Mother’s Day Love
With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, I thought I’d give you all a little reminder as well as a few suggestions of things you to make for your mom. It goes without saying that I often express my love through the preparing of food for my family and friends, and I have no doubt that if my mom were still here today, I would absolutely be planning a spectacular meal to share with her. Also, if your mom has passed or isn’t present in your life and your dad or someone else has done double duty as a result, consider honoring them on Mother’s Day as well. The role of a mother is a big one, no matter who is filling it.
This baked French toast is a perfect option for French toast lovers. It has all that great flavor and texture but is made the night before so all you need to do is pop it in the oven in the morning. Easy peasy, pretty, and delicious!
I don’t remember a lot about what foods my mom loved, but I do remember that she loved scones and she made them on Christmas morning. I wish I could make these blueberry scones for her. They are tender, buttery, and the hint of lemon zest is a really nice finishing note. Don’t tell any of the other scones, but I really think these are my favorite.
Make them for breakfast or even for dessert, but I do suggest you make them. These chocolate swirl buns are out of this world.
Whether for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, my family knows that this breakfast panini with herb butter is my ultimate. It’s the thing guaranteed to put a smile on my face. If your mom is a fan of breakfast sandwiches, this will make her day.
Moving right along to lunch, these garlicky shrimp and avocado open-faced sandwiches are a great option. Light, quick and easy but still incredibly tasty.
Greek pita pizzas are a great choice for a lunch that is light, yet full of flavor. I’ll take one, please!
Grilled cheese is pretty much my all-time favorite lunch, and this spinach artichoke version would be a fantastic Mother’s Day treat in my book.
If you are looking for a dinner that is easy but impressive, look no further than caramelized scallops. This is my absolute favorite way to prepare scallops and it requires pretty minimal effort.
Lasagna-stuffed portabellos are a simpler version of a classic comfort food and I love them for that.
Cinco de Mayo may have been this past weekend, but in our house Mexican food is always the right answer. These chicken enchiladas are one of my favorite special occasion/celebration dinners, and I would love to have them on Mother’s Day.
Lastly, a pasta dish that is always welcome on my table, pasta alla vodka. Classics like this never go out of style.
Of course, if your mom has a sweet tooth, I have too many options too really begin to narrow it down. Here are just a few of my favorite suggestions.
Oh, tunnel of fudge cake, you chocolate lover’s dream. How can I resist that gorgeous chocolate glaze and gooey chocolate center? Oh yeah, I can’t.
Raspberry chiffon pie is pretty, pink, and a lovely choice for spring.
Tiramisu cupcakes. Just do it.
Homemade rocky road ice cream could be a fun thing to make together with mom, or just a really delicious surprise.
It may be cliché, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make churros in time for Cince de Mayo. Over the past year or so, I’ve become slightly enamored with them thanks to the fantastic churros at 
Have you ever made churros? Or if you have at least eaten them, what do you like to dip them in? I think the vanilla ice cream is totally the way to go, but Ben likes the chocolate sauce. I know some people dip them in hot chocolate, which also sounds pretty great. I hope you all enjoy some amazing Mexican food this weekend. I know I will!
1. At the beginning of the month, we took a family road trip to Atlanta to visit my brother and his fiancee, as well as my friend 
It’s the beginning of the week. The time when we start out with all our high expectations and all the best intentions. To work out every day, to eat good-for-you foods all week long, to organize every digital file on your computer into a fabulously streamlined system, etc. etc. Whatever your goals for the week may be, starting things off with a hefty dose of leafy greens that also happens to taste crave-worthy sounds like a great start to me.
Massaged kale salad is really nothing new, but this is the first time I’ve been compelled to make one immediately upon seeing the recipe. I have a major thing for Caesar salad and I like almost every version I try. Whether the dressing is thick or thin, classic or jazzed up, it’s all good to me. This one especially intrigued me because it has all the deliciousness I expect from a Caesar, but with a nice nutritional boost from using kale instead of lettuce. We enjoyed this for lunch yesterday and it was such a hit, I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I have a feeling this is going to become a frequent weekend lunch and quick dinner around here. We are definitely satisfied with just the bowl of greens and some garlicky croutons but I’m sure this would also be excellent with the addition of some grilled chicken or shrimp. So go ahead and start the week off right, and if by Friday you want to enjoy this alongside a glass of wine that’s okay too. More likely than not, I’ll be right there with you.
