Portmanteau Suitcase

I enjoy a good brunch. When I was in residency, I would go out semi-regularly with a great group of girl friends. I feel like brunch used to be more of a thing, but given the abundance of cute restaurants with fancy drinks and over-priced food that doesn’t save particularly well, I think it may just be me and brunch, is in fact, still very popular.

As for food that doesn’t save very well, I think breakfast food is very difficult to salvage from a to-go box. I will eat dinner leftovers all day long, but soggy & stale pancakes and waffles, no way. Eggs? An even harder no. And finally, how would you even transport an Egg Benedict in any way that did not transform it into looking like it had already undergone digestion? Come to my blog for the entertainment, leave with the impossible to answer questions.

If you would like to know my go-to recipe for a hosted brunch, I recommend overnight-soaked baked caramelized French Toast. My Mom has a great Southern Living recipe, which I can’t find but this one is close. The original one is a little simpler and focuses purely on the sugar, but the nuts, maple syrup, and bourbon in the linked recipe sound good. The recipe is great because it is make-ahead so you can mingle with your guests. Your house will also smell delicious.

If you want a more in-the-moment recipe, I’m a fan of ricotta pancakes.

But what I love about brunch are the drinks! Above, I present to you the holy brunch trifecta: water, coffee, and a Bloody Mary. In the alcohol category, a mimosa comes in second place but only if the sparkling wine:orange juice ratio is very, very high. I had a corpse reviver #2 in New Orleans. While it was delicious, the drink, like NOLA, was intense!

Finally, blog admin note. I’m trying to lay off the parentheticals & parenthesis and, instead, have gone crazy on the commas. Paging Strunk & White: help!