Need Brunch Food Ideas for First Birthday Party - 30 Adults

donut holes are great -- small and easy to graze on. Also, these sausage balls are great warm OR after they've cooled off:

Sausage Balls

10 oz. Cheddar cheese, melted ( a double boiler works best)
1 lb. Cooked sausage, crumbled
2 ½ coups Bisquick

Mix all ingredients together. Form into balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hi Julia,
here are some ideas.
stuffed french toast, pizza with scramble eggs and smoked salmon, lasagne, wrap chicken salad, fritara.

I do brunches all the time and I like having warm coffee cake and a few quiches along with the items you already are serving.

J. how about a egg type dish I have a great one.
Mix together eggs, ham , bacon , cheese, green onion , potatoes and place in a glass baking dish then cook it in the oven(350) until done(about 35-40 mins depending on size) you will know, when it is done it will be firm on top.Add what ever you want in the egg mixture, make two or three.
sprinkle with cheese when they come out of the oven , so simple to make. Jennifer

I have been to several brunch functions and a.m. MOPs meetings and french toast casserole is always a hit. It is easy to make. You prepare it the day before all in one pan let it sit over night, then bake it in the a.m. If you don't like this recipe you can google french toast casserole and get lots of yummy variations.
French Toast Casserole
1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Maple syrup

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Barbecue - then you can make your husband do it. =) Men love to cook when danger is involved. Then you can enjoy the party!

Hi J.,

I would recommend serving quiche, a salad, and some cookies and muffins in addition to what you have. I am attaching recipes for the quiche. It will make two quiche and you can serve them at room temperature which will help. Also, you might consider buying some fancier cookies at Costco, (like the Madelines) and put them on a nice plate. No one will even know that you bought them! Also, there are those round lavash pinwheel sandwiches at Costco that might be good for your brunch.

A helpful website that I go to with good recipes is www.allrecipes.com. It might be a good place for other brunch food ideas.

Hope this helps!
G.

Easy Quiche

1 1/2 cups 2% milk
4 eggs
3/4 cup biscuit baking mix (like Bisquick)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 small box of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package of bacon, cooked, drained of fat and crumbled (If you want a shortcut, use pre-cooked bacon that you just have to microwave.)
1 frozen pie crust

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To thaw spinach, rinse it under running water. Squeeze dry.
In a large bowl, beat together milk, eggs, baking mix, butter and parmesan cheese. Batter will be lumpy. Stir in spinach, bacon and cheese. Pour into frozen pie crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Check the crust halfway into baking. Once the crust is brown, use aluminum foil to create a ring to cover the crust to avoid burning and return to the oven until eggs are set and the top is golden brown.

Makes 2 9” quiches.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Optional:
Can add Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Dry Mustard, Salt & Pepper (I didn’t add any of these.)

Recommendations: If you do not add bacon, you might want to add some salt, otherwise, don’t add additional salt because the bacon will add a lot of flavor. If the meat you are using is not very salty (for example when I used honey ham, I added 1 teaspoon of kosher salt (less if you use table salt).

Variations
Spinach, Bacon, Swiss & Mushrooms
Sausage & Mushrooms
Cubed Ham & Broccoli

You might consider making a frittata. There are dozens of recipes available on line (www.foodtv.com is a great resource). If you're not familiar with this, it is like a quiche, but doesn't have a crust. The dish that can be made in a large (9X13) cake pan and baked in the oven. Once you've mixed your veggies, meat(s) and (if desired) cheese(s) with your eggs, you just pop it in the oven. (I like sundried tomato, goat cheese and basil, but you can really do almost any kind of filling combination that you like.) When it is done you cut into squares and serve. It makes it easy to serve a large number of people and it is usually pretty economical because it is mostly eggs. If you want more variety of fillings, you can also make several different types of frittatas in pie pans.

I had a brunch for Christmas and didn't want to spend all morning in the kitchen making pancakes or eggs or anything else. So, I looked up breakfast/brunch casseroles on Google and picked a few I liked. I prepared everthing the night before and just put them in the oven that morning. It was great to not have to worry about cooking and I could enjoy my company. I also served a yummy french toast casserole - also looked up on Google. Good luck.

