LMNOP

Longtime readers (hi, Mom) may be familiar with my occasional use of this site as a place to publicly state my goals/and or resolutions and hold myself accountable to them (lip gloss audits, anyone?). Now that the new year has arrived, I would like to formally (I am wearing a ball gown as I type this) announce my Official 2011 Resolution:

This is perhaps the most ambitious New Year's Resolution I have taken on in years--and yes, I realize what it means about me as a person that I am patting myself on the back for having the "ambition" to eat more waffles and omelets. However, let me just remind you that my resolution not too many years ago was to always have gum in my purse. This is huge by comparison.

Before I go into details about my First Brunch of 2011, here are a few parameters I've set for this resolution:

1. I will go on a minimum of 15 brunches in 2011. (This number seemed low to some people I discussed my resolution with, and high to others. I chose it because it seemed manageable without being overwhelming. If I exceed 15, all the better.)
2. I will track these brunches using an official Brunch-o-Meter, similar to the Ham-ometer.
3. I will also describe my brunches on my blog as a way of keeping myself accountable to this hallowed resolution.

Now, I already have my first Brunch Quarter loosely planned, with MUCH thanks to my brunchy godmother Andrea. But my first brunch of 2011 actually ended up coming about without any planning on my part at all, as my friend Amanda had a birthday brunch this weekend at CommonWealth Gastropub. I decided it was definitely eligible to count for resolution purposes, so here is my official first brunchcap of 2011.

 Brunch #1: CommonWealth Gastropub

For some background on CommonWealth, here's a review courtesy of my aforementioned brunchy godmother. I'm still not sure what angle my own brunch recaps will take, as I'm not much of a food writer. Oh, well--this one will be brief anyway, since I'm exhausted from explaining the parameters of this whole resolution. 

The brunch menu at CommonWealth has a lot of good options, and we had trouble deciding. Here are Kelly and Doug pondering their choices:

I was having, like, an emotional crisis deciding if I wanted a sweet or savory entree, so in the end I decided to get an omelet AND a popover.

Everything was gooooooood--especially the popover, which got passed around the table and was enjoyed by all. And yes, that is a mimosa, and it was yum. Mimosas were free with brunch purchase, which is great, but be warned: champagne corks were poppin' every two minutes in that joint. If you are easily startled (which I am), you will be constantly jumping out of your seat on free mimosa day.

I forget what Doug had, but when he was done, only its pinkish-purply sauce remained. I was trying to decide what it looked like (Muppet guts?) and eventually determined that it appeared as though Doug had slaughtered and eaten Birdo. Doug then posed for this picture and the table instructed me to Photoshop Birdo in:

Successful brunch. There is only one thing left to do: UPDATE THE BRUNCH-O-METER!

There's lots more brunching to be done. Any suggestions/recommendations?