Breakfast at my home in Bedford
A few days ago, I hosted a business breakfast at my home in Bedford. It was for a group of twenty people and I wanted to serve as much from the farm as possible. I employed the services of Chef Christopher Broberg and together we came up with a wonderful and colorful menu consisting of fresh fruit, granola, yogurt, croissant, scones, and a classic egg dish called oeuf en cocotte. Try not to get too hungry looking at these photos.
Picture 1 of 16: A platter of beautiful berries freshly picked from the berry patch - golden raspberries, black raspberries, and red raspberries garnished with sprigs of chocolate mint from the garden.
Photos By Eliad Laskin
I wish I could eat my screen.
Posted by: Annie Byrnes | July 16th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Those berries look so colorful and delicious!
Posted by: TattingChic | July 16th, 2009 at 1:14 am
That is the most beautiful and delicious breakfast I have ever seen! I've never had shirred eggs and they look amazing. What a wonderful first meal of the day.
Martha, do you have any special memories about pie? I would love it if you would come to my blog and tell me about one.
http://potsnpies.blogspot.com
Posted by: Clayvessel | July 16th, 2009 at 2:47 am
Everything looks so good - are black raspberries blackberries? I was hungry when I saw the plate of berries on Twitter the other day and could happily eat all the food served at your breakfast - especially the croissants.
How wonderful.
Pru
Posted by: Pru | July 16th, 2009 at 3:54 am
What a wonderful way to start the day and yes everything looks scrumpious. Those white peaches will be great with a cool refreshing Bellini.
B
Posted by: Bernadette | July 16th, 2009 at 7:25 am
MMmmmm good! Looks so delicious. I attended the Brimsfield Antique and Collectibles Show yesterday on my way to dinner in West Springfield with a good friend. It was a beautiful summer day finally. What an amazing choice of treasures! I got to see half of the booths in five hours! Whew! My finds include a Look magazine, February 28, 1961 of President Kennedy and his young family on the cover...really precious photos and article. Plus a wonderful Ball jar to add to my kitchen collection. I found it to be a bit everwhelming at times. I intend to return in September.
Posted by: Teresa Touey | July 16th, 2009 at 7:45 am
I love the ideas from these pictures. Most of us will not host breakfast for 20 people, but the way the fruit was plated as well as the scones, yogourts granola etc is inspiring for a brunch of any scale. i really wish i could find baked fresh croissants, nothing compares to baked fresh by a skilled baker.
Posted by: Marlene | July 16th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Hi Martha,
Please tell me what kind of white china you are using. It looks so very pristine.All looks so delicious.
Diane
Posted by: Diane Roumeliotis | July 16th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Wow! So gorgeous, Martha, you really need to open a bed and breakfast in Maine! We'll come, we are only two hours away!!
Great job!!
Posted by: Hester | July 16th, 2009 at 9:09 am
For Diane Roumeliotis - Thanks for noticing the china. It is a combination of my Martha Stewart Line at Macy's and French porcelain.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | July 16th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Hi Martha,
You said "Try not to get too hungry looking at these photos." I say, "You’re a tease!" I am not kidding when I say I actually drooled. I wanted to taste everything and especially your jams and jells and the scones and croissants. You know, I couldn't even imagine making a breakfast like that let alone having the pleasure of eating it! Also, whoever sliced the fruit up that thin sure did a beautiful job. Well, I am sure your guests are still talking about their business breakfast at your house. I know I would be! Trish
Posted by: Trish | July 16th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Okay, I tried but now I'm really hungry. Please post the recipes for the egg dish and the scones. Thanks.
Posted by: Barbara Chasse | July 16th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Beautiful photos, beautiful breakfast! Any chance you could share the scone recipe with us? They looked scrumptious!
Posted by: Heather | July 16th, 2009 at 10:12 am
This is my kind of breakfast! Simply perfect!
Will there be a recipe for the ova dish? I would love to create this for my family.
I have a plethora of berries on our farm and will try arranging them as you did - beautiful presentation!
Posted by: IowaCowgirl | July 16th, 2009 at 10:14 am
An unbelieva'bowl o' fruit! Sure puts my sad serving of oatmeal and burnt coffee to shame. Looking forward to the day when you open your first restaurant.. put me down for a table for 2 ( I plan to take my dog with me.)
