Breakfast ideas

My mum is arriving home from the UK on Thursday (yay!) and her flight gets in really early. My Bro & his family are picking her up and bringing her home. We'll be there to welcome her, and I know a few friends want to pop in and welcome her home too. I was thinking of putting on a breakfast, but I thought I'd ask you girls for some ideas of what to serve which isn't bacon & eggs! hehe. I thought something a little different would be nice.

For starters I was thinking a big plate of croissants as opposed to toast. I know that's not very creative LOL.. but I just want something easy, but still nice, and perhaps a little different. I soooo don't want to scramble two dozen eggs LOL. And I don't really wanna stand at the frypan for an hour churning out pancakes.

I know you girls will have some creative ideas for me :)

croissants are a great idea and you can have ham and cheese and jam etc for people to choose what they want.

maybe muffins and crumpets also.

u can buy packet waffles and picklets and people can heat up if they want

fresh fruit salad

hth

Aah yeah - fruit! That'd add a nice fresh element to it. I so don't want a greasy fry-up (as much as I love em hehe...)

Might make a trip down to the bakery to get the croissants fresh. I quite like the frozen ones, but i think they'll be nicer fresh, and I can probably grab some varieties too. Can always warm them up quickly in the oven.

Here are some ideas from my Christmas brunch thread!

English muffins with cream cheese, salmon and dill.
French toast.
Chocolate and banana bread
Eggs Benedict the easy way.....
Line muffin tins with thin slices of ham (bottom & sides), crack an egg into each tin on top of the ham. Place in the oven until eggs are cooked. Serve on toasted muffins with Hollandaise sauce.

Ham & Cheese crossionts in the oven are a fav & easy too.
Fresh fruit platter is always a winner.
French toast made with Raisin Bread

Oh wow - I love the idea of the ham & egg thing in the muffin tray! Do you just serve them all on a 'help yourself' kind of plate?

ETA: argh.. hollandaise sauce looks too hard LOL. Alternatives for sauce?

Yep! If I was you I would do a buffet style hun, that way people can take what they like, rather than you having to dish up each plate! Much easier! A platter of them, some fruit, some premade/bought pikelets maybe, some croissoints, banana bread and you're done! I also did a non-alcholic fruit breakfast punch that was easy too rather than buying tonnes of fruit juice! :) Will try to find the recipe for you!

what about some yogurt?

hmm yeah - that's an idea. you can probably guess I'm a girl that has a quick bowl of ricebubbles in the mornings huh. Can't even think up fruit & yoghurt myself! LOL

OK, well I've decided to just do a fruit platter, and to duck down to the bakery and get croissants and whatever else they may have.

There are people coming for lunch, so breakfast can't be too big. So I'm just leaving it that there are things to eat if anyone wants, and if people pop in to see her, they can have something with their cuppa. So not a big sit down thing.

thanks girls. I'm kind of inspired to do a breakfast thing instead of dinner with some friends now! hehe.

If you want to do eggs benedict then here a few tips:-

1. Poach all the eggs in advance - if you poach them in acidulated water (add vinegar or lemon juice) until they have set, then transfer them into a bowl of iced water then you can store the poached eggs until you need them, overnight if need be - then just drop them back into hot water to reheat and serve.

2. Hollandaise is not that difficult, although there are a number of ways of doing it - this way is close to the classic method, but much simpler;
Put a small saucepan of water onto boil, then find a heat proof mixing bowl that will fit into the top of the saucepan without touching the water.
When the bowl is still cool, place an egg yolk in the bowl along with a table spoon of cold water, then beat the yolk with the water to make smooth foam - an electric whisk makes this much easier.
Put the bowl over the sauce pan, keep whisking - the idea is to use the steam from the boiling water to gently cook the eggy foam whilst it is still full of air, then start adding little cubes of butter whilst you whisk - probably about 80g per egg until it forms a smooth glossy sauce, then squeeze in some lemon juice to taste.

Scrambled eggs can be jazzed up a bit - add white crab meat or fresh spinach for a bit more impact.

Spanish-style frittata dishes usually go down well, make it an hour or so in advance and then there is no fussing when your guests arrive.

If it's all morning, why not a brunch?

Croissants, salmon and cheese bagels, fruit, maybe fruit salad, muffins, mini-quiches, banana and walnut cake, cheese and crackers, griddle cakes or crumpets (not both, far too battery), sausage sarnies, fresh biscuits.

And to wash all of that down, how about some champagne and orange juice? :D :P

Or some Buck's Fizz... but it's not yet time for you to be making your mind UP on that.

Ah, I'm on a roll today. Don't worry, I will be less amusing tomorrow.