My practice breakfast

[Gingerbread Latte]

My poor friends, family and co-workers have been subjected to my culinary experimentations for the past few weeks. Only a few disasters! For the most part they are happy to be my guinea pigs.
Today, I decided I'd do a full breakast for 5. EK! Fruit dish was beautiful and tasty... oooo's and ahhhh's.... lots of encouragement. Realized I can't time pancakes and eggs, so I'll have to work on that. When it was all said and done, I found the sausage in the microwave where I had left it. (We have a friend who grows his own sausage and we buy it in mass quantities)
The Hubs only comment was, "You might want to have a checklist." At that point, I beaned him with a stick of half thawed, handmade sausage.

I'm learning!

 

[InnBloom]

The Hubs only comment was, "You might want to have a checklist." At that point, I beaned him with a stick of half thawed, handmade sausage.

I'm learning!

It sounds to me like you've learned quickly---the best use for half-thawed sausage!

Seriously, who CAN time pancakes and eggs? And I have the slowest toaster on the planet which means that when everything else is picture perfect and ready to go, we're always waiting on toast. So the point is, you can practice and try to perfect what you can, and then you hope the breakfast gods are on your side.
The best lesson I learned when I got started (and it took me several weeks or months to "get it") is that folks on vacation don't mind waiting a few moments for breakfast. It can be part of the leisurely morning. They won't be frazzled unless YOU are.
Good luck---and your "poor" friends, family and co-workers no doubt are enjoying the fruits of your practices!

 

[Alibi Ike]

It is the timing that takes practice. What you might want to consider, based on how much help you will have in the kitchen and how many guests you might end up with is not offering pancakes AND eggs unless you can cook in advance and hot hold in the oven.
We do up to 20 here and there is no way ONE person could do that AND have a menu or make more than one entree (pancakes OR eggs) especially in our teeny kitchen. If you have a professional range with a full-size built-in griddle, then yes, you can do a lot more. But not all at once.
You could ease your way into it. Start off with a set menu and then throw in options as you get the timing down.
5 is, for us, the hardest number to cook for because the griddle only holds 4 servings of anything.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

I've always said it's the timing that's the difficult part, not the cooking. Good for you for getting all thought out on the table!
You might want to check the receipe section here on the forum. There is an overnight scrambled eggs which you prepare the night before and bake in the morning that would be the ticket for serving with your pancakes.
This morning, I went from Plan A, to Plan B to Plan C on my fruit course! Cooking for 8 this morning and I was planning on doing baked pears. They still looked good on the outside, but when I cut into them they were half mealy and not good for a presentation piece like baked pears. I'll save you the drama, but I ended up slicing the good parts thin and putting them in a baking dish with brown sugar, coconut & butter. Now, what was I going to do with them? Because after today, we don't have any guests until the weekend, I don't have much supply in the house. I ended up mixing mascarpone cheese, sour cream & sugar together, layered it with the "baked pears", then topped it off with some crumbled up gluten free ginger snaps I bought at the store.
It ended up tasting and looking great, but I sure was a frazzle! Fortunately, the guests don't see me while I'm cooking.
No matter how long you're an innkeeper, stuff happens, just go with the flow and have fun.

 

[InnBloom]

I've always said it's the timing that's the difficult part, not the cooking. Good for you for getting all thought out on the table!
You might want to check the receipe section here on the forum. There is an overnight scrambled eggs which you prepare the night before and bake in the morning that would be the ticket for serving with your pancakes.
This morning, I went from Plan A, to Plan B to Plan C on my fruit course! Cooking for 8 this morning and I was planning on doing baked pears. They still looked good on the outside, but when I cut into them they were half mealy and not good for a presentation piece like baked pears. I'll save you the drama, but I ended up slicing the good parts thin and putting them in a baking dish with brown sugar, coconut & butter. Now, what was I going to do with them? Because after today, we don't have any guests until the weekend, I don't have much supply in the house. I ended up mixing mascarpone cheese, sour cream & sugar together, layered it with the "baked pears", then topped it off with some crumbled up gluten free ginger snaps I bought at the store.
It ended up tasting and looking great, but I sure was a frazzle! Fortunately, the guests don't see me while I'm cooking.
No matter how long you're an innkeeper, stuff happens, just go with the flow and have fun..