Auf Wiederschauen,
LVS
Posted by: Lily Von Schtuup | July 16th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Wow, what a feast it all looks amazing - just wondering if the recipe for those wonderful scones shown can become available??? please!
Posted by: Sharon Joffe | July 16th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Good Morning Martha!
And what's that smell!?!
Looking at all of the pics from the business breakfast at Bedford, my first thought wasn't how much your business colleagues would enjoy the exciting orgy of berries, nor the fact that you actually served your own homemade jams (complete with your own label!) displayed and arranged next to them to go along with the warm and scrumptious-looking croissants! Not to mention the scones! And I haven't even begun to comment on what Chef Christoper has done with that mixing bowl full of egg-shell pastel colors of your hen-house-harvest! And *that's* what caught mt attention first...Chef Christopher Brogerg, or any of the chefs that you have working in your kitchen for that matter! How *they* must feel having the opportunity to develop their art and create superb dishes in such a divine atmosphere as you offer at your home. It must be all the more inspiring for them as they go about their tasks. Not to mention the garden! Breakfast at Bedford was good eats and good picks for all!
And yes, I'm starved now!
Posted by: tinay | July 16th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Oeuf en cocotte is so easy to do but this version looks absolutely delicious! I will have to try it. Fabulous berries and stone fruit. I used to have an orchard at my previous house and I miss the golden plums.
Posted by: Cadence | July 16th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Seriously!? Chocolate Mint....oh my goodness! That sounds absolutely marvelous with all that berry goodness! Yum!!!
Posted by: April | July 16th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Everything of course looks simply gorgeous and delectable, but I DO have favorites, as you can imagine. That granola blend looks hearty and nutritious, and those croissants are absolutely beautiful to look at, not to mention the buttery goodness that would follow. I LOVE your jam-n-jelly offerings, right down to your 'brand' lids for your jars - I just LOVE it! (And) yes, I would have to try each flavor - without shame, I might add (I am a 'sweets' kind of girl!) [giggle] I love scones, too, and would definitely want to try the egg dish. The garnishings fresh from the garden are nice finishing touches, too - the bee balm flowers especially. They add color with a hint of naturalness.
What's NOT to like?! [giggle]
I have bee balm this year (bright red - variety 'Jacob Cline') that is as tall as I (5'3"). I stand next to it, and the blooms are at eye-level. As you can imagine, Martha, in having your own there at your farm, the hummingbirds are industrious little visitors to this genus that I'm taking such delight in! I have two females that are busybusybusy in the evenings, sipping from each individual little tubular flower...oh, they are such beautiful little things! If you haven't gotten to see any as of yet, just go to that flowerbed in the evenings and meander around...I assure you'll get to observe these little wonders of nature!
I haven't told you I loved you this week! [giggle] I loveloveLOVE you, Martha Stewart!
=^..^=
"The glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye."--Rudyard Kipling
Posted by: Cindy Bricker | July 16th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Not get too hungry?! Too late!
Posted by: kasey at thriftylittleblog | July 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Yes most of us will not have 20 for breakfast, but I have a daughter that works at a bank and they have something every other week some type of celebration, and I love to pull out my MS pictuers and recipes. Thanks Martha and Staff you are like my very own special chef.
Posted by: Barbara Coats | July 16th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
After such a beautiful meal everyone should have taken a walk around the farm to see where their food came from. Problem may have been getting their attention and bodies back to the meeting.
Posted by: Margie | July 16th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Yes most of us will not have 20 for breakfast, but I have a daughter that works at a bank and they have something every other week some type of celebration, and I love to pull out my MS pictuers and recipes. Thanks Martha and Staff you are like my very own special chefs.
Posted by: Barbara Coats | July 16th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Never saw anything prettier or more healthy looking. Please don't ever quit doing what your are doing. There's no one anywhere who could fill your shoes.
By the way, I love Alexis' and Jennifer's show. Thanks for producing it. Let 'em rip.
Posted by: Katherine Meade | July 16th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
The egg dish is really beautiful and interesting. I hope the recipe is on the web site because I want to make it!
Posted by: MarthaAndMe | July 16th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
.
Ellen,
Looks like this week's work brought in blueberries here.
East Coast Reader
.
