Sunday brunch

It was a dreary Sunday morning, cold and drizzling. I woke before 7am and came downstairs to start prepping for brunch. I've invited Lisa and Cecilia to come over at 10am. Lisa works with Jose, and she's extremely nice and likable. We just discovered Cecilia, another IDer/IITer in Portland, about two weeks ago. She has an infectious laughter.

For brunch, I had three things on the menu: chard/gruyere strata, cinnamon rolls and home fries. I had started on the first two the night before. All I needed to do this morning for the cinnamon rolls was to roll them out and let them rise for another hour or so. For home fries, I wanted to do a mix of potatoes and sweet potatoes. The strata looks fabulous this morning. All the ingredients have been soaking in the egg/milk/cream mixture overnight. All I had to do is top with more cheese and pop it in the oven for an hour.

Home fries with potatoes, sweet potatoes and green peppers

For recipes of chard/gruyere strata and cinnamon rolls, you can find them on Serious Eats blog. I substituted rainbow chard for spinach in the strata.

After raising in a warm oven for an hour, the cinnamon rolls looked so adorable.

Luckily both the strata and the cinnamon rolls would bake at 325 degree. So half way through baking the strata, I threw in the cinnamon rolls. They'd be finished at the same time.
Even though I specifically asked Lisa not to bring anything, she brought over treats from her favorite French-y bakery from her neighborhood. Cecilia also brought her home-made bread pudding and strawberry salad. We ended up with enough food to feed an army of ten.

Baked goods from St. Honore Boulangerie

Cecilia's two-in-one bread pudding

The strata was very tender and so were the cinnamon rolls.

The strata's got a nice crust and a warm and gooey center

With pots of freshly pressed coffee, we sat by the table and devoured all the yummy food, determined not to let the dreary weather get to us.
It's gotta be one of my favorite things to do, Sunday brunch at home with wonderful friends.