A May Letter from the Editor: Breakfast Is the Best

Happy Monday! It’s a very happy Monday for me, because yesterday I hosted Brunch Fest, a bite-sized food festival of all things breakfast and brunch. It was a pretty glorious day — and it was just the beginning of a month devoted to mornings at Kitchn. 

In the Before Times, brunch was my favorite low-key way to have friends over. Everyone loves brunch food; casseroles like this are easy to make ahead; the kids are in good morning moods; and any excuse to order a dozen hibiscus-glazed doughnuts, amirite? These glowing May mornings are made for brunching — especially for those who are vaccinated and can safely gather in little groups, catching up face-to-face with people we’ve only seen on screens for a year. 

Brunch Fest was a taste of that brunch-tastic action I’ve been craving. We had a dedicated Egg Cam, where Brandi Milloy and Kiano Moju shared eggy dishes like a Southwest croissant egg bake and Kenyan chips mayai, respectively. Our own Amelia Rampe did the most fun showdowns of fried eggs and crispy bacon (have you ever fried eggs with heavy cream? You will now!). We popped cans of biscuits with Alejandra Ramos (gimme all the chorizo empanadas) and Ruth Tam (hello, blueberry bubble bread!) and now canned biscuit dough is at the top of my shopping list. Christine Gallary gave us a must-see, over-the-top giant lemon roll; a Dutch baby puffed to the max; and kimchi hash browns too. And there was a spectacular savory French toast with apple salsa in partnership with Envy™ apples. 

I had to hold back my inner fangirl when I got to meet maybe my favorite member of the charming Teigen family, Pepper Teigen herself, who brought us kanom krok, Thai coconut pancakes. (Her book is a must-buy!) 

If you watch one thing this evening, make it one of the Secret Family Recipes, like Zoe Adjonyoh and her mother’s nkatsenkwan — Ghanaian peanut stew that is comfort eating for brunch, lunch, dinner, and midnight. Jocelyn Delk Adams gave us a family sweet moment, with her cinnamon roll pound cake. 

But brunch in May doesn’t stop with Brunch Fest: We are sweetening every morning with a whole month devoted to breakfast. We’ve got recipes that are must-makes for your first weekend brunches, like a carrot cake coffee cake, five-ingredient egg sandwiches, and savory babka. 

May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we took that welcome opportunity to bring you a full week of Hawaiian food from one of our favorite food stars: Sheldon Simeon! Look for Sheldon’s beginner’s guide to Hawaiian cooking later this month. 

After a very long season it feels like winter is finally over, and there’s a glimmer of fun on the horizon. I hope that you are feeling that too, and that brunch is in your immediate future. Thank you for reading, for watching, and for letting us be a part of your May mornings.