Anniversaries and birthdays are really the only appropriate occasions for breakfast in bed. Which is unfortunate, because it's probably the second most enjoyable experience you can have in that particular part of the house.

Yesterday I made Lisa breakfast in bed for our anniversary. I'd been out shopping for ingredients the day before, so I didn't have to leave the house. Here's what was on the menu:

Brioche French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1 brioche loaf
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1/3 cup milk
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 tbsp brandy or liqueur (I used Calvados; you can use cognac, amaretto, frangelico, or anything else that will give an added layer of flavor)
  
• pinch salt
  
• 1/8 tsp each: fresh-ground nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon
  

Slice brioche loaf into slices one-and-a-half inches thick. Whisk together remaining ingredients. In a frying pan on medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Dip the brioche slices into the batter quickly, twice on each side, and place in the pan. Cook on one side until golden brown, then flip. When browned on the other side, remove from pan. Reserve in oven on low heat (180 degrees) until ready to serve. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with hot maple syrup and bacon or sausage (Lisa got Applewood-Smoked Niman Ranch bacon and Citarella's chicken-apple sausage) To keep the bacon flat and make it crispy without burning it, cook it in a 325-degree oven on a wire rack over a roasting pan (to catch the drippings) for 20-30 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Seasonal Fruit Salad

November is a great time for seasonal produce, and this salad was a celebration of autumn fruits. I made Lisa a salad of pears, persimmon, and pomegranate. A few notes:

• Persimmons come in two varieties, the tall, bell-shaped American variety (called "Hachiya") and the squat, round Japanese variety (also known as "Fuyu"). I prefer the American variety, though it is a little less forgiving. Persimmons are not ripe until they are squishily soft, and when underripe they have the astringency of a cheap underaged red wine spiked with witch hazel. Keep them in a closed brown paper bag until they ripen; add a banana to the bag to speed the process. When ripe, cut off the top, cut out the core as you would a tomato or strawberry, and cut into longitudinal sections. Set the sections peel-side down on a cutting board, and run a sharp knife as close along the peel as you can to separate the flesh. The flesh remaining on the peel is a treat for the chef; you can scrape it off the peel with your teeth like you would an artichoke leaf. The flavor of persimmons is difficult to describe; it has a honeyed sweetness, floral aromas, and a hint of winter spice. The color is somewhere between salmon and coral.

• Pomegranates are easier than they look. Cut them in half through the blossom, and if necessary into quarters. Gently brushing the seeds with your fingertips should free them. Peel away the thin membranes as necessary to expose more seeds, and bend back the outer shell to loosen them. This can be messy, so you may want to wear an apron. The seeds add tartness, crunch, and a blood-red splash of color.

• Different pears are good for different things. For a fruit salad where the main body comes from the soft floral flesh of persimmon, I used a moderately firm-fleshed and mildly sweet Bartlett pear. Peel with a vegetable peeler, core and cut into chunks. Because the peeled flesh will brown quickly, give it a squirt of citrus juice to keep it from oxidizing. I tossed in a few tangerine segments, but you could use a bit of lemon, orange, or grapefruit juice.

I garnished this salad with a few leaves of Thai basil from my kitchen-counter herb garden. It did not require any sugar.

Champagne Cocktails

Weekend brunches aren't complete without a bubbly beverage. I made us two different cocktails; a classic Bellini and a blood-orange Mimosa. Both were made with nonvintage Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, my favorite all-purpose Champagne. For the bellini, I used Looza peach nectar, and for the mimosa, I used fresh-squeezed blood orange juice from Citarella. To assemble the cocktail, fill a champagne flute 1/3 full with fruit juice, then add champagne to the 2/3 mark, and top with a splash more of the fruit juice. Make sure all the ingredients are chilled before mixing.