I love your resourcefulness----and that sounds scrumptious!

 

[gillumhouse]

The reason I do the egg bake with the English muffin bread is that both go in the oven at the same time and while they are baking I can do the fruit. I do ONE entree. Eggs or pancakes or baked oatmeal or bread pudding... And the eggs is always a casserole never fried. I do not do short order.

 

[seashanty]

you will do fine!
it just takes practice (and then more practice)
the first guest breakfast i made for 4 i was rushing and felt crazed and disorganized. by the end of the month i could crank out breakfasts for 20. now i am out of practice for that number and would have to work my way back up. i could not serve everyone all at once, i had to work my way around the room.
one thing i learned ... guests saw that i was flying solo and were very content to sit and relax and drink coffee and have a 'starter' course. fruit or a muffin or whatever works for you.
preparation is huge! i had pancake batter and scrambled eggs sitting in the fridge waiting to be ladeled out onto the griddles and into the pans.
another thing i learned was what i could make ahead and keep warm and what i could get partially ready and what i preferred to do on the spot. you will figure that out, too.
i was the one expecting me to be faster, not them. my guests would often say 'that was fast ...' when i felt like i was taking forever.

welcome.

 

[JBloggs]

Sounds like fun! Especially belting the husband with half frozen sausage.
You can time pancakes and scrambled eggs, if you have a counter top electric griddle. I did this just today. You can cook 4 at a time (on my griddle), and when they are nearly ready slam the eggs into the preheated pan and they cook so quickly bobsyeruncle. BUT not if they show up late for breakfast, then throw out steps 1 thru 10.

 

[JBloggs]

Timing IS EVERYTHING. You can be up at the crack of dawn and do everything then forget the sausage and feel like the whole meal is ruined. YOU RGUESTS won't think this though, they never need to know!
I have a larger kitchen so I break it down into stations, this is how I operate. If I have the entire meal ON THE STOVE I will go mad, so I try to never cook more than two items on the stove at a time.
I am a maniac about the hot food being served hot, this is something my family doesn't get if they try to step in front of me in the kitchen. But when DH was left alone to cook breakfast ONCE he soon realized that the dance I was dancing was a fine tuned waltz and one misstep and we're all going tumbling.
Size doesn't matter. I say this to people as the greatest chefs in the world work in small areas and each person in that kitchen knows the flow and rotation of the food prep, cooking, plating and serving. So whizzing around in a larger space is most of the time counter-productive. (excuse the pun)

This is why I can't have people talking to me while I cook or I will burn myself and them. Guaranteed.
Have fun with it, I know you will! Your friends and family are happy guinea pigs.

 

[Joey Camb]

I find the trick is to know how long you need for each thing and which things you can make in combination with each other quicker. And last but not least if you are up against it what you can have on stand by to do in the microwave.

 

[Joey Camb]

that just reminds me of when me sister did home economics (an exam you do at 16) we had to eat spinach caserole cooked really badly every day for 2 weeks! lol

 

[Alibi Ike]

Sounds like fun! Especially belting the husband with half frozen sausage.
You can time pancakes and scrambled eggs, if you have a counter top electric griddle. I did this just today. You can cook 4 at a time (on my griddle), and when they are nearly ready slam the eggs into the preheated pan and they cook so quickly bobsyeruncle. BUT not if they show up late for breakfast, then throw out steps 1 thru 10.

.

OK, we have a griddle like that and I can pretty well tell you that those pancakes are way too small to serve here. We get 8 pancakes on that griddle and that's it. Plus, those griddles never cook at the same temp from one side to the other.
That looks like it's a wonderful resource (and it is) but you're never cooking that meal on that griddle so it looks like that! (OK, WE'RE not, someone else might be able to.)

 

[Gingerbread Latte]

I'm thinking I'll not do pancakes AT ALL. I bought a very expensive griddle a few years ago and the hot elements made stripes on the pancakes. I have an awesome Calphalon stove top griddle the sized of a dinner plate that makes wonderful, consistant pancakes, but obviously it's for home use b/c you can only do one at a time.
I have one excellent baked egg dish, but need more. This may be a southern thing, but we don't eat until everyone has been served. For those of you with large community tables, do you find that your guests will go ahead and start eating even when others don't have their food? Could this be a case for several smaller tables? My house should never have more than 10 guests at a time.

