Our old friend Owen lives in Germany now, so we don't see him very often. He was visiting the US this week on family business with his daughter Sarah and a lady friend, Brigitte. Our opportunity to see them was a Sunday brunch. Because Brigitte doesn't get fresh seafood very often and seldom sees New England fare, I set up a little highlights of New England brunch:
- We started with scones and Rhode Island johnnycakes, with New Hampshire maple syrup, wild Maine blueberry preserves, and local cranberry preserves, plus some traditional lemon curd and Double devon clotted cream from Mrs Bridge's Pantry in Woodstock, Connecticut.
- On another plate we had some Grafton Village Special Reserve Cheddar, from Vermont.
- Then we had scrambled eggs with chives and sage from the garden (still good thanks to this bizarrely warm December!) and my celebrated lobster salad with fresh-from-the-harbor lobsters from Wood's Seafoods, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- We finished up with a Christmas Pudding and Hard Sauce to make the brunch extra-festive.
- So we represented all six New England states in one brunch! Use the comments section below to relate similar meal that you have prepared.
- You eat with your eyes before you eat with your mouth, so I wanted to set a pretty table: we used antique Candlewick clear glass plates and serving dishes to catch the colors of the preserves, Fiestaware plates underneath the Candlewick plates so the latter could be cleared away when the scones were done and we moved on to eggs and lobster. The lobster salad, Vermont cheddar, and Christmas Pudding were served on colorful Sydenstricker glass plates from Cape Cod.