In honor of what would have been Giuliana’s baptism, we hosted a baptism brunch at home over the weekend inspired by me binge watching way too many episodes of Giada at Home.
I wanted to do this not only for my darling daughter, but also for the four of us (my husband, my Mom and Dad). It gave us something to look forward to and forced us to get dressed, put on real clothing and give us a sense of social normalcy amidst the chaos. We’ve all been struggling in our own ways hearing about the continued coronavirus news we’re seeing come out every day and it seems like it’s hitting home more and more.
As we know, New York City is the very epicenter of this virus, and in Suffolk County where we have our home, the town in which we live has also a very high number of cases in terms of numbers per capita. I can’t overstate this enough: none of us can be TOO cautious. My family was laughing at me early on about saying no to grocery store runs or pick up food (unless it’s curbside with no one in sight) and now they’re realizing it was the right way to go.
So, in essence, we really needed this brunch to brighten our days and reduce some daily anxiety. The planning of it gave us something to look forward to, a happy distraction we welcomed with open arms.
We decided on the menu the night before. We had been rationing our eggs mostly since it’s been hard to source them, but after getting a few dozen from our local farm, we decided to treat ourselves with some fried eggs. We also made Kodiak Cake waffles, a small ham roast, avocado toast, cinnamon rolls and homemade gluten-free banana bread with chocolate chips.
My husband was on cocktail duty and we decided to use some cachaça that we were given from Fogo de Chao that we often frequent under normal circumstances. For those not familiar, cachaça is a spicy, sweet and fruity clear liquor distilled from fermented sugarcane juice that comes from Brazil that is often used to make the popular cocktail Caipirinhas.
He made these beautifully light and flavorful cocktails garnished with lime slices and wedges that paired effortlessly with brunch fare. He also had a bottle of Sannino Vineyard’s Semi-Chard on hand, which we cracked open when it was time for our second beverage.
As for our table, I broke out our lemon-themed linens (runner and place mats) that we purchased in Sicily last summer in Taormina and dressed Giuliana accordingly in her lemon-themed onesie from the Gap that she looked so adorable in.
You may have noticed we haven’t been including a daily cocktail recipe and that’s for the sake of all of our livers. Stress eating and drinking is a real thing while social distancing. I’m still breastfeeding exclusively anyway, so I have a mini-cocktail when I feel up to it, but lately have been sticking more with a glass of wine with dinner.
For this very special occasion, however, we had these incredibly bright, refreshing cocktails.
Phil particularly loved making these as he used to spend a great deal of time in Brazil for work, so this drink was near and dear to his heart.
Phil’s Brazilian Brunch Caipirinhas
Cachaça (Fogo de Chao brand) 2 ounces
Sugar 2 teaspoons
Lime 1 muddled
Ice in individual glasses
Mix and garnish with lime slices in chilled glasses.