Party Inspiration: Lazy Weekend Brunch

Hosting a brunch is one of my favorite ways to entertain a group of friends. Delicious, yes, but it's also a low-key and really inexpensive way to feed a crowd as you can get away with serving little more than eggs, bread, and fruit. Assure endless glasses of mimosa by squeezing a pitcher of fresh orange juice (or just buying a carton with "lots of pulp") and asking your friends to each pitch in with a bottle of their favorite sparkly beverage (skip the pricey champagne in favor of affordable and equally-delicious prosecco).

For the menu, think bakery-warm sweet rolls, fresh corn muffins, maple-sweetened butter, a bowl of in-season fruit, and a sugar-dusted Dutch baby pancake still sizzling in the skillet. Stick bunches of grocery store flowers (pretty and cheap!) in whatever jars you have laying around and set each place with a summer-bright tea towel as a double-duty placemat/napkin. Fill big heavy latte bowls to the brim, and settle in for a few lazy hours.

If you'd like to make a day of it, plan an equally lazy post-lunch activity (perhaps a walk across the street to the neighbor's garage sale or a few old movies to watch) and leave the leftover baked goods out on the table for a bit of grazing later on in the afternoon.

(Note: lush brunches and black & white movies are even more appreciated when your guests have been out late the previous night. Nothing like being fed and taken care of by a friend when your head is still in a bit of a fog...just make sure the start time is closer to "lunch" than "breakfast.")

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom

1. yellow rose bouquet in vintage Ball jar
2. pretty mismatched plates, Country Living
3. Pan de Mallorca
4. Latte Bowls, Anthropologie
5. Mimosa punch
6. P.O.S.H. Hotel Vintage Flatware
7. Fresh corn muffins
8. Dutch baby pancake w/ cinnamon orange syrup
9. hand-dyed batik tea towels, Five O'Clock Crows