The following review was prepared by our member Liliana of the blog My Cookbook Addiction. Here at The Daring Kitchen, we'd like to thank Cath of A Blithe Palate and Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness for the opportunity to take part in the Cookbook Spotlight on this lovely new cookbook!
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A weekend brunch is regarded as a celebration in my home and what better way to celebrate than indulging in the wonderful, scrumptious brunch recipes featured in Gale Gand’s new cookbook, Brunch! 100 Fantastic Recipes for the Weekend’s Best Meal.

The recipes in this book are well organized in a simple to read format and showcased by wonderful color photos.

Drinks
The collection of drink recipes is a real crowd pleaser – from Iced Coffee with Cinnamon-Coffee Ice Cubes, Chai Tea, Smoothies, Lemonades, Champagne and Cranberry with Mint and Gale’s 3-Alarm Bloody Mary.

Brunch Basics
Gale includes the basic recipes for egg dishes such as omelette, strata, frittata, quiche and crêpes and then elaborates on each recipe by listing the many variations for each such as Spinach, Skitake and Swiss Omelette, Bacon, Cheddar, Mushroom and Tomato Strata, Salmon, Scallion and Goat Cheese Frittata, Ham, Caramelized Onion and Gruyére Quiche and Banana Nutella Crêpes – a true chocolate lover’s delight!

More Eggs
Breakfast Burritos, Baked Eggs in Ham Cups, Cucurumao and Torta Rustica as well as poached eggs and coddled eggs are more featured egg recipes. Cucurumao is a Sicilian recipe of eggs cooked in tomato sauce. I was delighted to see this recipe in Gale’s book. My mom is Sicilian and she used to cook eggs this way. Delicious!

Pancakes, Waffles, French Toast and Other Sweets
How about some Buttermilk Pancakes or Chocolate Waffles or Pineapple Noodle Kugel or Cranberry-Almond Granola? How about some Panettone French Toast?

I just happened to have some left over Italian Easter Sweet Bread I had made for Easter which is very similar to Panettone and surprised my daughters by making this Panettone French toast for them for breakfast during the week. Heavenly is the only word to describe the taste of the buttery sweet bread smothered in eggs, milk and cream, baked until golden and then drizzled with real maple syrup.

Brunch Bites, More Savories & Some Sides, Salads & Soups
Before visiting The Bakery, there are still a few recipes to sample from the Brunch Bites (Mini Potato Pancakes with Smoke Salmon, Panini Finger Sandwiches, Potstickers) and the More Savories & Some Sides (Cheese and Tomato Galette, Poached Salmon with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, Goat Cheese and Chive Has Browns, Homemade Pork and Maple Sausage Patties) accompanied by some of the salads or soup from Salads & Soups.

The Bakery
Gale is an award winning pastry chef so imagine what the Hand-Formed Almond Tartlets, Spiced Apple-Raisin Turnovers or Soft Giant Pretzels must taste like – and these are just a few sample recipes.

There is also a chapter on Fruits & Condiments and a Menus Chapter with sample menus for different occasions such as ‘Brunch with the Kids’, ‘Bridal Shower Brunch’ and ‘The In-Laws are Coming! Brunch’.

After reading this book from cover to cover I was faced with the dilemma of deciding which recipe or recipes to make next for our Sunday brunch. Gale Gand’s Brunch! is certainly a keeper in my cookbook collection!