How about quiche? It's good hot or cold and very filling!
Try epicurious.com for recipes or just go the easy route and buy one!

Hi J.,
Spinach dip with crackers or bread are always a people pleaser at any time of day. For brunch quiche is always a winner. you can make your own or buy some good ones at almost any market. .Good luck.

Hi;
How about quiche? I did the same menu for my sons second bd (a bit smaller group),it was good. You can make the shells ahead (or purchase) then pre-prepare a couple different fillings.You can get 6-8 adult servings from a 9-10inch pie. The New Joy of Cooking has good basic quiche recipies or check epicurious.com. You can bake them ahead too and warm before serving or serve at room temp. Don't know what to tell you about indoor activities for so many! Good luck with that!!
KL

L'eggos waffles for the kids. Slice them into strips so they can pick them up and dip them in syrup. It's fun and kid friendly.

You could do a scrambled egg bar with large pans of scrambled eggs one with and one without cheese. Then have small bowls or trays of toppings: bacon bits, ham cubes, red bell pepper, salsa, etc.

Herb roasted potatoes are SO good! Here is a quickie recipe: cut small red potatoes into quarters, spread evenly in a glass pan(s), drizzle with olive oil then stir to coat and spread back out, sprinkle several spices over the potatoes. Microwave until tender, about 7-12 minutes, then place under the broiler in the oven for 2-3 minutes until crisp. These are just as good as traditional oven roasted and will not take up 45-50 minutes of oven time.

I agree that the mini quiches from Costco or Trader Joe's are very tasty and come in a variety of flavors.

If you did yogurt as mentioned in another post, you could have berries, grapes, cereal or granola toppings.

Orange slices and grapes are great for the kids.

Don't be afraid to ask friends to help you out. If you buy the supplies, a couple of your friends may be willing to cook something up for you so you don't have to do it all. Keep it simple and have fun!!

PULL APART COFFEE CAKE

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan.
2. In large plastic food-storage bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Separate dough into a total of 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan. Mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.
3. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 33 to 37 minutes.

You could make quesadillas (which can be made ahead of time) with a variety of fillings. They do well at room temperature. You could also make roasted vegetables. You might think about having a cheese platter. Another easy finger-food type of thing is to do roll-ups... take lavosh bread (or tortillas) and place a layer of hummus and/or roasted red pepper puree or something of that sort, with thin strips of zucchini inside. Roll them up and cut them into finger food size pieces.

bagels, cream cheese, fruit, yogurt, juice, coffee, coffee cake, banana bread, milk...

have fun!

you could make scones and/or egg casserole (made the day before, and popped in oven the morning of) Also, an assortment of nice muffins and breads (zucchini, banana, rhubarb, etc) would be nice in a big decorated basket. if any of that sounds good, i can send recipes. J. P

Hi!

That sounds GREAT! And, not that you really need anything else... although if you did want to serve something hot... how about soup? Have a great time and happy birthday!
A.

how about a few grain salads like pasta, couscous or quinoa, or a tabouli salad- all can be made a head of time, how about deviled eggs, oh even better a few quiches which can be made a head of time and just warmed in the oven before serving, maybe a creamy veggie soup since it is going to be rainy
hope this helps

Hi J.,

well for a brunch you can have lots of finger foods and a few salads, like potato salad, pasta salad, and greek salad....italien bruschetta,club sandwiches,antipasti (grilled veggis)mexican chilli,honey chicken wings....,waffels with fruit salad or beerys and cream,banana muffins..... i have a few recipe if u would like (i love to cook and writing on a cook book,hope it turns out well). hope this help you a littel bit,take care.

Hi! Go to Bisquick's website and check out their easy recipes. One of my favorites is a breakfast casserole, here's the link: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=...

This one needs some prep time so maybe prepare the night before but it's easy overall and a crowd pleaser!

Also, if you have access to a Costco, their mini quiches are always a favorite. They are easy finger foods as they are bite size and YUMMY.

Good luck!

