Valentine's Day Brunch for Dinner

For this semester's Barque Team get-together, I thought it might be fun to have "Brunch for Dinner".  The benefits would be twofold - a great way for my girls to sample a few of our food products (like buttermilk biscuit mix and local jams)... and second,  I thought it would be easy to cook on a weeknight! In this post, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the invitation, party details, decorations, menu and party favors - plus an idea you can borrow to spark great conversation at your own Valentine's Day gathering! Since I love Valentine's Day, I thought that would be an easy theme to work with.  I utilized my collection of vintage Valentines to add a little interest to my mantle. For the table, I used lots of layering - starting with a simple white tablecloth, then adding a length of sheer pink fabric (on clearance at Joann's), followed by heart-shaped cut outs and doilies.  To finish it off, more vintage valentines strewn about (some on tiny easels) and a sprinkling of conversation heart candies.  For added ambiance, I combined a few tall white candles with strings of battery-operated, mini copper lights (a new arrival at the store). For each place setting, alternating pink and red napkins (folded in the shape of a heart) were adorned with a hand-lettered doily as a place card.  The talented @kelseylaineholt (check her out on Instagram!) made them for us - as well as the food/drink labels - and they really made the tablescape swoon-worthy, don't you think? Before guests got settled in, everyone was asked fill out 2 "Conversation Hearts". This idea was inspired by Darcy Miller's new book, Celebrate Everything - and it ended up being one of the favorite parts of the evening for all of us.  HERE is a link to a free printable with the instructions, which can easily be displayed in a basic 4x6 frame. You can download the conversation heart templates HERE and HERE - just print them out on pastel colored cardstock and cut out by hand. We collected the completed hearts in a fish bowl, and they later became our dinner conversation starters!  It was really fun to try to guess who each heart belonged to - and it sparked great conversation!  We learned a lot about one another (and laughed a lot too). The menu consisted of traditional breakfast food - eggs (heart-shaped of course), bacon, sausage, turkey bacon, buttermilk biscuits (see our tips for those here), local jams from Kelle B, fruit, yogurt (with heart sprinkles), and a modified version of Bobby Flay's Rosemary and Pancetta Home Fries (from the cookbook Brunch at Bobby's).  To be honest, I've made this recipe before and it was delicious, but I must have done something wrong this time - oops!  It didn't work out as I had planned, so it became mashed the potatoes with rosemary and pancetta mixed in - sometimes you have to improvise!     We tested out a recipe from the Forest Feast Gatherings Cookbook for the bar - Ruby Mimosa Punch - and it was quite tasty! I think a party always needs a favor, and for this one, each of the girls received a ball cap (monogrammed with the Barque logo), a box of conversation hearts, a mini jar of Kelle B Jam, and a Butter London nail polish.  I love how the personalized tags turned out too!Corny or not, the tags are true - I really do love these girls!  They're a great bunch, and I'm so blessed to have each one of them working with me.  The best part is I think they genuinely enjoy one other too - It's not often you can work and play together and enjoy so much laughter. Aren't they they cutest? I hope our Team "Dinner" inspires a few ideas for your own Valentine's (or Galentine's) Brunch, and if it does, we'd love to know about it!  Tag us on Instagram  (@barquegifts) or email us photos - we love to see how our friends and customers throw a party!         Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save