a couple of times.