I've
had a few days to let the dust settle after Saturday's brunch club and
am only now getting to process the whole event. It was great to be back
hosting again and fabulous to be sharing the experience with Sarah from Wild Oats.
The porridge was a huge hit. Sarah did two special varieties on the
day, a savoury porridge made from pinhead (steel cut) oats with walnuts
and blue cheese and a turkish delight porridge with lemon, rose and
pistachio. Unfortunately due to my overly restrictive diet right now I
wasn't able to taste any but judging from the clean bowls and smiling
faces they did nicely. I had to take my hat off to Sarah who braved the
bitter February air to cook her porridge under the gazebo on the back
patio. Needless to say I spent minimal time out there but Sarah, who
would appear to be made of stronger stuff than I, barely gave it a
second thought. Good traits for a budding marketeer. (Wild Oats will be
coming to markets near you in the coming months!)
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| wild oats doing her thing |
Aside
from the speciality porridge on offer, there was also a porridge bar
where people could add there own toppings to a bowl of plain porridge.
The usual fruits and honey were on offer alongside more decadent items
such as peanut butter, nutella, seeds, cranberries and chocolate
shavings. There was also toasted muesli, yoghurt, date muffins, carrot
and orange salad and heavenly bread from the Bretzel Bakery lathered
with butter and jam should you so desire. Fresh juice, bloody marys and
as much tea and coffee as you could drink washed the whole lot down.
For
my part it was an exceedingly unusual experience preparing food for
people when you aren't allowed to sample any of what you're making. As a
result I was approaching this a little blind, although I couldn't
resist sampling a bit of the bloody mary mix. Hardest of all was the
bread. There's nothing like a fresh loaf of bread, crusty on the
outside, beautiful and soft inside. And to top it off the torment of the
smell of that bread then being toasted. It's too much to bear but bear
it I did.
The
informal buffet set up meant that people could eat as and when they
wanted and also were free to move around and mingle. This was great for
us as hosts as it meant we were free to grab a chair for a minute or two
when the opportunity arose and could interact more with our guests than
my regular supper clubs usually allow. A definite bonus for this type
of hosting.
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| the happy brunch clubbers |
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| DIY porridge bar |
So now the only question is when is the next one? And where the hell are the keys for my patio doors? Last seen last Saturday evening. Planning of next brunch club key dependent. I will keep you posted.