Posted by: andreaandweims on Twitter | July 16th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Hi Martha, This blog was delicious and yes it did make me hungry. I sure wish I had been there to enjoy all of that food with your lucky guests. Everything looked fabulous. If all of these recipes are on your website, I'm going to have to make everything and sit down to enjoy it all. Your photos are magnificent once again-I loved them all. Your trip to Maine sure sounds like fun. I'm sure those photos and blogs will be fun, also. You are a fun person. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | July 17th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Oh everything looks so yummy & delicious!
x
Posted by: Alison | July 17th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Martha,
You are the bomb! What a creative and beautiful breakfast...those berries and stone fruit...
fab-o! We're getting the best blueberries & peaches from the farms this time of year in NJ...(I bet you knew that!) Wish you could come spend some time with me here in the kitchen and create breakfast together for 20 of our Inn guests...Wow, what a breakfast table that would be. Keep doing what you do so well...theres noboby like you!
xo, Donna
Posted by: Donna Arold, Innkeeper Main Street Manor B&B | July 17th, 2009 at 6:53 am
What I wouldn't do for a bowl of those eggs and toast right now! YUMMMMM
Posted by: Cindy | July 17th, 2009 at 7:59 am
For Susan Kavanaugh - So sorry to mislead you. The book title is Marhta Stewart's Menus for Entertaining and it was published in 1994.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | July 17th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Enjoyed the tour of your home.Please respond.
Posted by: Susan L. | July 17th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
what an amazing meal! And to think that your own garden produces such a banquet.
Posted by: Tamara | July 17th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
The thinly sliced pineapple and melons are very appealing as are the wedges of stone fruits. I should think one would like to try each fresh fruit so providing bite-sized and manageable pieces is thoughtful. Also, no dribbles of juice down the chin and front.
Posted by: jw | July 18th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
martha, Wonderful beautiful morning and just back from bird watching.my concerns are are the impact of climate change on these avian species.what are the politicians doing. i need safer world and a better environment.i need as a friend to share these viewss.this morning i will settle for cup of coffee.
Posted by: okosodo ehi francis | July 19th, 2009 at 3:40 am
wow..my dream bfast would be to dine at your home, and be served that scrumptious meal!! im sure that was a wonderful gathering! thanks for sharing!!
Posted by: julie y. | July 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
the eggs look amazing - the scones and croissant perfect. can that guy come cook for me?
Posted by: wendy | July 20th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Martha, I love your show. I get to watch it every Monday, but, I have to tape it the rest of the week. This Mondays' show was so good, I can hardly wait to make the Greek Spinach Pie and the Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
The pictures of the hailstorm was amazing. This is the first time I ever read your blog. I love all the wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing them with all of us.
I also have Beebalm in my garden but mine is purple. Last summer I planted a lot of perennials and they are blooming like mad. Shasta Daisies, (tall) Columbine, Red Cone Flowers. I also planted two grape vines, one purple and one white grape. They haven't started climbing yet, any tips on raising grapes?
Posted by: Marianne Soptelean | July 21st, 2009 at 1:41 am
I have not looked at all your photos, I stopped at your beautiful berries thinking how wonderful it must be to have a berries farm, with berries at your disposal.
I have black raspberries growing wild around our property in Warwick New York but I cannot harvest them as the deers get to them as soon as they are ready for picking.
What are you doing and do you have a suggestion on how to save the berries from the deer?
Thank you for this blog.
I am your ardent admirer Martha....
Rebecca D.
??
Posted by: Rebecca David | July 21st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
You are so lucky to have Chris Broberg as your chef. He is a fantastic chef as well as a superb pastry chef. His desserts are to die for. All I can say is, lucky, lucky you!! Go get em' Chris. We love ya!!
Posted by: Vicki | July 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
What a great version of oeuves en cocotte! I've never topped mine with creme fraiche before; would you care to share the recipe for the variation you used?
Posted by: Cory Hagen | July 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I am a bit behind but this looks delicious. The ouef en cocotte must have been so good. Any chance there is a recipe for the oatmeal scones? Thanks!
Posted by: Kristen | July 29th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
The breakfast looked really beautiful. Can one actually eat bee balm? The entire flower or just the petals?
Posted by: Denise | August 9th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Oh good lord - those eggs are to die for. Never occured to me to top them with creme fraiche instead of cream. And the fontina cheese is a lovely touch. Beautiful spread.
Posted by: Q. | August 17th, 2009 at 3:45 pm