Sunday Brunch

Tomorrow is Sunday and that's brunch day here at our house. I'll get up and listen to a little gospel music while I putter around the kitchen, make some soup for the week and mop the floors.

Around eleven, I'll clear out and let my husband take over. He's in charge of the brunch festivities. Tomorrow's menu is waffles, sausages, fruit and juice.



As good as our brunches are, we both miss Zacchary's, a restaurant on Front Street in Santa Cruz that used to be our favorite Sunday brunch destination when we lived in California. Tonight we were talking about how we can re-create the experience we used to have at Zacchary's here in Terrace.

First we analyzed the elements of the experience:

1. The food - yummy, fattening, awesome brunch fare: pancakes, waffles, french toast, fried potatoes, eggs, and so on. We could do that.

2. The atmosphere - warm, inviting, comfy, casual, wood, cushions, tables scattered around. We could do that, too.

3. The company - happy, interested, intellectual, upbeat customers chatting and laughing while they wait for the food. Hmmmm....could we???? Sure - we could round up some friends who fit the bill.

4. The little flourishes - pitchers of syrup, newspapers and magazines laying around, music in the background. Heck, I think we could even handle that.

Here's what I proposed: Let's invite a mess of people over to brunch one Sunday. We can set up tables around, get a few papers and leave out our magazines, put on some good music, do all the cooking. Instead of asking people to bring potluck dishes or (worse) pay for such a meal, let's ask them to donate items towards the following week - flour, maple syrup, blocks of butter, eggs, etc. Repeat the experience five or six times over the course of the summer, setting out tables in the yard, etc., as the temperatures rise and the gardens bloom....and call it good!

The kids would be in heaven. Heck, I'd be in heaven. Doesn't that sound like fun?