Last year on Mother's Day, Ben and Lila brought me breakfast in bed: a slice of toast cut into the shape of a heart, roughly, and a cup of coffee with so much milk in it that it was the color of a paper bag. It was perfect. This year, a week out, Lila has informed me that she wants to make "a real brunch, at the table, with a tablecloth," and I have been quietly asked to help plan it without being told I am helping plan it.
So here is the brunch we are working on. It is simple enough that a six-year-old and a husband can pull it off, with most of it made the day before, and it feels like an occasion without anyone needing to stand at the stove for an hour.
- Sausage and cheese breakfast casserole, assembled the night before
- Buttermilk drop biscuits with butter and strawberry jam
- A big bowl of fresh strawberries and melon
- Good coffee and a pitcher of orange juice with a splash of sparkling water
That is the whole thing. Early May is strawberry season in South Carolina, and the farmers market had flats of them last Saturday, red all the way through.
The breakfast casserole
This is the anchor, and the reason the morning stays calm. Prices are rough, from our last grocery run. Serves six.
Ingredients
- 1 lb breakfast sausage, about $4.50
- 6 slices day-old bread, cubed, about $1.00
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, about $3.00
- 8 eggs, about $2.50
- 2 cups milk, about $0.60
- 1 tsp dry mustard, salt, pepper, pantry
- 3 green onions, sliced, about $0.50
Total: roughly $12.
Steps
- Brown the sausage in a skillet, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain on a paper towel.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Spread the bread cubes in it, then the sausage, then the cheese and green onions.
- Whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, a half teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Pour evenly over everything and press the bread down gently so it soaks.
- Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, take it out while the oven heats to 350. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15 to 20 more, until puffed and golden and a knife in the center comes out clean.
- Let it rest ten minutes before cutting.
The biscuits
Drop biscuits are forgiving, which matters when a child is in charge of the dough. Two cups of self-rising flour, a stick of cold butter cut in small pieces, and about one cup of cold buttermilk. Work the butter into the flour with your fingers until it looks like coarse crumbs, stir in the buttermilk just until it comes together, and drop big spoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet. They bake at 450 for 12 to 14 minutes, right after the casserole comes out. Ingredients run about $3.
Lila has been practicing all week. The first batch looked like small rocks. The second batch looked like biscuits. We are calling it progress.
The make-ahead plan
The whole point of a brunch at home is that it should not wear anyone out. Here is how we are splitting it up.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Saturday afternoon | Buy berries and melon at the market; wash and cut the melon |
| Saturday evening | Assemble the casserole and refrigerate; set the table |
| Sunday, 8:00 | Casserole out of the fridge, oven on |
| Sunday, 8:15 | Casserole in; slice strawberries; make coffee |
| Sunday, 9:00 | Biscuits in; juice poured |
| Sunday, 9:15 | Sit down |
Notes
- Swaps: Leftover ham or sauteed mushrooms work in place of sausage. Pepper jack instead of cheddar gives it some warmth.
- The table: Lila wants a tablecloth, so we are using the long white one that usually comes out at Thanksgiving, plus a jar of whatever is blooming in the yard. Right now that is a few late roses by the carport.
- Leftovers: The casserole reheats well in squares for weekday breakfasts.
- Weather: If it is not too warm, we will eat on the screened porch. Mid-May mornings here are usually still pleasant until about ten.
I have hosted brunches with more dishes and fancier coffee, and I have spent most of them in the kitchen. What I want this year is to sit down, have Lila pass me a biscuit she made, and let the coffee go a little cold while we talk. Ben has promised to do the dishes. Pepper has promised nothing, but she will be positioned under Lila's chair, where the crumbs are most reliable.
I am also calling my own mother that morning before anyone else is up, early enough to catch her with her first cup of coffee. That has been our habit for years, and it is still my favorite part of the day.
