One of my favorite and most popular events I did as an RA at Boston University was an annual Halloween Brunch!
It is a fun way to celebrate and my residents loved it, and I loved coming up with festive recipes and decorating. This was my first one!
Pictured are sweet potato waffles, pumpkin pancakes, cinnamon rolls, fried egg “eyes”, and “mummy” sausages! I also made a pumpkin chai latte that turned out really tasty, and had coffee and apple cider to drink as well.
I made more than 30 pancakes and 30 waffles in the last 24 hours for this brunch, which I think must be a record for one person! This was my first large scale food event, so I was nervous but very happy with how everything turned out, and I was glad I planned ahead.
Because I knew this would be time consuming to prepare all this food, I tried to minimize preparation and complexity of the food. I used Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and crescent roll dough, and made the waffles and pancakes the night before and just warmed them up in the morning.
To make the “mummy” sausages, I used the Pillsbury crescent roll dough and mini sausages. Simply separate the crescent roll dough into triangles (they are precut, which is great for making a large amount quickly as for this brunch!) and wrap the sausages in them to look like mummies! I recommend tearing the ends of the crescent roll into strips so they really look like bandages for extra mummification! Then place on a baking sheet and bake as directed until the dough is golden brown.
I used pre-cooked sausages so I didn’t have to worry about the meat not cooking enough, and it shouldn’t get overcooked in the amount of time the dough cooks, it just gets nice and warm! I sprinkled some cheese on the mummies after removing them from the oven - I recommend shredded cheese, again for the “mummy factor”! I only had slices of cheddar, so they didn’t shred or sprinkle well, but still tasted good!
To make the pumpkin chai latte, I heated a large pot of water on my stove and added a variety of tea bags: chai tea, pumpkin spice tea, and cinnamon tea (one of my FAVE TEAS). I also added some pumpkin puree and cinnamon and nutmeg. It was kind of an experiment, so it was all to taste, but it turned out good! I would recommend adding the pumpkin puree while stirring and then taste occasionally until it is to your liking. Once the tea and pumpkin is hot and mixed, you can add your desired milk! Alternatively, you could serve the tea and let people add milk themselves so they can choose the type and amount.
I also got a box of coffee from Starbucks for this as a donation, which was great! I don’t like coffee, so I don’t know how to make it, so it was great to have this option for my residents. If you are having a themed brunch, I would recommend having a coffee option because most people do like it! But since I, and others I know, don’t like or choose not to drink coffee, it is great to have another beverage option like the tea and apple cider!
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