Brunch: The most important meal of the weekend

Marie Mosley looks at the red-velvet pancakes stacked on her plate and wishes she'd gotten the apple-cinnamon stuffed French toast. With chantilly cream and chocolate shavings on top, it's beautiful and delicious — and a plateful sits right across the table.

Pitchers of mimosa, bloody Mary and sangria — even at the early hour of noon — also stand on her table at Teavolve Cafe and Lounge in Baltimore. The dozen other people who RSVP'd yes are seated there too, and are deep in conversation.

What unites this group — some of whom didn't know each other before today — is a love of food. More specifically, a love of brunch. This hybrid meal is clearly an American passion, as many similar groups are meeting and eating their way through the weekend in restaurants and homes across the country (Google the name of your town and "brunch club" to find out if anyone has already gotten the ball rolling).

"I am a foodie, I'm friendly, and brunch is one of my favorite meals," says Mosley, who works at an engineering firm and also coordinates Brunching in Baltimore, a coed club of almost 600 devotees that organizes via Meetup.com. They reserve space at a different restaurant about three times a month for a relaxed meal, which only a fraction of the members can usually attend on any given weekend.

Thankfully, brunching tends to be a wallet-friendly endeavor, whether eaten out or cooked at home. "Brunch appeals to people because it's more flexible than a dinner party," says Gale Gand, author of Gale Gand's Brunch! (Clarkson Potter). "The meal lasts two hours instead of four, and you don't have to exclude your kids. Plus, it's cheaper — eggs are one of the least expensive foods you can buy."

Brunch clubs in and around Gand's hometown of Chicago — organized through churches, bookstores and other local groups — have invited her numerous times to come taste their renditions of her recipes. "I often bring the dish I like best from my book: my grandmother's pear streusel coffee cake," says Gand. "You can stir it all together by hand in one bowl, the pears don't need peeling, and it's one of those recipes that actually is better the next day."

Some brunch clubs, though, are not into doing it at home. Sacramento Sunday Brunches in California, for instance, is about eating, not cooking. "I like going out and not worrying too much about who will cook and who will clean up," says Rikki Kass, a homemaker who founded the group in November. "I really like to use my brunch club as a way to explore the restaurant scene in the greater Sacramento area."