Hosting friends with young children can be a bit of a challenge, but it's also a lot of fun. As a parent, I've found that the easiest way to socialize with friends who also have young children is to do it at one of our houses.
Luckily, I love to cook and host, and having two kids hasn’t changed that. Even though my menus have become slightly less ambitious, it's still a joy to have friends and their children over for brunch. You can imagine the scene: a three-year-old who eats a truly amazing amount of grated cheddar cheese (confession: that’s my child), a four-year-old who hasn’t eaten a vegetable in two years, a six-year-old who insists she isn’t hungry when she definitely is, adults who just want to have a decent meal in relative quiet, and babies in various phases of eating (or not eating) solids.
It can be a challenge to create a composed meal that works for everyone, so I opt for deconstructed meals. Then, each guest can build their own dish, and no one has to compromise.
One of my go-to themes is "Make Your Own Fancy Toast". I buy some good bread, and then I prepare pea pesto, egg salad, or chicken salad. I also lightly prep toasted bread, compound butter, and sliced tomatoes. Then I place on the counter or table whole milk ricotta, jam, fresh herbs like mint or basil, olive oil, and flaky salt. This way everyone can make their own toast with their preferred toppings.
Another theme I like to do is "DIY Breakfast Tacos or Breakfast Potato Bowls". I cook roast potatoes, just-slightly-spicy ground turkey, scrambled eggs, and caramelized onions, and then I place on the counter or table grated cheddar, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, arugula, hot sauces, and tortillas. This way everyone can build their own breakfast taco or bowl.
Finally, I like to do a "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Oatmeal" theme. I make a huge pot of oatmeal and leave it on the stove on low. Then I place savory ingredients on one side of the counter or table and sweet ingredients on the other. For savory, I like to use grated parmesan, seared mushrooms, chopped scallions, fish sauce, soy sauce, and chile crisp. For sweet, I like to use raisins, brown sugar, walnuts, honey, jam, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut.
These are the kind of meals that are best eaten wherever: on the couch, standing up, or on the floor. No one’s expecting a sitting-around-the-dining-room-table vibe. Just a decent meal that seamlessly integrates with LEGOs, snippets of conversations, pillow forts, discussion of local politics, an intrepid search for the missing stuffed puffin named Mango, asking if anyone has a dermatologist they would recommend, constantly dripping noses, and someone trying to figure out what the heck that smell is and where it came from.
It’s delicious, messy, occasionally stressful, and mostly wonderful.
So, what's your Mildly Chaotic Brunch theme? I would love to hear your ideas and try them out!