Brunch Done Right with Cuisinart
What is the very first thing you did when you got engaged? Try on dresses? Book your venue? Instagram the news? Want to know what I did. I registered. For all of the amazing kitchen-ness I had always dreamed of. Because the thought of stocking my apartment with a stand mixer and a blender and a giant food processor was basically most people's equivalent of winning the lottery. And while I'm not going to say this is a normal feeling, I am going to say that maybe it was the making of Style Me Pretty before I even knew that Style Me Pretty was a thing. So, in case you don't get the same thrill that I got when it comes to stocking your newlywed kitchen, I'm here today to convince you otherwise. We've hosted the sweetest brunch you've ever seen using EXCLUSIVELY Cuisinart products that you, my dear, can put on that little registry of yours.
So before we dive into the food, let's talk table. We partnered up with FiftyFlowers to create a pretty easy and (if I'm being the opposite of humble) stunning table. We let the pink peonies set the tone then sprinkled in roses in varying shades of peach.
While I love a good floral arrangement, I wanted to keep things speedy and simple with this centerpiece. I found a bunch of old food cans and I printed out vintage advertisements (that I literally found on google) in our color palette. I wrapped the cans using tape to secure. The result was totally adorable and ragingly easy.
The thing with brunch is this. If it's too fancy, people won't relax. If it's not fancy enough, people don't understand the time that it took to put something like this together and it just doesn't feel as special. So for me, I always wear jeans, I always cook barefoot, I always set my table the night before and save small jobs for people to help me with on the day of. And I ALWAYS create pretty little "moments" around the house that people can revel in. You'll see what I mean next.
A SMOOTHIE BAR
Moment number one and the star of the day. Although if I'm being honest, it's the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro Blender that was the star. I just supplied the back-up singers. I've actually decided to ditch my Ninja after using this blender. Which says a lot. It's crazy powerful (3.5 peak HP), it literally has a memory function and you can make anything using their presets from soup to smoothies
Here's what you need for a good Smoothie Bar:
Vanilla Yogurt * Lots of Fruit Fixins * Healthy Additions like Flax, Chia & Walnuts * Juice (we used orange and mango) * Glasses * Straws * Spoons
Make sure that you set it up near a sink so that your guests (or you) can rinse the blender between batches. And encourage your guests to start with the yogurt & juice, then add fruit, then add the healthy fixins. This enables the blender to mix really easily and blend every smoothie beautifully.
A COFFEE BAR
Y'all. I can't even tell you how obsessed I am with this Cuisinart Coffee Center. It has the best of both worlds all wrapped up into one pretty machine. One side is an auto drip and the other is single cup. So all of those decaf lovers can have their cake without ruining ours. It's genius. And we set up a little coffee station to highlight the personalization capabilities of this pretty machine. A variety of mixins included Bailey's, Cream, Caramel & Chocolate. Then we also had cinnamon sticks, chocolate melts, whipped cream and good old fashioned sugar.
WATERMELON SORBET COCKTAILS
Okay, I know I sound like an ad for Cuisinart (oh wait, this is an ad for Cuisinart) but I'm serious when I tell you that you are going to quickly become obsessed with this little frozen yogurt-sorbet and ice cream maker. After freezing the bowl overnight, I literally threw in a bunch of room temperature watermelon - and NOTHING ELSE - and turned this baby on. It pureed the watermelon into a gorgeous frozen treat that was worthy of it's own cocktail.
The cocktail part? I added some sparkling pink wine and voila. Dunzo. It was the most beautifully refreshing, delicious cocktail I've ever had, perfect for impressing on a hot Summer Day.
WARM DONUTS
I know I keep blowing your mind with all of this Cuisinart creativity. I blew my own mind too. But this is really going to send you over the edge. Of all the Cuisinart products that we used, the Air Fryer (which doubles as a Toaster and Convection Oven) was my overall fave. It's awesome. And it was the perfect way to serve up the EASIEST and most epically good warm donuts you've ever had. All you need is Biscuit Dough, Butter and Powdered Sugar. Punch a hole in each biscuit, pop them into the air fryer for 2-3 minutes on each side, then drench in butter and coat with powdered sugar. Tastes like the perfect beignet from Cafe du Monde. And I take donuts very seriously. I wouldn't kid you about this.
HASHBROWN NESTS WITH AN OVER EASY EGG
If there is one appliance that will save you an infinite amount of time in the kitchen so that you can kick back and hang with your friends, it's the Cuisinart Elemental Food Processor. Aside from the fact that it has a huge work bowl so you can really get in there with larger recipes, it also has every attachment known to man so you can slice, dice, shred, spiralize to your heart's content. And these little hashbrown nests were the perfect way to really put this processor to work.
3 Russet Potatoes (peeled), 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar, 1/2 cup shredded creamy fontina, 1/2 onion, 4 TBS butter, 6 eggs, 2 green onions (green party only) 1.5 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp pepper + extra of each to taste. 6 prepared ramekins
Using your trusty Food Processor, shred the potatoes, cheddar and fontina. Dice the onion. Squeeze the excess water out of the potatoes and the onion. Mix all together in a bowl with salt & pepper. Place enough potato mixture into your prepared ramekins to fill 3/4 of the dish, taking care to press the potatoes down. Bake at 350 in your toaster oven for about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Crack an egg on top of each and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Place back in the oven for 3-10 minutes depending on how well done you like your egg. I like mine runny so it was only a 3 minute process. Sprinkle with green onions. *We used ramekins that fit about 3/4 of a cup of potato/cheese mixture. You can also use muffin tins or smaller ramekins. If you do, your potato quantity might be more/less. If you have left over potato mixture, you can freeze and use for future nests!
CREAM CHEESE & LOX BAGEL PIZZA
prepared pizza dough, 1/2 cup cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, 4 ounces smoked salmon, 1/4 cup sliced red onion, 3 TBS capers, 2 green onions, sliced (green party only), everything but the bagel seasoning to taste, pam/oil for preparing pan
Easiest brunch dish EVER. Seriously. Spritz your Toaster Oven sheet pan with a little pam or brush with olive oil. Roll out the pizza dough (we used Trader Joe's brand) to fit the toaster oven pan. Toast at 350 for about 15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool entirely. While your dough is cooling, mix the cream cheese and sour cream together. Slice your smoked salmon if need be. Use your Cuisinart Food Processor to slice your red onion. Once dough is cooled, slather with the cream cheese mixture. Then layer on salmon, sliced red onion, capers, green onion and sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning.
MADE TO ORDER BABY PANCAKES
This griddle is GEN.IUS. It's obviously a really nice sized griddle but it also moonlights as an indoor grill and panini press plus it has optional waffle plates available for purchase too. These designers at Cuisinart aren't playing around with this one. We used it for the obvious ... silver dollar pancakes, made to order. To serve, we popped a little pad of butter on top and puddled some syrup underneath. YUM. But to me, a pancake isn't a pancake without a side of bacon.
Lay your bacon on a foil covered sheet pan and sprinkle with some brown sugar. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until all crispy and delicious.
And that, my friends, is called brunch. With appliances that make the entire experience ridiculously easy. And you are at the one point in your life where you don't actually have to buy them yourself! So when you are revving up that registry, just think of me over here at Style Me Pretty and all of the goodness that we whipped together using exclusively Cuisinart appliances and you'll know that you are doing the right thing. Then make sure to send me an invitation when you decide to host your own Sunday done right brunch.