I’ve talked about my family many, many times on here, so if you’ve read for any length of time, you may have discerned that I have two pretty fantastic younger brothers. Even though they are most definitely adults, I will always think of them as my baby brothers. As much as I adore them now, it wasn’t always so. They are very close in age to each other, but several years younger than me. Add to that the fact that they were both 1000% boy and it probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that things weren’t always peachy growing up with them. Our dad aptly described it many times as “like raising wild dogs.” Every chance I had, I would beg my mom for a younger sister. She was at the top of my Christmas list many years in a row. Eventually I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be getting a sister.
Any older sister is bound to be protective of her younger brothers, but when Mom passed away and we were all still so young, it definitely added another dimension to my worries. As they grew out of the “wild dog” phase and into the “teenage boy reeking of Axe” stage, I began to worry specifically about the girls they would date. I was generally glad that they didn’t seem overly preoccupied with girls, and that Davy never seemed to have an official girlfriend. Finally around Davy’s senior year of high school I caught wind of a girl in his life – Rebekah. I remember the first time I met her vividly because I was so, so nervous. I worried that I wouldn’t like her for any number of nebulous, vague reasons, or that she and Davy would seem like a bad fit. But all of that worrying was for nothing. I loved her from the start and even better, I could tell that she loved Davy. He’s definitely a unique personality in many ways but every time I see them together, I’m reassured because she so totally gets him.
I was honored when Rebekah agreed to let me host a bridal shower for her friends and some family. Since our families are from Bloomington and many of her friends are still there, we decided that would be the best location for the shower. I pondered a few different venues for the shower and inquired at 
The manor at Deer Park is an amazing, spacious, and ornate home, and it provided a lovely base that required only minimal decoration for hosting an elegant shower. In addition to the invites, Courtney created coordinating printables including this adorable bunting. It was just the thing to decorate the head of the room where we played games and opened gifts. (Side note: My standard prize for winning shower games is sitting there on the mantle – Godiva truffles and Starbucks gift cards. You can never go wrong with coffee and chocolate :)
Since this was a bridal shower and not a baby shower, a champagne bellini bar was totally appropriate and very, very much enjoyed! We had raspberry, blackberry, and peach puree available for making the bellinis. They were all great but the classic peach was definitely my favorite combination.
I also made sure to include a non-alcoholic option for the expectant moms in attendance. This sparkling pink lemonade has long been a favorite of mine and is every bit as fun as a cocktail, in my opinion.
To help the girly up the room where the food was served, I floated two dozen balloons over the food table and cut the ribbons to an appropriate length. This added a nice festive touch and I think carried that bubbly theme through a bit more.
Since the shower was at lunch time, I wanted to make sure there was plenty of food. I served a few savory items and then had a small array of pink desserts to round out the menu. Almost everything was able to be made in advance, which was essential for this party since I wasn’t in my own home. The full menu was as follows:
I’ve seen macarons before with a piece of fresh fruit inside (usually a raspberry) surrounded by 
Can we just talk for one second about how gorgeous ranunculus is? I love the graceful swirls of the petals. I swear, I could just stare at them for hours! Also, a little entertaining tip – hurricane or other large candle holders also double spectacularly as vases. Don’t go buying new vases if you have good candle holders around.
After we had all finished eating, we refilled our champagne glasses and then gathered round for some shower games. I try to keep these fairly short, sweet, and non-embarrassing for anyone involved. One game was a cooking knowledge quiz from a Hallmark book of bridal shower games from the late ’70s. It was actually fairly challenging! The next game is what is pictured above, The Price is Right. (I played this once at a shower and loved the idea so much, I had to use it myself.) I bought a variety of household items for the bride and groom to keep – mostly cleaning supplies, headache medicine, dental floss, etc. Everyone writes down their guesses for the prices of the items (I also tell them what store the items were purchased at, since prices vary) and the person with the closest total price without going over wins! I am personally absolutely terrible at estimating things like this, so I was incredibly impressed with the winner. She came within about $1.50 of the total! Lastly, I had asked Davy 15 questions before the shower and I asked Rebekah the same 15 questions. For every answer they matched up, I gave them a $5 toward a date night out at a restaurant of their choosing. They did really well at about eight!
Then Rebekah opened her gifts. It’s always such fun to see brides getting fun equipment and dishes to stock their kitchens. Rebekah is a fantastic cook so I know all of it will be put to good use.
After gifts, many guests lingered a while longer and we made sure to finish off the leftover champagne. I had little boxes of caramel corn as favors, spruced up by some gold glitter ribbon, gold twine, and cute tags from Courtney. I was sad for the shower to end but it’s okay because in no time at all it will be the big wedding day! What a wonderful day that will be.
