Beef Breakfast

In August, my father-in-law was asked if Whitehurst Cattle Co. would host a breakfast for bloggers who were on a “Ranch to Plate” type tour hosted by the Florida Beef Council. Typically we’d host something like this out at the family lodge, but one of the cousin’s were getting married out there that weekend, so it was tied up. Plan B, the family hunting camp, turned out to be a fantastic place for the breakfast, though.

Since we were in the woods, I wanted to keep the feel rustic. We used those old faithful ruffled-burlap runners that I made years ago and have used countless times since. We have one long line of picnic tables at the camp, so it made for a neat looking table. We bought some cheap buffalo check gingham fabric to serve as our tablecloth, and ordered some fresh sunflowers and other greenery from the florist, that I arranged in mason jars for the tables. I also added in some pine branches and pine cones from the yard. Sadly, I didn’t get many pictures – we were too busy stirring grits and rolling biscuits. :)

Since we were hosting bloggers, I knew they’d have cameras and I knew they’d appreciate presentation. We were all slightly nervous because they are FOOD bloggers – true foodies – and while I think we all cook pretty dang good, it’s still really intimidating. It was breakfast though, and how hard is it to mess up breakfast? Pretty hard, so we had that going for us. ;)

The president of the Florida Beef Council introduced my father-in-law, who introduced all of us and told about the family ranch. He shared how our children are the fifth generation to live out here, and how it was all started by his Grandfather, and that while he runs the company, it’s owned by him, his sisters, and their eight cousins. The bloggers all seemed to love the fact that Whitehurst Cattle, as in most family farms and ranches, is a multi-generational operation. After the blessing, it was time to eat!

We did a biscuit bar, with homemade buttermilk biscuits, sausage gravy, country fried steak, bacon, link sausage, cheeses, breakfast casserole, grits, pancakes, and fresh fruit. I did a mini-cascade with the Florida Beef Council logo carved in the melon on top. It was a beautiful spread. All piled up on the two square serving tables at the camp… it was rustic and warm and totally “homey.” I was so pleased with how it all came together.

Like I said, we didn’t have a chance to get many pictures, but I snagged some from the bloggers’ instagram accounts:

It was such a fun morning and we enjoyed meeting the ladies and serving them breakfast.

~amw~