Last Sunday, Whole Foods Market and Sur La Table were kind enough to invite me to a brunch boot camp they hosted. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, they provided us with some great tips, tricks, and recipes to create the perfect brunch that mom will surely love. Quick note, you can find all of the recipes we prepared at the end of this post. If you don’t have time to read this post but would like some great new recipes, just scroll down (you won’t hurt my feelings I promise).
This was my first time visiting the Sur La Table cooking class kitchen in Kirkland, and I must say, they have a pretty sweet set-up. There was plenty of room to spread out, and the cookware was beautiful, of course, since it consisted of items from their store. I told my lady friend Carina (of Dressed Up Dev), that when I can finally afford to ‘adult’ this will be my first stop!
After looking around the kitchen and setting my stuff down I high tailed it to the snack table where there was a generous spread to choose from.
I went with a light bite since we would be making a brunch dish during this Mother’s Day brunch boot camp and I wanted to make sure to save room.
Some highlights included: Bagels with spicy lox and salmon roe, shrimp salad on croissants, smoked salmon, and pastries.
The first thing we learned to prepare was a delicious Thai Basil Mango Spritzer. It contained mango puree, Thai basil, and sparkling wine. You can make your mango puree from scratch, or you can purchase the one they have at Whole Foods, which I believe is additive free. Chef Hayden used the pre-made, and it was quite tasty. 
After our spritzers were made, we had a chance to enjoy a few sips before we moved on to the cooking portion of this Mother’s Day brunch class.We learned how to make an Eggs Benedict with Bloody Mary Hollandaise. Basically, everything I love about brunch in one dish (insert blue Home Alone emoji). I also think a lot of moms out there would enjoy this recipe as well.
Something that Chef Hayden mentioned when cooking poached eggs is that he doesn’t use vinegar or the whirlpool method. He just places his eggs into an open stainless steel skillet filled with simmering water. He advised us that poaching the perfect egg is a bit of trial and error at first, but once you figure out the perfect temperature for your water, you do not need any tricks. Also, try using an open skillet versus a sauce pan.
Mmmm..that pickled green bean; I have been thinking about it for days!
- Make sure you cut the stems of your flowers before you put them in your vase. The stems seal-up after they are cut, so they cannot absorb water if you place them in a vase straight from the florist.
- If you purchase hydrangeas cut the stems in a criss-cross manner at the bottom to help improve water absorption.
- You can easily add a touch of uniqueness to a bouquet by adding a succulent. Simply tape a rose stem (sans rose) to the bottom of your succulent and that will feed your succulent the adequate amount of water until it is planted.
- Finally, my most favorite tip is, purchase the inexpensive bouquet at the market, then add single stems to it to give it a more personalized vibe. This will create a custom bouquet on the cheap.
We were then able to put these tips to the test and make our table settings. 
And without further ado, below are the recipes that you can easily print. Just right click, select view image in new window (or tab) and hit print!
I hope you all have a lovely time in the kitchen making these delicious recipes.
Cheers,
Sonya
Neighborhood: Kirkland
1 comment
I've been cooking peppers and onions in the skillet on the grill a lot lately. I'll have to add jalapenos next time. Yum. I like cooking bacon that way too, although hot fat + open flame adds a nice element of danger. I used to get flank steak, but my husband got me to try the carne asada cut from our local market, and I prefer it. Not sure if it's thin-cut flank or skirt (I'll have to ask), but it looks like this