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Flint Roman Chaney arrived a little early on 1/18/2020. He was scheduled to arrive on 1/20/2020. That would have been a cool birth date to have.  Such a clever set of numbers but, alas, he had other things in mind. He wanted to start partying early.

Speaking of parties, we had one in honor of his parents Jen (our Operations Manager), and her husband Flint (the handsome professional photographer). It was a baby shower with a gift emphasis of diapers. Now, there’s a theme. Can’t get enough.

It was an afternoon couple’s shower on a Sunday. Brunch. We held it in the complex party room.

I thought I’d share the menu and mention why I made each item.

First up:

Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Cheese Brunch Casserole

This is low carb all the way. It’s easy to make. I mean EASY. It serves about 12 on a brunch buffet. I made two of these because I was serving 35 for brunch. I am including the recipe for this dish with the column.

Cheesy Hash Browns

Now, I would not normally serve potatoes. The good news about these is they are made with tons of sour cream and butter and covered in cheese. Not really low carb but the cheese, sour cream and butter all work to keep the glycemic uptake down. That way your blood sugar doesn’t surge because of the potatoes.

Alaskan Smoked Salmon with Horseradish Sauce and Mini Bagels

My husband recently gave a speech in Alaska. As a speaker thank you gift, they gave him a whole smoked salmon. We’d been saving it for a special occasion. I thought this was a perfect way to serve such a special brunch item. I served it with teeny bagels to keep the tradition of bagels and salmon but keep down the carbs. Worked perfectly. I had lost of bagels left over.

Fireside Shrimp Dip

This is always a big hit. Easy to make. Low carb and it even tastes better after it sits for a few hours or overnight (store in refrigerator). I am including this recipe too (link). Serve with celery sticks for the ultimate low carb experience or splurge and have a few crackers.

Cream Cheese and Chutney Dip

This is not exactly low carb, but it’s super easy to make and it gives a bit of exotic flair to a regular buffet. We don’t even have to have a link to this recipe. All you need is a block of cream cheese on a serving platter. Cover it with a blob of mango chutney (From the jar. Find it in the Indian section) and then top it with cocktail peanuts. I serve it with small Wheat Thins because the cracker can actually act as the dipper. My secret to this is to make it an hour or two ahead so the cream cheese loosens up and gets closer to room temperature.

Sweet and Spicy Mustard Meatballs

This recipe came to me from my husband’s nephew. He’s making fancy mustards in his kitchen and selling them on-line! Price’s Macho Mustard it’s called. We were given two big jars of mustard for a Christmas gift. I thought… How can I use this? And voila… he provided a recipe. I made them in a cast iron Dutch oven. They stayed hot on the buffet and looked cool because of the pan they were in.

Nuts and Caramel Corn

Everyone loves caramel corn, but that stuff is designed (inadvertently) to make you ill. Too much sugar. My secret is to take twice as many mixed nuts than caramel corn and put them in a trifle bowl on the brunch buffet. They look beautiful in the bowl but with each handful you take, you get lots of nuts and very little caramel corn. Satisfy the sweet tooth and keep your waistline intact.

Lemon Bars

This was a new recipe. I found a Keto Lemon Bar recipe on -ine and played with it a bit to make a yummy lemon dessert. Display secret is I made them in a parchment lined tart pan instead of a 9 X 13” baking pan. That way I could slice them into little wedges, and they look prettier than squares.

Big YUM and only 4 grams of carbs per bar.

The party took some work but what Jen did took a lot more work! I am forever telling her what a great job she did at work. Flint Roman might be her biggest achievement yet. Way to Go Jen and Flint!

Cheers,

Enjoy

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, MUSHROOM AND CHEESE BRUNCH CASSEROLE

As far as brunch casseroles go, this one is very easy to make and pleases the crowd. It can be made ahead and heated the day of the party.