I hosted brunch like Chrissy Teigen — here’s what happened

On a recent trip to the bookstore, I found myself standing at the checkout holding Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Cravings. I am not a cookbook person. I know how to cook, but I don’t actually do it very often (just ask the peeps Chipotle). But I write about Chrissy Teigen a lot, her recipes sounded scrumptious and yes, I was lured in by the magic of her amazing Instagram photos. She makes cooking look awfully fun. Downright glamorous, even.

Case in point…this insanely beautiful photo of her cooking brunch on Mother’s Day:

COME ON. Who looks like that when they’re cooking brunch? Especially only three short weeks after giving birth to her brand new baby? Chrissy Teigen, that’s who.

So yeah. I bought the cookbook.

Before I even got home, I worried I would never cook any of the recipes. So I immediately emailed some of my besties and invited them over for brunch the next morning. I went FULL CHRISSY TEIGEN, guys. And this is what happened…

Defining brunch

In Cravings, Chrissy writes, “Can we just call brunch what it is? It’s morning alcohol. We’re boozing in the morning.”

I like this definition, as do my friends. No problems there. I uncorked some champagne and moved on to…

The Tunes

John Legend, because OBVIOUSLY. Since John Legend is Chrissy Teigen’s husband, I like to imagine he’s always there, serenading her as she cooks. Here’s my evidence to support this theory:

Okay, we can’t actually tell if he’s singing. But he’s helping, and that’s even better.

Since John Legend wasn’t on hand to act as my sous chef, I downloaded his album Love in the Future and played it all morning. (How did I not have this on my iPod before now? It is amazing.)

Looking the Part

If I was going to truly do this the way that Chrissy Teigen would, I needed to rock her gorgeous cooking aesthetic. Sadly, I do not own a sublime Gucci kimono like the one she wore in her Mother’s Day brunch Insta. (Why don’t I own one of those? Whyyyyy?) So in order to look as Chrissy Teigen as possible, I wore a strapless top. Ordinarily, I would never cook in something like this. But Chrissy totally would. Behold her rocking a strapless top while buttering up an enormous turkey:

So I piled my hair on top of my head and put on a cute strapless top (the only one I own TBH) and jeans. Of course I also posted a pic to my social media feeds. (Note the aforementioned morning alcohol in my hand.)

This look definitely made an impression. Every one of my friends who came to my brunch commented on it, as did a lot of people on IG and Facebook. I even got a “Yas queen!” and a “You even look cute when you COOK!”. I can’t lie. I enjoyed the compliments quite a bit. “This must be what Chrissy Teigen feels like every single day of the year,” I thought.

And then this happened:

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Chrissy Teigen herself liked my IG post, which is when I knew I was nailing it. So far, so good.

The Menu

Obviously the food was the most important part of the whole experience. And I had to do a good job, because after all, Chrissy Teigen was watching.

For my menu, I chose three recipes from Cravings: Creamy Parmesan Skillet Eggs, Crispy Bacon Hash Browns, Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal.

I was most nervous about the Creamy Parmesan Skillet Eggs because the cheese is supposed to caramelize beneath the eggs and I had visions of burned parmesan and worried I’d have to pry the eggs out of my skillet with a jackhammer. But according to Cravings, this recipe is Chrissy’s “personal go-to for brunches.” So I had to make them. I HAD TO.

And guess what? They were DELISH. Seriously, I have never tasted eggs this good. Here’s what mine looked like, compared to Chrissy Teigen’s:

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Not too bad, right?! I’m telling you, they were fantastic. I would have them every day if they didn’t contain half a cup of heavy cream.

The Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal was also super yummy. It’s almost like a cobbler, but with oatmeal. Which means it’s super healthy, right? (I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it means. There’s even fresh fruit in it.) Here’s how it turned out, beside Chrissy Teigen’s version of the same recipe:

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Again, I was thrilled with the result. At this point, I’d basically become Chrissy Teigen. (Stop laughing.)

Last up were the Crispy Bacon Hash Browns. I have never in my life made homemade hash browns before, but I’ve always loved them. Like Chrissy Teigen, I also believe in their infinite superiority over home fries. (Seriously, you need to read her rant about this in Cravings. It’s epic.)

Like the other recipes, the hash browns were to die for. Sadly, they did not photograph well. But I noticed there’s not even a close-up photo of them in Cravings. Just a pic of John Legend eating hash browns in bed. Tragically, John Legend was not on hand to do the same at my house. So here’s the sad photo of my hash browns which were way yummier than they look. Trust.

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What I Learned

My Chrissy Teigen brunch was a massive success.

The food was so good that one of my friends bought a copy of Cravings on her way home and another texted me later and said she’d been “talking about those eggs all day long.” Honestly, the recipes weren’t difficult at all. I’m definitely planning on making more of them. In fact, I might even see a Chrissy Teigen dinner party in my future.

Side note: People are still commenting on my photo on Facebook. BRB. Shopping for more strapless clothes, because who needs aprons?

Also, I think Chipotle misses me.

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