Greetings all! Welcome to the first of a series of posts that focus on all things outside the kitchen. Think hosting dinner parties, sustainability and food security, DIY projects and basically everything else that’s on my mind. Today, we’ll be talking about setting up an epic breakfast spread for Mother’s Day.

For all my regular readers, you’ll know that I am no stranger to breakfasts in bed. If you’re new around these here parts, I’d just like to say hello, I’m glad you’re here! If you’d like to dig around in my archives, here are my 2 previous breakfast in bed posts, one with lemon ricotta pancakes and the other with berry waffles. Featured in this post are these Carrot Cake Pancakes. 

There’s nothing much to creating a memorable breakfast in bed, there are just a couple of points to consider whenever you’re planning a breakfast in bed:

1. Is there anything messy that could ruin your bedsheets?

There is nothing more aesthetically pleasing yet heart wrenchingly terrifying than a photo of a large breakfast spread on stark white bed sheets. Sure, we’d all like to wake up to that, but not all of us would like to then be responsible for the sticky bright orange juice stain on the Egyptian cotton sheets. People with fur babies at home, please be especially cautious about this. I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to enjoy a glass of freshly squeezed OJ at brekkie, I’m just forewarning you of any possible outcomes. The last thing you’d want is to stress your mum about is the clean-up.

Beware of these culprits: maple syrup/honey, fruit juice, tea or any beverages, jam or marmalade.

2. Consider the whole picture

There are 4 elements that I like to include in every breakfast of bed that I plan. These are something sweet, something savoury, something to drink and something pretty. In this particular one, I have these carrot cake pancakes, avocado toast, orange juice and flowers. For aesthetic purposes I have also included a newspaper and a ramekin of strawberries.

To me, breakfast in bed is about providing the hotel experience, lots of choices involved. What separates this from a hotel breakfast (apart from the fact that it’s free) is that this is done from the heart. That means making everything from scratch. This is something I refuse to budge on. You don’t have to create something elaborate, 2 options is better than none. I can almost guarantee that your mother would greatly favour your burnt cinnamon rolls and soggy toast over supermarket croissants. I don’t care how good your local baker is, this is non-negotiable. This is about a gesture of goodwill towards your mother, in the spirit of celebrating her, the least you can do is make an effort.

3. Think about how long it will take to prepare breakfast and plan accordingly

I’m lucky to live in a household where I don’t have to worry about my mother leaving her boudoir until about 10am, leaving me plenty of time to prepare. For those who are not as fortunate, it would do you well to prepare the night before lest you think about waking up at 5 am to have breakfast ready. Due to the simplicity of breakfast in bed, many elements can be prepared the night before and assembly is the only thing left for the morning.

To be done the night before:

• Cutting and arranging the flowers
• Wrapping the present and writing the card
• Preparing any yeasted dough e.g. croissants, kouign amann, cinnamon rolls or bread that can then be baked in the morning
• Organising the add-ons such as jam, butter, fresh fruit
• Preparing pancake/waffle batter, though I wouldn’t advise keeping these around for more than 12 hours

Although most recipes let you know how long it will take you to prepare it, give yourself an extra 15 minutes for every hour, so if the recipe says 30 minutes, give yourself about 40 minutes; if it says 2 hours, give yourself 2 hours and 30 minutes. This is just to allow for any unfortunate happenings that may become you when you’re in the kitchen. The last thing you’d want is to keep mum starving.

All these points taken in consideration, you should be set for a stellar Mother’s Day breakfast. I wish you the best of luck for this Sunday! If I missed anything or if you have any more points you’d like to bring up, leave a comment below!

Until next time loves,

x Andy