The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook (23 page)

SERVES 10–12

Sullivan's Crab Cakes

Folks here in Serenity have always had their big meal of the day just after church on Sunday. Some had it at home. Others packed the local restaurants.

 

For the longest time after I opened the doors at Sullivan's, I went along with tradition, serving the usual sort of Sunday meals with meat and potatoes and piping hot yeast rolls. Or maybe that old staple, fried chicken just like Grandma used to make. Then it occurred to me that Sullivan's has a reputation for shaking things up, doing the unexpected, not serving the exact same Sunday dinners folks could get if they went straight on home, put on their aprons and fixed a meal. The idea of putting a Sunday brunch on the menu, while not exactly revolutionary, was a real eye-opener here in town.

But think about it for a minute. How often do most people really take the time to cook a fancy breakfast these days? In our house, before I had my own restaurant, Ronnie was the one who whipped up a batch of pancakes on Sunday. Weekdays, during those years I was a single mom with Ronnie gone, I barely had time to pour a bowl of cereal or scramble an egg before sending Annie off to school.

But the truth is, most folks I know love a traditional breakfast as long as somebody else is cooking it. In Sullivan's we've taken that reality and kicked it up another notch or two with a mix of breakfast favorites and a few lunch specialties that aren't on our regular menu.

Now you can do the exact same thing when you have company visiting and want to sit right there at the kitchen table and linger over a glass of sweet tea and a few tasty dishes you'd never take the time to fix on an ordinary morning. After all, isn't the best part of having out-of-town guests taking the time to sit and visit over a leisurely meal—something we rarely get to do in our harried lives? I'm even sharing my own favorite sweet tea recipe to add an authentic touch to your Southern brunch.

When folks come into Sullivan's on Sunday, we give them a pastry basket of my almond-filled croissants and cranberry-orange scones with orange glaze and cranberry-orange butter. We offer miniature versions. After all, we certainly wouldn't want them to fill up on those, not with strawberry-topped stuffed French toast on the menu or a country ham and grits quiche. The recipes here are for the full-sized versions, of course. You'll probably want to pick and choose among the recipes. Try them all at once, and you'll be as stuffed as that delicious French toast.

Of course, some folks here at Sullivan's opt for the pineapple chicken salad, especially if they had breakfast at home before going to church. And you can't very well call it brunch if you're not offering a combination of breakfast and lunch choices, so we always include a variety of specials that cater to folks who can't bear to break with their old Sunday traditions.

Whatever you put on your own Sunday brunch menu, just be sure to include a warm helping of Southern hospitality. It'll keep your visitors coming back time and again.

Dana Sue's Almond-Filled Croissants

MAKES 8

Classic Cream Scones