In a Brunch State of Mind

We often talk about brunch here at Our Kitchen Classroom.

Blackened Peach & Raspberry French Toast with Almond Mascarpone Cream
French Toast for dinner–because brunch can happen at any time of the day! -with Blackened Peaches, Fresh Raspberries, Brown Sugar Caramel, and Almond Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Sometimes, it’s because we wake up late and slide slowly in the first meal of the day. It doesn’t have to be a complicated or elaborate affair. It might be something as simple as scrambled eggs.

Sometimes, we get very serious about doing some truly special Slow Food. This means preparing hours, days, even weeks beforehand in order to get just the right combination of ingredients all ready at the same time.  Like that time we cured our own salmon to make Gravlox (a few days in advance), mixed up the batter for our homemade English Muffins (overnight), and then prepared poached egg cups for 9 (the morning of). Finished off with large glasses of freshly-squeezed juice from the oranges we’d picked just before serving, and you have a feast fit for a king! This is more like the Sunday Brunch kind of mood often depicted at fancy restaurants or for special occasions.

Homemade Eggs Benedict Brunch
The Ultimate Eggs Benedict Brunch: Gravlox *and* Canadian Bacon variations

But, seriously, brunch is about *so* much more than the actual foods we prepare or the time of day in which we choose to enjoy them.

Go ahead and take a moment to savor the way the very word rolls lazily around in your mouth. Brunch!

You can even have fun with it and roll that single “r” into a long trailing tickle off the tongue. Brrrrrrunch!!

It’s as if the very descriptor itself is encouraging you to take that leisurely breakfast and just casually carry it over into the afternoon meal it always wanted to be in the first place. BRUNCH!!!

Something about this Sunday tradition longs to be carried over outside of the weekends into everyday life. The lingering conversations over sweet sips of bubbling brews. The PLAYFUL rebellion of mixing up anti meridian sensibilities with post meridian silliness. That laid-back, unhurried, deliberate approach to luxuriating in a meal in the way you’ve been meaning to do all week, but only seem to be able to justify once in a while on the weekend.

We talk a lot about brunch here at Our Kitchen Classroom, because it’s this brunch sort of mentality that we bring to EVERYTHING we prepare. We value the learning and the bonding that takes place when we take the time to share meaningful conversations over our meals. That includes the sourcing and preparing of ingredients. That includes the actual enjoyment of consuming the food around the family table. It even includes the clean up after a big production.

We value the joy of PLAYING with our food, and having fun with the process. We relish the multisensory input of using our hands, even when it means we might make a bit of a mess. We revel in the aromas, sights, and sounds of dinner coming together, and the magic that makes it happen. We embrace the CURIOSITY that prompts important educational inquiries, no matter when or where they may occur. We strive to FEARLESSLY follow that passionate pursuit of knowledge, in whatever form it may take. We welcome the synergy of family and friends, ingredients and setting, inspiration and execution that turn even the most well-worn recipes into unique and wondrously new experiences!

Kitchen Fun in Albania
Our Little Sous and a friend have fun using the best kitchen tools ever–their hands!!!

We delight in reliving these shared experiences again and again. We celebrate the realization that we have the ability to recreate so many of the magical moments from our family’s global culinary adventures in Our Kitchen Classroom, wherever in the world we may reside. We want to invite you to join us in our inquisitive journey, from wherever you may be, so that we can share all the spectacular sensations that an edible education can encompass!

Brunch is truly a state of mind! That’s the state in which I *always* want to live!!! How about you???

If you’re ready to embrace a Brunch State of Mind, I want to invite you to jump into our online community, #PLAYwithYourFood!!! It’s a relaxing place to hang out over a hot cup of tea, share inspiration, and converse about all of the marvelous ways in which you are learning while you PLAY with your food! I look forward to seeing you on the inside!!!

Brunch on the Beach
Brunch on the Beach: A luxurious Mexican brunch with my boys near Puerto Vallarta in summer, 2017

3 thoughts on “In a Brunch State of Mind”

  1. We’re kind of a brunch family too. I honestly don’t like eating early in the morning, I’d much rather sleep in. But as of late, my youngest daughter is awake with the roosters. Her first words in the morning are usually “Eat, mama!” But, she also goes to bed rather early. So after nearly 12 hours of sleeping, I get her. As for me, I definitely have a brunch mentality.

    1. I’m often up with the roosters, too, Tabitha. But that’s usually because I just haven’t gone to bed yet. LOL!!! I understand your daughter being hungry after so much sleep, but I’d still personally rather take my time pulling together a marvelous brunch.

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