Whats "wrong" with you is that you're a busy mommy trying to do a difficult thing. I applaud you. Have a Fajita bar. You just supply the ingredients and they build it.

Hi J.. I am a Pampered Chef Consultant and have a really great recipe for a Ham & Cheese Brunch Squares. If you're interested, let me know. I'll e-mail it to you.

J.,
I have a great recipe for an "egg bake". It uses croutons to fill the bottom of a 13x9 dish 6 eggs, 1lb of breakfast sausage (jimmy dean or something like that) 1 can of cream of mushroom soup all mixed together and poured on top of croutons then put shredded cheese on top and bake in oven for 1 hour at 350degrees uncovered. The nice thing is you can put it all together the night before and then put it in the oven the next day before the party. It feeds a good amount of people because it is so thick. I am currently at work so I'm not sure if I am forgetting an ingredient or not. If you truly want to make the dish you can email me at ____@____.com and I can let you know if I have forgotten anything.

Quiche is always good. It doesn't take long to heat and it's okay once it's cooled down as well. Heck, get some of the mini quiche from Costco or Trader Joe's for utensil-less eating. An array of pastries would be fine. Deviled eggs?

I just hosted an 11am baby shower/brunch. I also did pastries and fruit, but along with it I served a bowl of yogurt and a bowl of granola. Also I made a vegetable strata that was a hit. It wasn't exactly hot, but everyone seemed to like it, plus I made it the day before and it was an easy self-serve dish. Here is the recipe I used: (Serves 12, just make two or three of them)
1 loaf day old French bread
3Tbsp unsalted butter
2Tbsp canola, veggie, or olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
10 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can artichoke hearts sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Spray 13x9x2 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Slice bread in half lengthwise; butter and cut into cubes. In a skillet saute onion, red pepper, and mushrooms in oil for 4-5 minutes. In a bowl combine the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. To assemble, place bread in single layer in baking dish. Top with veggies and artichokes and half the Jack cheese. Pour egg mixture over; top with remaining Jack cheese and Parmesean cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Heat oven to 350. Bake uncovered 50-60 minute. Let stand 10 min before cutting.
Good luck! Have fun!

I went to a brunch baby shower and they had about the same amount of people. They served the same types of food but they also had scrambled eggs with cheese in casaroll dishes. I think you could do something like that. Something that is in a large or a few small dishes in the oven.

Everyone has great ideas! The only thing that I would add is that would be to go to Costco and see what they've got. I plan to get most of the food/supplies there for my son's 1st birthday in April.

Good luck! I'm sure it will be a great party!

Hi, J.!

I just celebrated my daughter's second birthday and we had a "Birthday Breakfast"! I made muffin cupcakes of zuccinni and banana. I had fruit on skewers and mini quiches. It was fun because we requested everyone to come in their pajamas.

Have fun at your party!

A.

I don't think you necessarily have too many people for hot food, as long as you're careful about what hot food... for example, you might not want to go with scrambled eggs or pancakes (or you'll be cooking all morning to replenish the table) but something like a chile relleno casserole with eggs, or quiche, or a couple of pans of popeye pancakes (also known as German pancakes) could work... just borrow some baking pans or casserole dishes, and do all the prep work earlier (maybe even the night before -- quiche in particular could be cooked beforehand, and then just popped in the oven or microwave to reheat and replenish as the party progresses), and you can keep putting them in the oven as needed throughout the party, providing you with plenty of time to mingle with the guests (one advantage of oven cooking over stovetop cooking!)
Also, think about adding things like cinnamon rolls or scones from a local bakery, to take some of the pressure off yourself, and perhaps a cold chicken and grape salad for those who crave meat with their breakfast (or you could go with a quiche with bacon in it)... it's just a simple websearch to find recipes for any of these, or look at your local grocery store or deli (while you're there, you could look into spinach dip and French bread as an appetizer option -- most people use it at parties later in the day, but there's no reason why it couldn't make an appearance at brunch!)
For the kids, they'd probably love a cold cereal bar -- just put out a variety of cereals in attractive bowls or containers, with an insulated thermos of milk, or you might be able to get the individual-sized milk at Costco or a restaurant supply store in the area.

