creative, comforting break-fast ideas
a "broth bar" for your hungry guests (plus printable signage). bialys, all dressed up. and a cereal-topped dessert kugel.
"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”- Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”
The first time my dad ever met my grandmother—my mom’s mom—she looked him up and down, then square in the eye, before asking in her thick Hungarian accent: “Vat are your een-tentions veez my daughter?” He didn’t miss a beat: “I’m going to marry her.”
I should add that this was at the end of their very first date. Earlier, my dad had asked my mom, “What would you like to do?” And my mom had said, “I don’t know—can we go visit my mother in Philadelphia?” And off they went on a spontaneous road trip from New York.
This story has done two things: 1) absolutely ruined me for nearly every romantic relationship since, and 2) offered us a wonderful segue into today’s newsletter. Not because I’m about to propose to you (though that’s never off the table). But because I plan to outline my intentions right up front.
They are as follows: To convince you that you simply must host a break fast this year.
I know. You can’t. You just can’t. You’ve got a million things going on already. Yom Kippur is in just 6 days (at the time of my writing this, anyway). Kol Nidre’s in 5. You’re tired. Worn down. Lightheaded just thinking about it.
But bear with me. I think I can win you over. Because—break fast is, hands down, the single best thing to host. Out of every holiday, every occasion, every life milestone. It’s a hostess’ dream, I tell you.
Why? Well, allow me now make a series of sweeping generalizations about break fasts to prove my point.
Your guests will all be in a very bad mood when they arrive. But that’s excellent news! Think about it: The bar has never been lower. No dazzling small talk is expected of you (honestly, they might prefer it if you don’t talk at all). No pressure whatsoever to make this sad lot leave happy. Your only job is to send them out the door with full bellies. Or, at the very least, “no longer starving.”
I know you can pull off “no longer starving.”The food at a break fast can be served cold—or room temperature, anyway. Straight from the fridge or the bagel delivery guy’s hands. In fact, you could argue that the holiday’s premise necessitates this room temperature-ing of the food. Nobody expects you to toil away over a hot stove, dizzy from your fast.
Break fasts are typically presented as a buffet. Therefore, no place settings are required. Therefore, no knowledge of place settings is required. You don’t need to remember whether the forks go to the left or the right of the knife. Heck, there’s a good chance you won’t even need to use forks.
There’s no need to curate a playlist. Everyone already has a splitting headache. In this delicate post-fast state, silence is your friend. Just let the soft hum of contented chewing and the occasional sigh of relief fill the room.
On that note, there’s no need for décor, either. Décor would only obstruct the path to food. And the food path must remain unobstructed.
There are few things that are easier to prepare for a crowd than bagels. (See: the whole room temp situation.) (Though I will say that this is a specifically American Ashkenazic thing. My Brazilian husband likes to remind me that back home in Rio, bagels aren’t a break fast staple. In fact, his aunt cooks up an elaborate dinnertime feast every year. “What exactly does she serve, then?” I’ve asked, baffled. To which he has replied, “What do you even mean? Regular food.” But, well, that’s just crazy talk. Sorry, Tia Dania.)
So. Have I convinced you to send out those last-minute invitations? If not, I am afraid nothing will persuade you, you curmudgeon, you. If yes—yay. Let’s scroll together toward some more inspiration.
Ease into eating with a break fast “broth bar.”
Now, I know what you're thinking. “Girl. Where are the bagels?” Especially after the disrespect I just showed to poor Tia Dania.
Don't worry. The bagels are coming! And that's exactly what you're going to have to tell any visibly panicked guests. Because, see, a broth bar is more of an “entryway appetizer” situation, which will greet each starved soul before they get to the carbs. At a break fast, the usual suspects—dense, buttery, cream-cheese-y—sometimes leave you feeling a little worse than you did when you walked in. Those things are necessary, to be sure. A broth bar just helps to ease your guests into it all.
