Brunch day! I think today felt the longest of any school day so far. It wasn’t bad at all, just really tiring!

We continued our prep work as soon as we arrived this morning. There was a log to do from 9:15-11:30, so we got right to it. First I helped chop and supreme fruits for the fruit compote that topped the waffles:

And then I moved on to helping set up the tables. We set them for 20 people, but the final service included about a dozen staff members who ate elsewhere.

Finishing touches on the table included the raspberry maple syrup I made yesterday:

Homemade ketchup:

The corn and blueberry muffins we baked in preparation:

And fresh strawberry butter. Yum!

The service itself was pretty frenzied- it was our first time working together to serve something as a group, so it didn’t run perfectly smoothly, but in the end we pulled it together and apparently the food got rave reviews. There was a spinach salad with shiitake bacon and pine nuts, plus an optional salmon croquette:

A beet, goat cheese and walnut salad in horseradish dressing, also with the salmon croquette:

Made-to-order omelets with home fries and toast:

Tempeh reubens on homemade spelt bread, topped with avocado, vegan French dressing, sauerkraut, pickles and tomato:

Challah French toast with fresh whipped cream, fruit compote and raspberry syrup:

A chickpea crepe with an Indian filling:

Homemade waffles with fresh whipped cream and fruit compote:

Crepes suzette, flambeed as each order came in:

And a vegan chocolate pudding with optional fresh whipped cream:

Though after handling the food all morning I wasn’t really in the mood to eat a full plate of it after service, I had small bites of nearly everything and especially liked the goat cheese salad, challah French toast and crepes suzette.

Funny enough, later in the afternoon we had a food & healing lecture where we discussed the significance of appetite on health. A good appetite indicates good health, and it’s kind of ironic that being at a health-food chooking school like NGI has put many of our appetites out of whack. I’ve been feeling kind of “off” a lot lately, and I definitely think it’s related to my erratic eating/snacking schedule these past few months. I only have a month left and I wouldn’t change my experience here for anything, but it’s definitely interesting that our time here has been somewhat of a case-study for what happens when you start messing with your body’s eating patterns.

And because people have asked and I know more will after this post: yup, I’ve gained a few pounds since being at NGI. (My stretchy-waist pants ain’t quite as stretchy as they used to be.) That said, I think a lot of my classmates have, and again, I wouldn’t trade my experience here for anything. It’s part of the experience, and I feel like it’ll come off pretty easily once I’m not snacking on plates of food all day…

What would you have ordered had you been at the brunch? We let each guest choose one salad, an entree and a dessert!

Tomorrow, my class will be putting on our first “real” cooking presentation for non-school-affiliated patrons: a brunch! It’s a pretty small-scale thing, with only family and friends invited, but nonetheless, we spent all day prepping for it.

On the menu: two salads (beet and spinach), several entree choices (French toast, omelets, chickpea crepes, waffles and a tempeh reuben), and two desserts (chocolate pudding and crepes suzettes).

In the morning, we divided all the tasks between ourselves and got to work. My first job was making the corn muffins to go in bread baskets on the table.

These are made with cornmeal and full of peppers, onions and garlic. I didn’t think I’d love them, but the one I sampled was the definition of comfort food- warm, carby and spicy!

Another classmate made blueberry muffins, so we have some sweet to go along with the savory:

In the afternoon, I helped make the traditional crepes for crepes suzette. The flipping technique took some getting used to, and there were definitely some flops, but eventually we got the hang of it and came out with twenty perfect circles.

Tomorrow we’ll be flambeeing them with Grand Marnier. I am excited.

In addition, I also made a fruit syrup by simmering four cups of maple syrup with four cups of frozen raspberries, then straining out the seeds. It’s such a simple recipe, but I think it’ll really jazz up the waffles it will top tomorrow!

I didn’t manage to take pictures of everything, but hashbrowns were also made:

As well as spelt bread for the tempeh reuben:

And more challah for the French toast. I’m almost as excited about that one as I am for the crepes suzette.

A demain!

What’s your favorite brunch food? Do you tend towards sweet or savory things when eating a late-morning meal?