Quiche or a frittata comes to mind right off the bat. You could do a savory bread pudding -- all somewhat similar ideas. Side of fruit or a green salad. Neater than eating a sandwich or wrap if you do need to handle papers or take notes. A sandwich or wrap could work as long as you are careful not to have anything drippy or that could fall apart. You can't hear me but I am LOL remembering the pita recipe I tested -- they absolutely fell apart when filled. Those would not work.

I immediately thought of quiche. It was made for an occasion like this! I would do quiche, ratatouille and one of those kale salads with nuts and berries, pre-dressed. Coffee or tea and cookies for dessert. I'm lazy so I'd put out a Pepperidge Farm assortment or biscotti. Or I'd buy or make some kind of bundt cake or loaf cake. But cookies would be my preferred dessert.

How about a make-ahead strata served with a bowl of fresh fruit (or skewered fruit), an assortment of croissants, bagels, muffins, etc. I'd serve fresh oj, hot coffee and tea, and if you want to add a libation, mimosa's with a strawberry.

The only thing I would eat at your lunch would be the salad and walnuts!

Don't like mushrooms, apricots, prunes or blue cheese ... no berries, except strawberries ... and I'm not a picky eater! lol

lol, chispa! My mom also says she is not a picky eater but she is the sole shopper and cook so she only buys and prepares things that she likes. You should hear her special requests when we go out to eat :)

I know these people pretty well and they are all fellow foodies without many dislikes I can recall. That is why I would never just pick up prepared stuff, even gourmet. Chispa, when you come back this way and come over to dinner, I will do what I did with AnnieD. I googled her menu suggestions and made the the very same spread she had recommended to others. LOL

Funny, Mtn.. no wonder you don't like quiche anymore! You have removed all that's good and holy! LOL

I love the idea of a savory bread pudding-- I 've never had one! Is there a sauce of some sort or is the custard the moisture?

Well, Funky, it was a slippery slope of good intentions. My last round of quiche were mini quiche that were almost pure green and no crust and well, awful-ly good for you. They ended up going literally to the dog(s).

This is the recipe I will use:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12280-savory-bread-pudding-with-kale-and-mushrooms

I would bring a card table into the living room and set a table. Since it's brunch, I would do a quiche or frittata, fruit/fruit salad, a bread (muffin, English muffin toasted, if you bake small cinnamon rolls are always popular). Quiche can be of your choice although I really like the traditional bacon and cheese. I'm not a fan of eating anything off a plate with a fork and not have a table to sit at (exception may be dessert) thus I'd do the card table.

I make that kind of bread pudding all the time, whenever I get an overage of bread.

As is turns out there are now five coming. So I will host it in the breakfast room after all. If i had known that, Id have made soup. Oh well, i like the menu anyway!

I can't view that recipe without creating an account!

1. Bring a medium or large pot of water to a boil, salt generously and add the kale. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until tender but still colorful. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, then drain and squeeze out excess water. Chop coarsely and set aside.
2. If using garlic, cut one of the garlic cloves in half and rub the slices of bread with the cut side. Then mince all of the garlic. Cut the bread into 1-inch squares.
3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy, wide skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until they begin to soften, and add the thyme, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for another minute or two, until the mushrooms are tender and fragrant. Stir in the kale, toss together and remove from the heat.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter a 2-quart baking dish, soufflé dish or gratin. In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, the mushrooms and kale, and the two cheeses and toss together. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
5. Beat together the eggs and milk. Add salt to taste and a few twists of the pepper mill, and pour over the bread mixture. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before baking so that the bread can absorb some of the liquid.
6. Place in the oven and bake 40 to 50 minutes, until puffed and browned. Remove from the oven and serve hot or warm.

That looks and sound delicious! What is the texture of the bread in a bread pudding?

That sounds fabulous!

Have you had sweet bread pudding? In my Opinion the whole thing becomes something similar to dressing or stuffing a little may be a little kind of like a French toast casserole? Sometimes the top of the casserole is a little crunchy. I’ll let you know how it turns out…

Yum. I love the texture of stuffing as long as it is fluffy and not too moist.

I really like your menu. Hope it all goes well.

Okay, here's my .02.

I used whole milk and a 1/2 tsp of mustard, and chard instead of kale. I liked it but felt it was a bit blah. It might have needed more salt (what in the world does "salt to taste" mean when you are preparing something with raw eggs?). I would make it again but add a second, stronger mushroom, and more cheese. I will also note mine was overdone at 40 min. I would check it at 30.

• I was thinking it could use more mushrooms. Did you use regular button ones? We have gone to using the cremini (brown, baby bellas -- whatever they want to call them this week) for most things. They have more and better flavor. I probably would have been fine with less salt. especially if you added more cheese (that would add more salt) -- and I rarely say don't add more cheese. Even thought you would tweak it, I'm sure it was enjoyed. Hope you had a productive meeting.

We are eating more kale so I looked this recipe up and read the reviews/suggestions. I intend to try this. ("These dishes, known also as strata, can be rich, but they are just as satisfying when made with low-fat milk") savory bread pudding/strata

To me the beauty of a strata is the ability to assemble it ahead ("Advance preparation: This can be assembled through Step 4 hours before beating together the eggs and milk and completing the casserole.)

I chose the recipe above because it had 5 stars and 260 reviews IIRC. If you look in the comments, like always, people change the recipes a lot! One women said how good it was, but she had added a bunch of stuff to it, and THEN topped it with gravy! LOL

But to me it was blah. Last year i made my first ever strata based on this recipe from Anglophile, below.

Yes it is a lot richer but it was much, much better. I think next time I would use Anglophile's as a start and add mushroom and kale. Maybe sub milk for half of the dairy or somesuch. But Anglophile's recipe was delicious!

This thread has me thinking about quiche, and just in case anyone is interested in an excellent quiche recipe, here is Fine Cooking's Leek and Bacon Tart recipe. I used my regular pie crust, not their tart recipe (seemed like a lot of work and I like my T&T crust), and it was spectacular. Served it with a spinach salad with red onion, oranges, spiced pepitas and maple balsamic dressing. Oh, and it was equally good as breakfast the next day.

http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/leek-tart-with-bacon-gruyere

I like that bread pudding! So nice to see one without raisins!!!!

Love quiche, especially crustless, but I do have to pile in loads of cheese and such... bacon and so forth.

After having so abused quiche recipes, I made a delish one for company last year, and I have to say, it was the best quiche I've ever had, and the nicest to serve (you use a springform pan)

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/over-the-top-mushroom-quiche

Since that strata is on my rotation, I would definitely recommend using cremini or shitake mushrooms and perhaps some pumpernickel or rye or at least whole wheat bread or some kind of good artisan bread. The white mushrooms would be too bland. You can add ham or bacon for more flavor. I'm a vegetarian, so I would use smoked gouda for that kind of taste.

Pink, by "that strata" do you mean the NYT one? It's funny I was going to use more intense mushrooms and different cheeses, but it got so many good reviews I thought I should at least try it as is. Lesson learned. I agree, smoked gouda is great in quiche.

Milk, bread, cheese . . . to me that's all good. I just tend to make strata a lot, like the NYT one but I often improvise and add some kind of chopped sauteed vegetable to use up what I have on hand. I try not to use too much cheese so I often sub a sharper cheese in a recipe or a smoked cheese, so as to use less, making it more of a flavoring. But I often fail at using less . . .

Mtn, did you use the paper bag in the bottom of the pan that is called for in anglo’s strata? I’ve wanted to try the recipe, too.