The Graduate Perspective

I like the idea of hosting parties and friends over at my apartment but in reality it is very overwhelming. I usually put so much stress on myself to have the apartment clean, have delicious food, and make sure everyone is enjoying themselves. I have hosted dinner parties in college for some of my friends, which everyone adored. But between the cleaning and cooking, which always seemed to take a fortnight and worrying about everything going wrong always stressed me out and prevented me from fully immersing myself in the company. Which is why these dinner parties occurred very rarely.

Last year friends of mine hosted a brunch at their place with a few of our close friends. It was wonderfully cozy, casual and relaxed. The hosts did not seem at all stressed out by the preparations for the brunch and everyone was dressed in their comfortable outfits enjoying mimosas and pancakes. I loved every minute of it and I cherish the memory.

Remembering that brunch gave the idea to re-create it as a way to bring my friends together in a casual and comfortable environment.  As someone who gets a fair bit of anxiety around hosting friends over, I decide to give the brunch thing a try. In my very own extra style, I went on to plan my bougie, boozy, brunch!

I am sharing my 7 steps for preparing and enjoying a fabulous Pinterest worthy brunch, stress-free!

1. Invite your friends!
   1. Keep the guest list small and manageable, especially for your first time hosting a brunch. You want to be able to comfortable cook for everyone as well as have it intimate enough so everyone can sit around the table and chat.

2. Plan your brunch menu
   1. Keep it simple, everyone loves the brunch basics. Also stick with items you have cooked before so you don’t have to stress out if they will turn out.
   2. Include items that you do not have to prepare such as pre-made toasts, pasties, and jams. I included a few Bavarian breakfast classics for a flair like pretzels with Bavarian mustard.

• Better to have more food then not enough for everyone

My menu for inspiration:

• Buckwheat pancakes, from a previous post but this time with banana
• Scrambled eggs with scallions
• Hashbrown with a spicy seasoning
• Toast and jam
• Croissants and pretzels

Other options: quiche, waffles, French toast, biscuits, fruit salad, smoothies

3. Cocktails are on the menu
   1. Nothing gets Sunday brunch going like some cocktails! Most importantly it helps put you, the host, at ease. Make your brunch special by adding a twist to your cocktails. For mine, I chose blueberry lemonade mimosas. Increase of regular orange juice I got blueberry lemonade to mix with my champagne! They were so delicious and everyone loved them! I also got some German beer to pair with the pretzels.

4. Shopping
   1. Start with places like Aldi and Lidl where you can get items for less. I went to Lidl, because they have a bakery and I was able to get fresh baked pasties for 20-50 cents each! Who doesn’t love fresh baked buttery flakey croissants. Also the alcohol is very affordable!  And since the brands are lesser known, no one will know you spend under $10 for each bottle to make all your mimosas.  Bougie points!
   2. I pick up all my other brunch basics at my local Kroger like eggs, toast, and hash browns.

5. Making the yummy goodness
   1. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to prepare, even if that means a late brunch start. Even better, get someone to help you with it, that way it keeps it fun and divides up the work.
   2. Having things on your menu that you have made before will help give you a boost of confidence and make things go smoothly.

• Even if something doesn’t work out, your menu has variety of options for your guests to enjoy. I made a big mistake when I was preparing my buckwheat pancakes. When I was reading the directions, I thought it said tablespoon instead of teaspoon, so there was quite a bit of oil and honey, oops! But they still turned out just fine!

 

6. Setting the table
   1. This is what takes it from regular brunch to a bougie brunch, in my opinion. Bring out your nice silverware and plates. Put a tablecloth on the table if you have one. Arrange your treats on nice dishes, I get some nice platters that look like silver from the dollar store. These touches really elevate the party and giving it the right sophistication to make you look like a million bucks, but really you are on broke budget.

7. Have a drink and enjoy the company
   1. Crack open the champagne and have a drink. Now you can relax and enjoy your time with your friends while eating all your favorite brunch foods!

I had so much fun planning this brunch and enjoying it with my friends. I can’t wait to plan another one again. I hope this gives you some courage and inspiration to have your very own brunch party that all your friends are going to love.