Hosting Series: Fall Brunch (again)

One of my FAVORITE annual traditions is hosting a fall brunch for the beautiful ladies in my house church (you may remember this event from last year). I love finding new recipes, setting a pretty table, and of course, catching up with my friends over cinnamon tea. I find something so beautiful about creating a table full of collected treasures from my mom (tablecloth and runner), from my mother-in-law (napkins and rings), and from my wedding (dishes, candles, and serving trays). I savor opportunities to pull out “the nice things” from my hospitality cabinet and use them for every day life.

As I’ve written before, I don’t find it my talent to create new recipes, but instead, I like to “test” other people’s and write about my experiences trying something new and making suggestions for future use. Recipes, like my scientific research, tend to have a very low rate of “replication studies,” so I’ve decided that’s where I come in.

For this brunch, I tried:

Chai Spiced Pear Coffee Cake from Cooking and Beer. (Top layers were delicious, bottom layer was a little dry.)

Amish-Style Apple and Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. (I was expecting apple crisp, so it tasted a little too healthy. That’s on me, though.)

Butternut Squash, Arugula and Bacon Quiche from Gimme Some Oven. (BEAUTIFUL to serve and absolutely delicious. Definitely a do-again.)

AND

Fall Fruit Salad with Cinnamon Maple Yogurt from Eating Made Easy. (I couldn’t find persimmons anywhere in my grocery store, so I substituted apples.)

Overall, it was a delightful brunch. My friends showed up, my house looked nice, and I had an opportunity to plan something that didn’t have to do with school. Husband popped up at the end and devoured all the leftovers (minus the oatmeal, of course) so I’m considering it a great success. Now I get to plan recipes for next year!