Baby Boy’s Baptism Brunch

I had grand plans for baptising the Little Monkey a couple days after she was born but of course she arrived later than her scheduled Baptism and so lesson learned, I didn’t plan anything for Baby Boy. However, with family coming into town I was able to rush around and get everything organised rather quickly and we even celebrated it in style! The Little Monkey was nearly a year old when she got baptised and we had a simple brunch at a hole in the wall joint near St. Michael’s Cathedral. Baby Boy on the other hand had a grand impromptu brunch soiree as it was also Mother’s Day and we had plenty of family and friends looking to celebrate. Who says the second kid gets shafted?

 
Baptism is a rite of passage and it was just something we did. I didn’t really think about it and when folks asked me why I was doing it, I was stumped. We aren’t regular Church goers but we did get married in a Church (for one of our many weddings) and I know that belonging to a Church, especially in a city, has its benefits. Both the hubs and I went to Catholic school and we turned out okay I reckon. He wasn’t on the same page as me but he’s come around to my way of thinking! What I didn’t anticipate was friends getting mad when I didn’t make a big deal about it the first time around. Well lesson learned…here’s how we celebrated Baby Boy’s Baptism.

My dishes were inspired by the President’s Choice Home Spring launch I attended last week and you’ll see that I picked up quite a few tricks! I knew I would need easy to prep dishes for the brunch because I was going to be away on the wine tour the day before and guests were to arrive at 11 a.m. on Sunday. SO you’ll be pleased to know that you can make all these items well ahead of time or quickly prep them on the day. The one exception is the Eggs Benedict. Boy was that nerve wracking! I contemplated not making them but then conquered my fear and most of them turned out well! The secret to it was hot but not boiling water, adding a few drops of vinegar in the boiling water and a jam jar ring to contain the eggs! When lifting the cooked egg out soak the water off on a slice of bread and then carefully drop the eggs in to bread bowls made by hollowing out some buns. Aren’t they cute? Huge thanks to Chef Andrea Buckett, culinary instructor at the President’s Choice Cooking School, for her wise tips. The Hollandaise sauce nearly got scrambled but my mom came to the rescue. PHEW!  I kept the sauce on the stove so that it stayed warm and guests helped themselves when they were ready to eat.

Bevvys are most important for a good brunch so we had a couple options for our guests. Pink Lemonade to add a pit of colour to the spread, some Prosecco which some guests mixed with Orange Juice for some mimosas and we also included some red and white wine we recently received as a gift. I was surprised by how lovely the Durbanville Hills Shiraz was! I wasn’t expecting this South African wine to be so spicy and fruit forward. Both the Sauvignon Blanc and the Shiraz was paired with hand crafted chocolate that was especially made for Durbanville Hills. I am now trying to figure out how I can get my hands on the  Spiced South Easter! The milk chocolates had cloves, cinnamon and cardamoms infused and made for a delicious pairing. Loved the spice and sweet combo.

 I can’t believe it took me this long to make French Toast!! I used a very basic recipe and it turned out brilliantly. Instead of regular bread I used a baguette which made it less messy and a finger food option. Pre-baked bacon were wrapped around the cooked French toast and plopped in the oven to crisp up. Dust a bit of icing sugar and it was done! This was most definitely a popular dish that morning.

I made some mini pancakes a day before and that morning I pulled  them out of the fridge and popped them in the oven to warm up. Then decorated some with jam and others with Goat Cheese Chevre before plopping a strawberry slice on top. I was hoping to decorate some with a boiled egg..but forgot!

Frittatas were also made very quickly by whipping up eggs, cream, mushrooms and spring onions before being baked in muffin cups. These were also gobbled up because they were the perfect bite sized breakfast item.

Remember I told you about how my tea party guests gobbled up the Butter Chicken Poutine? Well… I made them again! I kept the gravy on the stove so guests could leisurely help themselves when they were ready to poutine it up.

Every brunch needs some fruit so I served up some strawberries and mini waffles with chocolate sauce and some maple syrup. We also had croissants, smoked salmon and bagels on offer with a cheese platter. Needless to say our guests were stuffed and we had plenty to nosh on after the mass!

I bet you’re wondering about the actual Baptism aren’t you? It was a fairly quick ceremony with minimal prep. We had taken the course two years ago for the Little Monkey so luckily we didn’t have to do the prep class again. All we had to do was choose the Godparents and then turn up on the day. There were three babies being baptised that day and Baby Boy was fairly well behaved. He did get sleepy and hungry towards the end so most of the pictures have his baby bottle in it! Whoops! The Little Monkey was a bit noisy and yelled out a few random shrieks during the 30 minute mass but no one seemed to mind. Baptisms are probably the most relaxed Church celebrations.

With all the Baptism talk we completely forgot about Mother’s Day but we were lucky to have my mom, the hub’s mom and the hub’s grandmother with us for the celebrations. After Mass we came back and chilled with our friends on the rooftop and then went out for dinner. Needless to say we were all EXHAUSTED that night!