Easter Brunch on the California Coast

Greetings!

  This year's weather for Easter was perfect for hosting an outdoor brunch for a party of 8.   When we offered to host this year's Easter brunch, we did not share with them our vision for the celebration.  The inspiration came from William Sonoma's Famille Rose tableware collection.   

The particular piece that inspired me was the collection's porcelain chargers that closely resembled one of my favorites, the classic Rose Medallion china.  The flatware is Yamazaki Byzantine gold tip collection

I used the color palette from the charger plates for my flowers and linen.  I was in charge of decorating and setting the main,buffet and dessert tables.  Papa Dan was in charge of the menu.  Another big inspiration to our setup was the artisan floral cupcakes by Wahinebakes in Davis, California.  

For 2 weeks leading up to the occasion, pink and green was all the colors I could see as I kept visualizing the end result.  The heavy gold banded champagne and wine glasses were a vintage from an antique store outside of Sebastopol.  Unfortunately, there are no maker markings to determine the manufacturer or the age.  

The light gold rim water glass is by Gorham.  Unfortunately, charger plates were not available as dinner plates.  So, I used clear glass dinner plates so the chargers could still be admired even while plated.  

Aside from the dessert table, the French empire crystal chandelier was a surprise and hit with our guests.  I purchased it online at Galleryhomelighting.com.  I had it converted to a plug in at my local lighting store. 

Once I received the delicious menu from Chef Papa Dan, I created it using the online website, Canva.com.

Alas!  the main attraction....the dessert tableaux!  I purchased the black and white striped pop up canopy on Amazon.com.  

The decadent and delicious artisan floral cupcakes was definitely one of the highlights of our brunch presentation.  I was introduced to talented Najia Rosales, owner of Wahinebakes from a neighbor who purchased Najia's creations for her daughter's birthday. 

I immediately fell in love her work and reached out to her to place my first order which was back in December for a Christmas holiday party. 

 Needless to say, they were a big hit.  Many couldn't believe they were actually edible cupcakes.  Not only are they beautiful, they are DELICIOUS. 

The delicious ice cream Bon bons are the creation of the locally famous Gunther's Ice Cream Parlor.

Gunther's ice cream is a family owned establishment since 1940.  In 2021, Food & Wine awarded it the best ice cream in California. 

Preparing the buffet table for brunch

For Chef Papa Dan, his particular "cool" moment was being able to have our toaster outdoors for the bagel station.  

Slow cooked creamy scrambled eggs

The delicious Ham and cheese croissant casserole.

Bagel station with Lox,capers,cream cheese and red onions...yum!

Slowing cooked creamy scrambled eggs with the vegetarian hominy green chili and cheese casserole

Hope you enjoyed the photos.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time!