Betty Hosts A Brunch

Brunch or breakfast seems to be one of the more difficult meals to prepare for guests. Perhaps because the ingredients need such precise timing.
We recently had friends over for brunch and with some pre-planning, everything got on the table perfectly cooked.

The menu consisted of Eggs Benedict, with a crab cake in place of the usual Canadian bacon, spinach salad, a choice of juices, coffee and cake.

To pull this off, I started the day before.

1. Set the table and arrange flowers.
2. Poach eggs. Yes, you can do these a day ahead. Simply drop them in a bowl of ice water the minute they are cooked and refrigerate.
3. Prepare and cook crab cakes. I broiled them on a sheet pan, cooled and covered them and refrigerated.
4. Slice English muffins.
5. Separate egg yolks for Hollandaise sauce. (Freeze whites for another use.)
6. Squeeze lemon juice, add water, cover and refrigerate.
7. Clean and stem spinach.
8. Slice mushrooms.
9. Prepare salad dressing.
10. Take a nap!

The morning of the brunch, it was a simple matter to make coffee, toast the muffins, reheat the crab cakes and eggs, toss the salad, pour juice, and make the Hollandaise just before our guests were expected.
Dessert was easy - my sister brought it!

Recipes for the crab cakes, spinach salad, and Hollandaise are all here on the website together with how to perfectly poach eggs.