The Breakfast Club

The first thing we decided was that we didn’t want to make two turkeys. Yes, we cared about our friends. Yes, we wanted to make sure that everybody got together at least once before dispersing for the holidays. But two turkeys is a lot to ask of anyone. My boyfriend and I were already planning on having a quiet meal with another couple on the actual holiday, and we’d promised ourselves that our culinary skills (such as they were) were to be devoted to one big bird for that night.

But these were our friends. Didn’t we owe them at least the effort of cooking another big meal? “No,” my boyfriend told me emphatically. “Absolutely not. They’re lucky to get even a party.” Sometimes he had trouble getting into the holiday spirit. I, however, was not to be so easily dissuaded.

“We have to do something,” I told him. “It just isn’t right not to celebrate with everyone.”

“Someone else could throw the party,” he said. Which was true, they probably could, but we were a community of writers, and planning was not our strong suit.

“Let’s just make it as simple as possible,” I said.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll stay here in my pajamas; you call everyone and tell them to come over with some food.”

That, though it arose from a curmudgeonly heart, is how we got the very successful idea for our “breakfast party.”

The plan was this: take the ingredients that make holidays special (friends, food, conversation, and a dollop of liquor) and package them all in a relaxed and stress-free party environment. This would shift the focus from worrying about preparations to bringing all hands on deck family-style. We also wanted to liven things up with some kitchen fun.

Our main concern was making sure that this party was enjoyable for everybody and did not cause anyone (especially our friends) undue stress. To this end, we decided to have enough food and drinks on hand so the event would be a success whether or not anybody chose to bring a dish (we made this completely optional). We whipped up a large batch of scrambled eggs, two different types of pancakes (my boyfriend is a bit of a foodie and just couldn’t bring himself to buy Bisquick, though that would have worked just as well), and fried up some homemade bacon he had cured earlier in the year (again, the packaged variety would have been just fine).