Each year for women’s history month I am reminded of the gift of having sisters to celebrate life with and the brunch canceled by a pandemic.
We women form the most beautiful Sisterhoods throughout our lives, they become the strength and backbone to see us through all that life places at our feet.
A sister doesn’t have to be one from birth. A sister is acquired or a sisterhood is formed when our inner being has a need to share bits and pieces of our journey, at various times or all the times, in our life.
Sister Time Interrupted By A Pandemic
The strain this pandemic has had on our close relationships has sought to uproot, disturb and even destroy so many aspects of life as we once knew it. As we knew it? Like… just last year! I like many, felt as though a huge wave threw me undertow, and washed me to shore, lying there, discombobulated and feeling alone.
With a chill in the air and the holiday season fast approaching, the opportunity of sharing times with our Bestie, is going to be different this year. It’s time to call for backup! We are going to need our sisterhood more now than ever! We women are resilient, resourceful and incredibly creative. We always manage to find another way to get what we are after. Don’t we?
2020 is not going to rob us of the valuable time we love to share… now need to share, with friends and family. Throughout this year, numerous creative ideas have been passed around for the occasions (both happy and sad), that a normal year unfolds before us. Celebrating our ‘girl-time’ need not be any different. We need our sisters to brainstorm with, swap creative ideas, create something new, as women often do so well. What better way to ignite these new inventive ideas, than over brunch!
Brunch With My Sisters
Brunch With My Sisters is all about just that.
- Brunch is a time of day that denotes light-fare, when it comes to food, between the cracks of the norm, as it applies to the normal meal gathering times.
- A time to gather when we are not feeding our husbands or children but rather feeding our soul.
- Brunch, is often reserved for the weekends of normal life, but since nothing this year has been normal, we are going to indulge in brunch everyday, if only through these digital pages of inspiration I intend to bring to you, and encourage you to share with your Besties.
What happens over brunch?
What do women chat about most, over an indulgent mid-morning cocktail and a light meal? Shhhhh, those have always been our secrets, right? But truth be known, we talk about everything! Health and beauty secrets are swapped, job dilemmas are tackled, home decorating challenges made fun, intimate nuances of our private lives, and for sure we stir up child rearing issues.
And once we’ve laughed sufficiently, cried more than we thought we would, we exchange our newest and greatest recipes for our busy lives and the unfolding seasons before us.
Do we need this girl-time to meet the challenges of Autumn and winter Holiday Seasons? You know we do! Join me in Brunch With My Sisters as a unique and very beautiful member of my sisterhood. Let’s find our way around the pandemic elephant in the room so that nothing can break our bond and sisterhood.
How will we do this?
I will be sharing periodic mini cookbooks with recipes I have not yet shared anywhere, all based on the light-fare and dining uniqueness of brunch. My intention in doing this is to inspire you to invite your Bestie over for a social distance brunch, having prepared the menu and recipes I too will be making this Autumn.
The recipes will be easy. You can share the recipes in which each of you can make and bring. If your Bestie lives at a distance, or is not comfortable to get together just yet, you both can set aside a FaceTime virtual brunch date, each of you make the recipes in your own homes, and sit lingeringly together over the same brunch (in different locations), and enjoy the delicious meal and quality time together.
What might I ask of you?
These periodicals are my gift to you and your sisterhood, so keep me inspired in two ways: share my mini-cookbook with your friends so they too can join in on the fun AND share a photo or a brief story of your gathering with me, so I know I have inspired you in some way!
Autumn Brunch Menu
- Shakshuka: Poached eggs in a Mediterranean sauce of tomatoes, caramelized onions and peppers with is hint of garden picked chili peppers.
- Autumn Pear Salad: with roasted golden beets, pistachios, gorgonzola and moon grapes on a bed of greens.
- Maple Pumpkin Quick Bread: with a drizzle of brown butter and Vermont maple syrup.
- Bourbon Chai Tea Latte Cocktail: A hot brew of chai tea, sugar and cream, laced with bourbon, just before serving.
- Pistachio and Ouzo Cookies: Ground pistachios and a splash of Ouzo in a buttery cookie dusted in confection sugar and pistachio powder.
The women in my life
I started my journey in life with three diverse and witty little sisters. While my sisters and I have been close throughout our lives, we have often been too busy to have quality time together in our adult lives.
In recent years we began having a Sister’s Weekend getaway, one or two times a year. Sometimes we would send a hubby away so all four of us could have a house for an entire weekend, while other times we would rent a house somewhere away, and just get all ‘girlie’ for the weekend.
Women’s history is being created each day
How do we make memories together? We each would cook and bring lots of favorite dishes to share, favorite teas, coffee or drink. Some days we would just take long walks together, or on a really decadent occasion we would visit a spa.
There was always shopping, of course, even if it was just window shopping in a quaint town, or perhaps a great ‘find’ was purchased to take home. But, the most important thing we did during these sister times, was talk, laugh and solve problems. It’s what we women do best!
A circle of little women
Each of us would talk about the loving relationships we have formed with a girlfriend, a sister-kind-of friend who we bond with in a variety of ways. We each, not living near to the other, knew the importance of creating a sisterhood of our own to replicate, in various ways, what we four very lucky sisters have known all our lives; a kind of circle of Little Women.
What a challenging year…
2020 has been a challenging year for us all, in numerous ways, and not having sister-time this year is what nudged me to try to create a small replica of what my sisters and I have created over the years together.
In fact, I plan to have each of my sisters set aside a ‘date for brunch’, in which we each make this menu, and virtually gather and enjoy exactly what I hope to inspire you to enjoy as well; laughter, discussions about important issues, latest 2020 DIY beauty tips, and relish in bonding time over this great brunch!
If this sounds whimsical, fun and inspiring to you, then let’s get started! These recipes are easy to make and I will provide a shopping list of what you will need. If booze is not your thing, just leave it out because the Chai Tea Latte is plenty delicious on its own, plus (shhhhh), the other’s will talk more if they drink and you don’t! Hehehehe.
I recommend making two of the dishes ahead of time, a day or two, so the only thing to prepare, is the eggs and the cocktail when brunch time arrives. Let’s make the Maple Pumpkin Bread and Cookies first.
Women’s History Is Ever Changing
Having written the story in the middle of the pandemic, reflecting on it once again several years later, I ponder how much has changed.
While I can’t yet put my finger on it, something has changed in the world around us since the stillness of 2020. How has it changed for you? Have we become more determined to pack more into our days, now that we seem to have them back? Did we become comfortable with time standing still and haven’t yet sped up our clock?
One thing became more certain for me and that was the importance of hearing the voice of each of my loved ones each day, if only for a brief hello. Let’s never lose that, no matter what the world throws at us. xo
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.