J. ~

Here's my favorite recipe for brunches. I always use ham & cheddar, but you can change it up however you like. The best part is you assemle it the night before (or longer & put in freezer) so all you're doing in the a.m. is putting it in the oven. We do lots of morning potlucks with our running group & this has become a staple and kids seem to like it, too. Hope this helps!

Breakfast Egg Casserole

 6 slices sourdough bread, cut into cubes
 2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese
 1 cup cubed cooked ham*
 ¼ cup chopped onion
 6 eggs**
 3 cups milk

Spray 9X12 casserole dish with non-stick spray.

Mix bread, cheese, meat & onion. Spread bread mixture in casserole dish.

Whisk eggs & milk together. Pour over top of bread mixture.

Cover with foil and place in the refrigerator overnight to allow the bread to soak up the egg and milk mixture.***

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Bake, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes.

* You can find pre-cooked ham slices in the meat department.

** I’ve used a combination of eggs and egg substitute.

*** You can also freeze this for future use. Just be sure to THAW completely before baking.

Think of this as a base recipe which you can change up depending on your mood or what’s in the refrigerator. Try crumbled bacon or sausage instead of the ham. Add your favorite sautéed veggies. Swiss cheese instead of cheddar – or a combo of both. Top with sour cream and salsa.

Enjoy!!!!

D. Moore

Hi J.. I had a delicious variation of bread pudding at a brunch. I don't have the recipe but you can google bread pudding and alter the ingredients. Take out the sugar and add some cheese and maybe sausage or bacon. It's easy and very good. have fun!

L.

I have to say that Costco is high on my list for large party events. They do have great rotisserie chickens, great meat and cheese platters and of course the pre-made past dishes that are easy to place in the oven.

I am also a fan of Trader Joe's who have a good selection of bite sized appetizers that cook in the oven in 10-15 minutes.
Small crab cakes, quiches, spinokas and more...

Congratulations and have fun!

Hi,
There are always pasta salads. You can get a variety. I know you can get inexpensive, disposable warming trays at Costco or places like Party America. I think you can get a set of 3 for $9.99. You could make a Strata the night before and cook it in the morning and place it in the warming tray. Or how about a ham from a place like Honey Baked Ham or your local grocery store. You can serve it cold with biscuits. Good Luck!

I'd like to consider myself a seasoned mom, I'm a mother of 4 my oldest is 19 years and my youngest is 18 months, after many years of planning parties, from Baptisms, first communions to 1st birthday parties and sweet 16 house parites, I like to keep it simple but satify the guest, people are coming to a celebration.....so celebrate! Since you said 11 AM I would serve lunch who wants a bagel at almost lunch time??? Oh yeah is the event at your house or at the park? Do you have help from friends n family? if not I say catering is easiest way, so you can enjoy the party too. If you want to prepare it yourself then BBQ Tri tip, Chicken and Hot dogs for the kids, green salads, potato, mac, fresh fruit, and little munchies like chips n dip. Don't forget to have an activity or something for the kids to do too.

hope this helps

You can have a variety of salads. Chinese Chicken salad, Pasta salad, Fruit salad, Green salad. A variety of breads/crackers and maybe even an assorted meat tray and cheeses. Costco has a variety of frozen appetizers also. Mimi meatballs in BBQ sauce, Salami wrapped with cream cheese, breshetta, chicken wings, there is alot you can do. I'm sure everything will turn out fine and delicious. good luck.

Sounds like you are going to have a BLAST! The Salami roll is a fun idea (you can even do it the night before) take a piece of salami spread cream cheese on it put a piece of pepperchini in and roll it up. I use the decorated tooth picks to hold it in place. Also I went to a party and they had a mashed potato bar. They had mashed potatos in one of those inexpensive double warmer things(LOL) and then had a buch of different toppings it was such a hit. Just remember to have FUN!

