I have many strong feelings about brunch. I usually think that brunch should be exclusively a diner/greasy spoon affair, but the number-one brunch experience that exists on this very earth is made by Ericka Grawey, a close friend of mine. Her brunches are for friends only (for now- keep an eye out, I can see Ericka Brunches- or Ericka Events- going worldwide), and they’re simply, truly, and in all other ways, magnificent.

A couple of weeks ago, for her birthday, a big group of us put some money into a Tilt (so innovative!) and she made us Sunday Brunch. Classic Ericka- making us brunch for her own birthday. She’s done Ericka Birthday Brunches for the past few years, and she also made St Paddy’s Day Brunches every year in university.

Ericka putting the finishing touches on Birthday Brunch 2015

To understand how amazing this feat is, you need to know that our group of friends rolls deep: every brunch has been attended by at least 15 people, and everyone always leaves full, slightly drunk, and beaming.

Ingredients from St Paddy’s brunch 2014

Drink station at Girl’s Night 2014

Not from a brunch, but from the food area of the amazing surprise party that my friends threw for me. Ericka, unsurprisingly, was the food and drinks committee.

Some of my favourite dishes from her brunches are her cheesy Sriracha potatoes, biscuits and gravy, slow cooker french toast casserole, baked brie, cheesy garlic biscuits, and fruit salad with lime-orange dressing. She makes incredible large-batch scrambled eggs, can perfectly cook a whole pack of bacon at once in a cast-iron skillet, and her meals have become more and more finessed with time and practice.

The most recent birthday brunch’s offerings included smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese hors d’oeuvres, a nectarine cake with blueberry compote, and creamed spinach in a skillet with baked eggs.

There are also always cocktails. Ericka spent a year living in New York, where she learned the gospel of all you can drink brunches. For St Paddy’s, there was usually some sort of green jungle juice. For Birthday Brunches, white sangria with vodka-marinated fruit, mimosas, or caesars are joyously imbibed by all.

There is also always coffee, constantly percolating, constantly keeping us going and eating more.

This post is a thank you to Ericka for all the fun, all the food, and the next-level events that have made us all feel like royalty. Safe to say I can’t wait until the next one.

All the beautiful, high-res photos are by Kathleen Godfrey and all the blurry, old ones are mine.