What do you do to honour your Mom on Mother’s Day? I like to take her to her favourite places, help her do her favourite things (she’s 94 and needs a little help) and feed her her favourite foods. That last one, about food, can be both the most rewarding and the hardest one to pull off! But it can be fun and easy…
This crazy-easy Breakfast Bake comes from the Culinary Brodown King –
Josh Scherer. You can use the fresh or frozen Breakfast Sandwich
of your choice rather than Sliders. Add Onions or Peppers
or anything else you’d like, to make it your own…
For the geographically challenged Mom…
If you live too far away from your Mom to visit her on her Day, you’ve got it relatively easy. Just remember to send an appropriate card that you spent a little too much on and some flowers. A friend says she used to send her Mom live, potted flower arrangements so she could enjoy them year-round – until one year Mom not too subtly suggested she was running out of places to put them. This Mom apparently has two green thumbs; her plants just keep on going and going like a certain battery company bunny.
But my friend came up with a solution that seems to have stuck. She now sends an edible arrangement of Fresh Fruits and Chocolate which her Mom can share with family and friends at her end. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
For the Mom who’s close at hand…
There are lots of things my Mom likes to do, but she has mobility problems due to extreme arthritis. So, any Mother’s Day activity that involves a lot of activity is out. Instead, we take a drive in the country. Mom grew up on a farm and likes to see what farmers in our part of the world are doing during any given season. It takes her back, and sparks memories she might not otherwise have had the occasion to share. Mom was, in earlier times, an avid gardener and she also loves to visit the Central Experimental Farm here in Ottawa. This time of year, it’s the remarkable Greenhouses she finds enthralling.
But what about the Food?
On previous Mother’s Days I’ve written here about things you can do to make Mom’s Day special without making it a horror for you.
One of my most popular suggestions has been to have Brunch instead of both Breakfast and Lunch. I like to serve Scrambled Eggs, a Classic Quiche or my fave Breakfast Bake. For those who don’t do a lot of cooking, I have a Bake recipe that leverages some ready-prepped ingredients, making the dish as easy and foolproof as you can get. I’ve also served special heart-shaped stuffed Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on occasion. Just make the Sammys as usual and use a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to trim out the shapes. (The dog or your spouse will probably be more than happy to dispose of the trimmings for you.)
After Brunch it’s time to get ready for our drive. Arriving home mid-afternoon, it’s time to think about supper. Of course, you should have been thinking about it long before then, especially if you’re cooking. But I usually like to give Mom her choice of main meal on her Day. We start talking about it a week in advance! The options include dinner out at a restaurant of her choice, but that, she now says, is for younger people with more energy. And it can be sheer Hell to get a reservation for Mother’s Day unless you book a monht or more in advance. The alternative is dinner in, which I’ll prepare, or dinner delivered, which is what Mom usually chooses. Believe it or not, Mom sometimes asks for KFC! It’s not something we have very often at our house, so it’s a treat. More often than not, though, it’s Asian Food, which is Mom’s hands-down favourite, and something we only have a few times a year (usually on birthdays).
Even if it’s just going to be KFC, I make sure I have a bottle of appropriate Wine, and set the table with the good china and a lace tablecloth. That definitely makes it ‘an occasion’.
So, Mother’s Day can be a pleasure…
…for both Mom and you, if you plan it right and think ahead!
~ Maggie J.