Hi J.,

I did a brunch for my sister's bridal shower, there are so many options. I did roasted red potatoes that was a huge hit, you can also do a overnight egg and ham dish, an overnight stuffed strawberry french toast, scones and muffins. You can place yogurt and the tube yogurt (for the kids) in a container of ice. When you serve the coffee you can have fun things to add...rock candy on sticks used as stir sticks, shavings of chocolate, raw sugar, cinnamon, the list can go on and on. If you want the recipes e-mail me and I would be happy to send them along. :) Y. Mom of 4 (18, 17, 15 and 8 years.) Email address: ____@____.com

People,

She is not complaining about the work or having to throw the party...she wants to throw a party and wants it to be a brunch.

You have actually a great start with your list! Eggs and diced potatoes are easy to do too in a large quantity and keep warm in one of those large disposble tin pans. Know what I am talking about?? Or quiche pies from COSTCO. If you want to stay cold, you could get muffins. For the kids you can make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cut them out with a cute cupcake cookie cutter.
Well that is about the end of my creativity...good luck!

--Baby quiche that you can find in the freezer department of the grocery store--quick and easy when you're doing so much other stuff

--cheese and cracker tray

--here's a recipe for a good bread:
http://www.recipelink.com/cookbooks/1999/1580080324_1.html

With it, you can make zucchini bread, apple bread, etc. It's been a family favorite for a few generations. My favorite is pear bread, and my favorite for quick and easy is applesauce.

Try this recipe --- really easy and yummy!

EASY HERB FRITTATA
8 eggs
2 tbl water
4 oz. shaved smoked ham, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
3 tbl chopped fresh cilantro, divided

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs and water with whisk in medium bowl. Stir in ham, 1/2 cup of the cheese and 2 tbl of the cilantro.

POUR into greased 9-inch pie plate; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

BAKE 30 min or until puffed and golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.

I've made this several time to rave reviews; I didn't bother to divide the ingredients. I dumped everything into the bowl, mixed it up and poured it into the pie plate. I've substituted bacon for the smoked ham and tried gouda cheese instead of mozzarella --- both were equally good as the original recipe!

You can even make these the night before and heat them up before guests arrive or use warming trays to keep them warm.

Good luck and have fun!

Make a bunch of quiche, thats always a hit and super easy.Because you can make so many different kinds it's perfect for meat eaters or not. Have fun and good luck!

I would do some other salads (Chinese Chicken, greens/pears/candied walnuts or pecans/dried cranberries) and a few quiches. I was at a baby shower and they served Marie Calendars quiche...it was very yummy! You could also serve some scones with devonshire cream and lemon curd.

Good luck!

Hi, I may have an idea for you. For the adults Sausage Strata is really good.

1 pound of sausage meat
2 to 3 green onions finely chopped
2 slices of bread (sandwich bread) cubed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

In a skillet cook sausage and onion; drain well. Place cubed bread into greased 9 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle sausage mixture over bread then top with 3/4 cut of shredded cheese. In a bowl, combine eggs and milk pour over bread and sausage. Top with remaining cheese. Refrigerate overnight. Next day prehead oven to 350 degrees and bake for 1 hour until set.

makes 6 servings.

Now when I make this I double everything and put it into a 13 x 9 pan or bigger to get more servings.

For the kids: Depending on the ages this is fun.

I make french toast kabobs. Now you can make fancy french toast from scratch or you can cheat a little like I do.

Buy the frozed french toast sticks and follow the directions for microwave cooking. (super simple)

Then cut the french toach sticks into 1 inch pieces.

Thread bread cubes with what ever type of fruit you like, banana slices, strawberries, raspberries. Then sprinkle with power suger (we have girls so we call it fairy sugar).

Hope this may help a little.

How about bowls of yogurt and granola, pita and hummus, muffins and or something like banana bread or other sweet loaf bread....Maybe deviled eggs?
Hope this helps!
M.

Coscto/Sams Club has a fabulous selection of appetizers that can be served hot or even are tastey at room temperature (after cooked) The mini quich are my favorites! Little smokies, you can just put those in the cock pot/slow cooker with some bbq sauce.

Tortilla/deli rolls are easy to make, just spread some cream cheese onto large flour tortillas, then add some meats and cheeses, roll into a log and slice no thicker than 1 inch. Or your local grocery store has these available for pre-order...