New Year's Brunch

This past Sunday my husband and I had the pleasure of hosting 20 of our closest friends for a memorable New Year's brunch. We've decided that brunch is our favorite way to entertain because everyone is in a great mood, it's fun to recap the weekend, and most of all indulge on good food with good company.

I personally prepared about 5 of the dishes served and had the rest catered by Zucker's Bagels in Tribeca. 

 Here is what we served:

Fresh lox and sable plate (from Zucker's in NYC)

-be sure to include sliced tomato and red onion with lots of good cream cheese

(3 lbs of lox and 1.5 lbs of sable served 20 people)

*NOTE- pregnant women should not eat smoked salmon/sable

Assorted Bagels (also from Zucker's)

Two dozen bagels should fit the bill.

Homemade fruit plate:

Include the best produce you can get your hands on at your local market. I personally buy organic fruit, but do whatever you can afford.

My Mother in Law's Noodle Kugel

Since it's a family recipe, I linked Ina Garten's version instead which is delicious!

Sky's Homemade Granola Station:

Using my Apricot and Raisin Cinnamon Granola recipe, I set out big bowls of granola, low fat organic vanilla yogurt and fresh berries along with clear glasses to make parfaits

Grilled Chicken Sausage Plate

We grilled a bunch of Aidell's Chicken Sausages (the chicken apple sausage was the biggest hit) but we also served Buffalo chicken. This sausage is great because it's free of nitrates (for pregnant women), dairy, and gluten.

I then made my best friend Bibby's Mom's Pumpkin Cake-it was a big hit!

And finally, I served Ina Garten's Sour Cream Coffee Cake with hot coffee of course.

Flowers and such:

I decided to buy a beautiful white orchid with pink centers and set it out on the main table of the buffet.  I also used all white platters and accented the second table with a small vase of white tulips. I took a few of the tulips and placed them in a smaller vase for our guest bathroom.  I think it was a nice touch.

Don't forget to have a drink station with fresh orange juice, cold water, and hot coffee.

PC: Salmon: Bie, Bagels: Russ & Daughters, Fruit bowl: seoworldwide.com, Noodle Kugel: foodjunta.com, Sausages: seriouseats.com, Orchid: southern living, tulips: amyramaker.blogspot.com