I first had this idea when I came across these kosher sipping broth tea bags. Sort of like savory tea. Just brilliant. Actually, the words “broth bar” came to me first—catchy, no?—but I was left scratching my head over how to actually serve and keep the stuff warm without hauling out hot plates and multiple gigantic, unwieldy pots. Then, after a quick Google search for “does soup tea exist,” I discovered that—whaddya know? It does indeed.
Naturally, that led to the next logical step: designing tiny, savory tea bag labels. It was the only way. And from there, it all came together quickly—I added a hot water kettle, some fun toppings, and cups with sippable lids.
You can make this whole thing ahead of time and just plug in the kettle. Or you could eschew the broth entirely (particularly if you’re not able to get your hands on these tea bags), and instead opt for a simple hot water station with lemon and other aromatics.
I’ll outline ideas for both methods below.
First, assemble your supplies. (There’s a lot going on here, so just pay attention to the bolded italics if you’re compiling a shopping list. Links provided where possible!)
I used kraft paper as a “backdrop” here—with so many things to label, I figured it’d be easiest if I could just take a Sharpie straight to the surface and go to town. I added a hot water kettle (my corded kettle worked perfectly here because I was setting everything up on my kitchen counter and had an outlet nearby; if you don’t have an outlet naerby, there are plenty of cordless electric kettles out there). Next up—disposable cups with lids (bowls and lid-less cups work, of course, but I chose these for prime sippage). And disposable cup sleeves, just for fun, which I decorated with alphabet stamps and ink to read “5785.” There were also small glass bowls into which I decanted the star of the show: the sipping broth tea bags. (There are other sipping broths on the market, but I liked that these come in a variety pack of different “flavors,” ship quickly, constitute a small business, and, to my knowledge, are certified kosher by KSA.) (We keep kosher-style over here, but I figured that’d be helpful for many of you.) Next, small plastic bowls served as the vessels for my many toppings (more on that in a moment). And I popped in some cute “broth bar” printed signage in temporarily recycled picture frames just to signal guests as to what the heck was even going on (the download links for the printables are at the very bottom of this newsletter). I then added the tea bag labels, attached to each bowl of broth bags with white string and a single hole punch. Again, scroll to the very bottom of this newsletter to find all of the download links and printing instructions.
Flowers, too. And two small pumpkins, which really pulled their weight in terms of ambiance and therefore deserve a spot on the official supplies list.
Okay. That’s all! Phew.Decide on the toppings and aromatics you’d like to offer, and place them into small bowls.
Let’s pause here momentarily because this is where I think I went wrong. In hindsight, I should have committed to either a more savory vibe, to accompany the flavors of the broth bags in question (things like chives, red pepper flakes, nori strips)…or a more mellow, subtly sweet, somewhat less savory experience, which would have gone nicely with a simple hot water station (things like honey, lemon, ginger, maple). I went for a mix of savory and subtly sweet instead, and the resulting aroma(s) was a bit overwhelming and not exactly pleasant.
So, with that important detail in mind, here are some topping ideas for you…
On the more savory side (particularly nice if paired with the sipping broth bags linked above): sliced chives, harissa, togarashi, horseradish, miso, nori strips, fresh sliced ginger, dill, crispy shallots, crushed black peppercorns, s’chug, furikake, lemongrass, red pepper flakes, cucumber, basil, smoked paprika, chili oil.
And on the subtly sweet or perhaps just more mellow side (particularly good for a simple hot water station): honey, sliced lemon, sliced lime, fresh thyme, chopped apple, cinnamon, allspice, mint, hibiscus flowers, date syrup, vanilla, maple syrup, cardamom, dulce de leche, candied/crystallized ginger, orange slices, pomegranate seeds, brown sugar, bee pollen, cloves, rosemary, sliced fresh pear, fresh berries, basil, chamomile, dried rose petals, cucumber.Print out and frame some signage, if you’d like! Not necessary, but a fun addition. At the bottom of the newsletter are two download links for paying subscribers—both a “broth bar” sign and little flavor labels, along with printing/usage instructions. If you’re like me and prefer tearing open the sipping broth packets, which will leave them “blank” and unlabeled, the printable labels will come in handy. If you’re not interested in adding the printables, that’s fine, too; you can forgo signage completely, or handwrite everything, or print your own designs.
