A Good Friday Brunch

Years and years and years ago, before Drew and I bred three children, we had good friends who were married with three young daughters.  As we lived nearby, we spent lots of time with them, mostly in their home because they were such great hosts.  In the kitchen they were the ‘Dream Team’.

Easter chicks

Easter chicks

Then Archie was born and we moved away from the area and their lives became very busy with their daughters who were now teenagers, and with all of that and a couple of house moves between us, we sadly lost touch.

Easter bunnies

Easter bunnies

Springing forward a couple of decades, we are now living in the same suburb and recently bumped into Jen at the local beach.  It was so lovely to see her again and hear that her daughters are all grown up, successful in their careers and that Jen is a grandmother of three.

Easter eggs

Easter eggs

Last week Jen invited us to her home, which is walking distance from where we live, for a Good Friday Brunch.  I couldn’t wait.

Toasted bread

Toasted sour dough bread

Jen is not a low-coper.  She can juggle many things at one time so when we walked into her kitchen she was just back from a swim at the beach and it was no surprise to see that in the kitchen she was making hot cross buns, a ricotta tart, corn fritters, a marmalade syrup and blanching asparagus all at the one time while looking like that’s completely normal and everyone can do it.

Ricotta tart

Ricotta tart

Also in the kitchen are two dogs who are just gorgeous and one has a toy that he carries around in his mouth and takes everywhere with him.  Both are rescue dogs and after a poor start in life it’s lovely to see them being so loved and adored.

Two lovely friends

Two lovely friends and that toy

All the produce Jen buys is organic, including the artisan bread and she has it delivered to her door weekly.  All the dishes were made from what had just been delivered and once everything was ready the food was put in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves.

Steamed asparagus

Steamed asparagus

We started the brunch with corn fritters served with smoked salmon and steamed asparagus.  I do love corn fritters for breakfast.  Drew was keen on the smoked salmon but I adored the vibrantly green asparagus.

Corn fritters

Corn fritters

Smoked salmon

Smoked salmon

Then we had the mushroom, tomato and ricotta tart that was pulled from the oven and brought straight to the table.  With the tart I had the sour dough topped with Persian feta.  The feta was very mild and creamy.

Persian feta

Persian feta

I didn’t need anything else but I hd to try Jen’s hot cross buns.  As soon as they came out of the oven she poured over the marmalade syrup.  The buns couldn’t have been more fresh and with the bitter/sweet syrup and a slather of organic butter, they were a true taste of Easter.

Hot cross buns with marmalade syrup

Hot cross buns with marmalade syrup

We stayed for quite a while, catching up and talking, with Jen refusing to let me help with the kitchen clean up and insisting we keep eating.  So we did.  The organic strawberries were wonderful; very sweet with a lot of juice.  So different to commercially grown strawberries that are mostly dry and flavourless.

Organic strawberries

Organic strawberries

It was a very lengthy but relaxed brunch where we talked about careers and children and siblings and grandchildren and Sydney’s biggest obsession, real estate.

Homemade pastry

Homemade pastry

Now that we’re back in contact I’ll have to invite Jen over for dinner but I doubt I’ll be juggling as many dishes at once.

Easter chicks

Easter chicks

Happy Easter!

 

Comments

  1. It’s very gratifying that you were able to reconnect and still have such a good experience being with each other. Such a wonderful menu … I’d be intimidated to invite such a good cook back to my place but knowing your own cooking and life juggling talents, you’ll
    pull it off wonderfully.

  2. Isn’t it great how you can catch up with good friends like no time has passed at all! What a lovely good Friday! Liz xx

  3. How lovely that you’re back in touch again and live so close to each other. The food looks amazing x

  4. It’s great to catch up with old friends, and find as you obviously did – the more things change the more they stay the same:)

  5. What a lovely thing, to catch up with friends from the past. I bet it was almost as if all those years in between vanished.

    The food looks and sounds delicious.

    Those glittery Easter chicks and those green bunnies are just lovely. I’ve never seen anything like them.

    I hope your Easter was a blessed and joyous day!

  6. Isn’t it wonderful when you meet someone that you haven’t seen in years, and you pick up like it was only yesterday? Having a sumptuous meal like this helps! Your friend sounds amazing calm, collected and competent in the kitchen!

  7. YUM! I wish I were invited to your feast! But perhaps you are lucky because that lox would be GONE in a matter of MINUTES!

  8. Wow, now that’s I call a Good Friday feast! Belated happy Easter wishes xox

  9. That’s wonderful, I love that you were able to pick up like you’d never stopped talking. That’s the best! 🙂 Big fan of those sparkly chicks, and all that wonderful spread of food. Perfect way to spend a Good Friday. Hope you’ve enjoyed the rest of your weekend. 🙂 xx

  10. How wonderful to reconnect with old friends and what an amazing spread. I’ve never had corn fritters, I’ll have to google them they look so good. GG

  11. how lovely to meet up again with an old friend and fall together as friends just like before. nice looking lunch too.

