Hosting A Stunning Thanksgiving Day Brunch
Photographs by Leon Shipp Belt.
For Thanksgiving brunch, think outside of the box. Brunch calls for an affair that’s a little less traditional. Update your Thanksgiving table with a mix of modern and rustic details. Vintage-inspired chairs, cutting boards used as chargers and plates, and galvanized buckets as candleholders, can all add to the beauty of your harvest table. Use bright pops of color for a festive tabletop display. Start with linens and florals to make a colorful statement. Layer brightly hued napkins with fall floral arrangements to add to the colorful mix of your table arrangement.
Get crafty with placecards for your event. Copper garden labels can be embossed with name of each guest for a surprising placeard display. Simply wrap them around the stem of a wine glass, so that each guest knows exactly where they’re seated for brunch. And for a unique candle display simply carve out the top of colorful potatoes, and place small votives inside.
Once the table is set, introduce your guests to some tasty delights. A menu reflective of Thanksgiving, but with a brunch twist will be the perfect thing to wet their appetite. Create variations on some of the dishes you would make for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of a large turkey, try a pan-fried Turkey Eggsadilla. A salad can also usher in the flavors of the season with arugula, smoked turkey sausage, candied cranberries, goat cheese, and spiced walnuts.
And you can whip us some new and innovative signature dishes for your gathering like delicious pumpkin pancakes with vanilla bourbon maple syrup, or a mulled apple cider and homemade pumpkin juice. Finally, don’t forget to serve something sweet. While sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie may be reserved for after dinner, you can serve up a chocolate cake with pumpkin pie fritters and cool whip ice cream for brunch.
And don’t forget to serve something sweet. While sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie may be reserved for after dinner, you can serve up a chocolate cake with pumpkin pie fritters and cool whip ice cream for brunch.
Pumpkin Pancakes with Vanilla Bourbon Maple Syrup
Pumpkin Pancakes
3 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/8 cup of sugar
1/8 cup of baking powder
1/2 tablespoon of salt
1 egg
3 cups of whole milk
1 tablespoon of clarified butter
pinch of nutmeg freshly grated
Mix all dry ingredients. Mix all wet ingredients separately. Combine the 2. Add 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
Vanilla Bourbon Maple Syrup
2 cups of maple syrup
splash of bourbon
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
Burn alcohol off bourbon in a pot over high heat (be careful, flames will be high). Add rest of ingredients. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes
Mulled Apple Cider Pumpkin Juice
2 cups of pumpkin juice (you can also make your own by passing only the pumpkin flesh through a juicer)1 ½ cups strong tea
1 1/2 cups of apple juice
2 tablespoons of honey
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Splash of bourbon for fun