 

[Alibi Ike]

I'm thinking I'll not do pancakes AT ALL. I bought a very expensive griddle a few years ago and the hot elements made stripes on the pancakes. I have an awesome Calphalon stove top griddle the sized of a dinner plate that makes wonderful, consistant pancakes, but obviously it's for home use b/c you can only do one at a time.
I have one excellent baked egg dish, but need more. This may be a southern thing, but we don't eat until everyone has been served. For those of you with large community tables, do you find that your guests will go ahead and start eating even when others don't have their food? Could this be a case for several smaller tables? My house should never have more than 10 guests at a time..

For those of you with large community tables, do you find that your guests will go ahead and start eating even when others don't have their food? Could this be a case for several smaller tables? My house should never have more than 10 guests at a time.

From the guest side- I would love to be polite and not start eating until everyone has been served but I really need to know that ALL the breakfast is coming ASAP or I will start. I IS breakfast after all. I haven't eaten since maybe 6 PM the day before.
So, I would tell guests that everyone will be served at once so they know what to expect. If there is any delay in getting food to the table I tell the other guests to start so it doesn't get cold. (It sometimes happens that something goes awry with ONE plate!) Or, I'll bring out the entree and tell them the toast is coming.

 

[Joey Camb]

I think it is a case of letting people know what is expected ie get it while it is hot etc otherwise they will all sit there looking at each other and not looking if you know what i mean.

 

[egoodell]

We would never do both pancakes and eggs. We alternate between sweet (pancakes) and savory (eggs). YOu may find once you are up and running those huge breakfasts take up far too much time and money. People don't eat that much.
Best,
riki

 

[JBloggs]

Sounds like fun! Especially belting the husband with half frozen sausage.
You can time pancakes and scrambled eggs, if you have a counter top electric griddle. I did this just today. You can cook 4 at a time (on my griddle), and when they are nearly ready slam the eggs into the preheated pan and they cook so quickly bobsyeruncle. BUT not if they show up late for breakfast, then throw out steps 1 thru 10.

.

OK, we have a griddle like that and I can pretty well tell you that those pancakes are way too small to serve here. We get 8 pancakes on that griddle and that's it. Plus, those griddles never cook at the same temp from one side to the other.
That looks like it's a wonderful resource (and it is) but you're never cooking that meal on that griddle so it looks like that! (OK, WE'RE not, someone else might be able to.)
.

OK, we have a griddle like that and I can pretty well tell you that those pancakes are way too small to serve here. We get 8 pancakes on that griddle and that's it. Plus, those griddles never cook at the same temp from one side to the other.
That looks like it's a wonderful resource (and it is) but you're never cooking that meal on that griddle so it looks like that! (OK, WE'RE not, someone else might be able to.)

I can only cook 4 at a time. But four at a time is a good thing for me. I don't a dollar stack, but have thought about it!
Ours cooks totally even and crisps the edges, I am very happy with it, and it is one of those innkeeper tools when this one burns out I will immediately get another one.

 

[JBloggs]

I'm thinking I'll not do pancakes AT ALL. I bought a very expensive griddle a few years ago and the hot elements made stripes on the pancakes. I have an awesome Calphalon stove top griddle the sized of a dinner plate that makes wonderful, consistant pancakes, but obviously it's for home use b/c you can only do one at a time.
I have one excellent baked egg dish, but need more. This may be a southern thing, but we don't eat until everyone has been served. For those of you with large community tables, do you find that your guests will go ahead and start eating even when others don't have their food? Could this be a case for several smaller tables? My house should never have more than 10 guests at a time..