  12. I have to laugh. Who do we all know who juggles more than you do? You might be able to do all those dishes at once if you didn’t have to take someone to swimming, drop someone else off at a friend’s house, take the dog to the vet, bring something down to Drew’s office or do social media for your blog. I’ve known days when you’ve done all of that and produced a top meal. 🙂

  13. Love those Easter chicks and Easter bunnies. Quite a brunch, and to reconnect after all those years how wonderful.

  14. How wonderful to rekindle an old friendship! I love the sound of those hot cross buns. Surely there’s still time to match another match even though Easter is over? 🙂

  15. How cute are those Easter bunnies! Looks like you had a lovely Easter – it’s always wonderful when friendships can pick up where they left off, regardless of time and distance.

  16. Can I come to your house, please?!!!!
    L o v e l y! xx

  17. How great to reconnect with old friends. Sounds like a wonderful brunch. The tart looks especially yummy.

  18. Looks like you guys had such a fantastic brunch! The Easter chicks look sooooo adorable.

  19. How lovely to reconnect! And in such a beautiful way!

  20. Everything looks lovely and such a nice opportunity to catch up with friends! I’m certain your meal will be just as scrumptious!

  21. What a wonderful meal to reconnect over! Simply delightful!

  22. You retell a story so lovingly….I felt like I was meeting your friend too. You sure had a Happy Easter 🙂

  23. Somehow, your photography makes every single dish look spectacular and mouthwatering. Yum. Not one thing there I wouldn’t love to eat, especially the berries and the feta.

  24. Friends and friendships are priceless to me Charlie!
    Loved the hot cross buns with marmalade! YUM!
    It is always good to stay connected as life is simply too short!
    Is there nothing better than salmon and feta? Glad you enjoyed!

  25. What fun that you reconnected! And such and such a seemingly effortless feast! Everything looked heavenly. Hope you all had a terrific Easter!!! xo

  26. How lovely to catch up with old friends. I do envy such masterful cooks who seem unflustered in the kitchen. Those buns and that tart look the best! Happy Easter

  27. What a thrill to catch up with an old friend & to have such a fun brunch. Those Easter buns look so fluffy. I’d be going for the corn fritters and asparagus.

  28. How amazing to have just run into one another at the beach after such a lengthy separation! Lovely reunion! I’d say that Jen is an amazing multi-tasker in the kitchen and runs circles around me. I wouldn’t be able to juggle that much and still be very hospitable. The meal itself was undoubtedly wonderful, but the lengthy visit was really delightful to hear about. I do hope you had a lovely Easter, Charlie. ox

  29. How fun to reconnect with old friends, and over such delicious food!

  30. I’m glad to read that you could reconnect with your old friend. These are always great moments. And a Friday brunch of this style is just perfect for such a celebration. Thanks for sharing.

  31. It’s wonderful finding lost friends again isn’t it, especially over beautiful food.
    Hope you’ve had a lovely long weekend Charlie.

  32. Wow Charlie, so nice finding that you could find your lost friends…and she is sure very talented…thank you so sharing such a nice story…
    Have a great week 🙂

  33. Isn’t it lovely when you reconnect with friends that you haven’t seen in such a long time … so special! I hope you and your family had a lovely Easter, Charlie x

  34. How wonderful to be reunited with your friends and what a spread your were presented with for brunch!
    Have a wonderful day Charlie.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  35. Sounds like you had a great time! The food looks superb — and I sure can’t juggle that many dishes at once! So nice to catchup with old friends, isn’t it? Really nice read — thanks.

  36. How lovely to catch up again after so long. They sound like great friends, and Jen is clearly one of those domestic goddesses who makes it look easy and is a nice person at the same time!

  37. How lovely to reconnect after all this time Charlie. Your friend sounds like a real domestic goddess indeed, that feast is amazing! No pressure when you reciprocate, I’m sure it’ll all be ok….. Xo

  38. how lovely to catch up again and what a brilliant brunch

  39. Life is grrrreat sometimes…And your experience reminds me that Easter miracles happen all the time. Although I confess the aforementioned calm juggling in the kitchen would truly be a miracle for yours truly. Jen’s menu does look divine and I hope she shares the recipes – especially all of them – with her friend, Charlie…for her blog readers =)

  40. Well, I think of you as Jen, so I can imagine she’s a super multi-tasker! How wonderful that you ran into her (it’s meant for you to be in touch again!). Life gets busy and it’s too bad you lost in touch for some years, but now you two are in the same neighborhood! I’m sure you two will be close friends again. I’d be stressed out about lunch from previous night and I won’t be able to even go out for a swim. She sounds like an amazing lady! 🙂

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