Toast Bar: As Awesome as It Sounds

As promised (yes, I was serious): how to fancy up your brunch spread with the soon-to-be-all-the-rage toast bar. (Note: it’s not that fancy. I mean, it is fancier than a pile of egg mcmuffins or having to open the fridge to get out the jam. I guess there’s that.)

Ahem. I present … my toast bar!

The first thing you’re going to have to do is clear off a suitable surface. Because I’m not the only one who’s dining room buffet is perpetually home to every single sheet of paper and craft project and sports trophy and are you kidding me with this pine cone collection?! Right? So put all that crap somewhere else.

Then get out your toaster. It doesn’t have to be a super shiny chrome deal like I have (although my toaster does make me very, very happy). Whatever you have at home is fine. Next — and this step is very important — wipe that sucker down. You would not believe how much grease and dirt was clinging to that chrome surface. I find baby wipes are well-suited for this job, but use whatever works.

The toaster is the centerpiece of a well-designed toast bar. *snort* Whatever. It is! So start by setting it up on your newly cleared-off surface. (I also discovered you can make a table runner just by folding a regular table cloth over a couple times. You guys, I could get a whole other blog post out of that.) Then go find an extension cord if you need one. You’re going to need one. Toaster cords are, like, 18 inches long these days. Ridiculous. So go fetch that extension cord and plug in your toaster.

Then arrange a selection of toastables. You know, nice sliced bread, english muffins and bagels, like I have here. If there’s anything else you like to toast, go ahead and lay it out there. Some sort of pastry? Eggo waffles? I don’t care. Anything goes. I liked the idea of using a large, wooden cutting board so people could also cut their toast, etc. at the same time. But, really, any plate or platter would work. Just try to artfully arrange it just so, so that it looks like you just threw it together and didn’t arrange it at all.

You’ll also need some knives or spreaders for the jam and stuff. I have mine laid out on the cutting board here, but I’d probably stick them into the spreads for an actual party.

Speaking of spreads! This is what makes it a toast bar. The essential toast spreads, if you ask me, are butter, peanut butter, marmalade, strawberry jam and cream cheese. That’s what I have here. Obviously, if you have some fancy preserves in a cellophane-wrapped gift basket that you’ve been holding onto, you’ll want to break them out now. Whatever you like, whatever you have. I just spooned out the spreads in little glass bowls. Any sort of dainty bowl or pot works. You can serve them right out of the jar if it’s small and nice enough. I do recommend, however, either using whipped cream cheese or cutting small rectangles off a block (like I did here) for easier spreading.

Retro stereo system sold separately.

Uh, so yeah. Throw in a stack of plates and that about covers it. The toast bar I did for Mary’s birthday last weekend was just part of the brunch. There was also a strata (think savoury bread pudding, yum) and some croissants and coffee cake … A LOT of bread come to think of it. Hey, also fresh fruit and coffee! Depending on the occasion, though, a toast bar could be more than enough on it’s own.

You can go ahead and make yourself some toast now. I know you will.

Okay, ‘fess up. I’m not the first one who thought of this, am I? I’m just really giving “continental breakfast” à la Best Western-type motels a fancy new name, aren’t I? Has anybody else been doing this in their home?