I'm thinking I'll not do pancakes AT ALL. I bought a very expensive griddle a few years ago and the hot elements made stripes on the pancakes. I have an awesome Calphalon stove top griddle the sized of a dinner plate that makes wonderful, consistant pancakes, but obviously it's for home use b/c you can only do one at a time.
I have one excellent baked egg dish, but need more. This may be a southern thing, but we don't eat until everyone has been served. For those of you with large community tables, do you find that your guests will go ahead and start eating even when others don't have their food? Could this be a case for several smaller tables? My house should never have more than 10 guests at a time.

answer as always, it depends.
I have learned that we do NOT WAIT for rooms who are not there within 10 minutes to begine serving, why? Because they no show. So you have to go with the flow and work it out per householdful of guests, not always knowing, but making your best guesses.
Remember being in the south does not mean your guests are southern. British guests always wait and I have to implore them to please eat, as they others might not even show...which happens.

 

[Don Draper]

I've always said it's the timing that's the difficult part, not the cooking. Good for you for getting all thought out on the table!
You might want to check the receipe section here on the forum. There is an overnight scrambled eggs which you prepare the night before and bake in the morning that would be the ticket for serving with your pancakes.
This morning, I went from Plan A, to Plan B to Plan C on my fruit course! Cooking for 8 this morning and I was planning on doing baked pears. They still looked good on the outside, but when I cut into them they were half mealy and not good for a presentation piece like baked pears. I'll save you the drama, but I ended up slicing the good parts thin and putting them in a baking dish with brown sugar, coconut & butter. Now, what was I going to do with them? Because after today, we don't have any guests until the weekend, I don't have much supply in the house. I ended up mixing mascarpone cheese, sour cream & sugar together, layered it with the "baked pears", then topped it off with some crumbled up gluten free ginger snaps I bought at the store.
It ended up tasting and looking great, but I sure was a frazzle! Fortunately, the guests don't see me while I'm cooking.
No matter how long you're an innkeeper, stuff happens, just go with the flow and have fun..

So awesome! I just love the stick-to-it-iveness and resourcefulness. And I agree, if you are relaxed and easy your guests will be as well. Remember it's breakfast not something serious or life-and-death, no one's going to die if they have to wait a few moments...

 

[Alibi Ike]

Sounds like fun! Especially belting the husband with half frozen sausage.
You can time pancakes and scrambled eggs, if you have a counter top electric griddle. I did this just today. You can cook 4 at a time (on my griddle), and when they are nearly ready slam the eggs into the preheated pan and they cook so quickly bobsyeruncle. BUT not if they show up late for breakfast, then throw out steps 1 thru 10.

.

OK, we have a griddle like that and I can pretty well tell you that those pancakes are way too small to serve here. We get 8 pancakes on that griddle and that's it. Plus, those griddles never cook at the same temp from one side to the other.
That looks like it's a wonderful resource (and it is) but you're never cooking that meal on that griddle so it looks like that! (OK, WE'RE not, someone else might be able to.)
.

OK, we have a griddle like that and I can pretty well tell you that those pancakes are way too small to serve here. We get 8 pancakes on that griddle and that's it. Plus, those griddles never cook at the same temp from one side to the other.
That looks like it's a wonderful resource (and it is) but you're never cooking that meal on that griddle so it looks like that! (OK, WE'RE not, someone else might be able to.)

I can only cook 4 at a time. But four at a time is a good thing for me. I don't a dollar stack, but have thought about it!
Ours cooks totally even and crisps the edges, I am very happy with it, and it is one of those innkeeper tools when this one burns out I will immediately get another one.
.

OK, we have a griddle like that and I can pretty well tell you that those pancakes are way too small to serve here. We get 8 pancakes on that griddle and that's it. Plus, those griddles never cook at the same temp from one side to the other.
That looks like it's a wonderful resource (and it is) but you're never cooking that meal on that griddle so it looks like that! (OK, WE'RE not, someone else might be able to.)

I can only cook 4 at a time. But four at a time is a good thing for me. I don't a dollar stack, but have thought about it!
Ours cooks totally even and crisps the edges, I am very happy with it, and it is one of those innkeeper tools when this one burns out I will immediately get another one.

Oh yes, we're on our 3rd or 4th at this point! It's a must-have. But we do notice hot spots on it. The more you put on it the worse it gets so that might be the problem. We regularly get 4 at a table at once or 2 tables sitting down together so we have to cook up 4 servings at a time.