Throw it all together—the toppings, signage, and any extra décor touches (like the kraft paper backdrop, onto which you can write out the names of the various toppings you’ve chosen). Just don’t get too carried away and forget about, you know, the rest of the break fast and the actual food. Lest your guests stage a mutiny.
Serve bialys.
They are delicious, if a very difficult thing to pluralize. Bialies? Bialys.
In any event, I love this idea from last year—the video above should have most of the inspiration you’ll need. I will say, though, that despite my “serve all the food cold!” mantra, I cannot for the life of me imagine consuming an un-toasted bialy except under duress. So, should you go the bialy route rather than the bagel route, just know that toasting is crucial. CRUCIAL. Because a room temperature bialy is a whole different animal. That is the politest way I can put it.
It should be easy enough, though: Just lug over a toaster and plug it in alongside the toppings. Let your guests take care of the rest.
Sweeten up your kugel—then top it with cereal.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch kugel is as good as it sounds. No. Better. I spied a box last week during the world’s most gigantic grocery run and just had to. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream, as this is (obviously) a real dessert kugel and (obviously!!!) not one of those neutral, sidekick-to-the-main-course kugels. Unless you don’t particularly like your guests, in which case, serve it whenever.
I used Jenn Segal of Once Upon a Chef’s streusel kugel recipe as the base here; it baked up like a dream and kept everything structured enough to handle the weight of two topping layers. I added condensed milk (as an ode to cereal milk) and a second layer of cereal atop the first cereal-specked streusel-y layer. The condensed milk acts like a glue of sorts to keep those top bits in place and “connect” them to the other layers of the dish.
Also, it’s amazing how the cereal bakes up. You’re just going to have to take my word for it. The heat gave each piece a truly complex, sophisticated (dare I say…smoky?) flavor—worthy of any break fast spread.
The recipe follows:
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Kugel
Jenn Segal of Once Upon a Chef’s magnificent streusel kugel recipe serves as the base here.
What you’ll need:
(for the topping!)
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, crushed coarsely into not-too-fine shards/crumbs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (for second layer of topping)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (measure in a liquid measuring cup)
(for the rest of the kugel!)
One 12-oz bag wide egg noodles
4 large eggs
One 8-oz container sour cream
One 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
2 cups half & half
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
What you’ll do:
Make the streusel: Combine the brown sugar, the 1/2 cup of crushed cereal, the flour, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Use your fingers to mix it all together. Add the butter; keep mixing. The resulting texture should be crumbly and flour-y. Cover and refrigerate the bowl until you’re ready to use it.
Make the kugel: Preheat your oven to 325°F and make sure you’ve got an oven rack situated in the exact middle. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; set it aside. Boil a pot of water; cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain them completely and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly; add the sour cream and cream cheese and whisk again until smooth. Add the half & half, sugar, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon; whisk again. The result should be silky-smooth and soupy.
Spread the cooked, cooled noodles evenly in the pan and pour the egg mixture on top.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Then, carefully remove the pan from the oven, remove the foil, sprinkle the streusel topping on top, and layer on the final 3 cups of cereal. Pour the condensed milk over that very top layer as thinly and evenly as you can (it’ll act like a “glue” to hold the cereal pieces together with the layers below them). Place the pan back in the oven and continue to bake, uncovered, for another 30 minutes. Let cool. Serve warm—ideally with vanilla ice cream and maybe even a smattering of more crushed cereal. Can also be served at room temperature.
Make ahead instructions: To assemble the un-baked kugel ahead of time, pour the egg mixture (not the topping) over the noodles in the buttered baking dish, and refrigerate that overnight; mix up the topping, but keep that separate and refrigerate it overnight as well. When you’re ready to bake, skip ahead to step 5 on the day of serving. To bake the entire kugel ahead of time, note that you can refrigerate it for up to 2 days before serving, and then cover the baking dish in foil and reheat in a 325°F oven for 20 minutes before removing the foil and continuing the baking process for 15 more minutes. Keep a close eye on it.