What Mom REALLY wants for Mother's Day
Plus 3 brunch recipes - scones, coffee cake and cheesy baked eggs
News from the US Side of the Pond
Let’s be honest. Moms don’t need much on Mother’s Day. As long as we don’t have to cook or clean or take care of the kids, we’re happy!! If you’re wondering what to do for the Mom in your life (moms, feel free to share this far and wide!), make sure she doesn’t have to plan one.single.thing. Moms plan all year long — everything from doctor’s appointments, birthday parties, gifts for all major (and minor) holidays, meals, vacations, the list goes on and on. The last thing moms want to hear on Sunday is “What do YOU want to do today.” (ok, this might not apply to the mom who loves to plan everything, but, trust me, this applies to most of us!)
Whether you’re a husband, partner, or child, you know what the mom in your life likes, so planning for Sunday should be easy! You have a couple more days, so there’s still time! For example, I’m sure you already know if she likes tea or coffee in the morning. And I’m sure you also know whether she loves to go for a run, or if she prefers to linger in bed with a book. Trust me, you don’t have to plan anything extravagant or elaborate. Anything you plan will be so appreciated because YOU’RE the one who did the planning!
If you’re truly at a loss, here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing……….(all of these can….and should…..be accompanied with fresh flowers and delivery of her favorite morning beverage in bed!)
For the adventurous moms — plan a fun hike (don’t forget water bottles, snacks and sunscreen!)
For the fashion mom — drop her off at the mall or her favorite store and tell her you’ll be back in a couple of hours.
For the foodie mom — make reservations at that restaurant she’s always talking about, but hasn’t been to yet. Or buy ingredients for her favorite meal and pour her a glass of wine while you do all the cooking — and the cleaning up!
For the spa-loving mom — make her an appointment for a facial, massage, manicure, or pedicure. Bonus if you can find a service that comes to your house!
For the exhausted mom - take the kids out of the house for a couple of hours and let her do whatever she wants in peace.
When my kids were little and I couldn’t remember the last time I slept more than 2 hours straight, was living in the same pair of sweats, and was deep in the weeds of diapers, bottles, and toddler chaos, I loved going off with one of my best friends to shop and lunch and spend a few hours “kid-less.” Our husbands would always plan a fun park outing together, and then we’d all meet back up at one of our houses for dinner. As my kids got older, we created new traditions of breakfast in bed, fun hikes (if it wasn’t pouring rain), and dinner at home, just the 4 of us. And now I’ve reached the “empty nester” stage, my husband will be delivering me breakfast in bed (my fav tradition!) and I’ll Facetime with my kids later in the day.
However you’re celebrating Mother’s Day, I hope you can carve out time just for you! Whether that’s a quiet cup of coffee before the kids wake up, a long walk, lunch with girlfriends, or time to catch up on your favorite TV series. You deserve to spoil yourself!
Wishing all of you a very Happy Mother’s Day! And if you know someone who struggles with Sunday — maybe they’ve suffered the recent loss of their mom, have a strained relationship, are feeling lonely, or are just plain exhausted juggling it all — invite them to join you. Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness are the most meaningful.
Since Mother’s Day is practically synonymous with brunch here are some tasty ideas to make for Mom this Sunday!
Strawberry Scones
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (if you have it, use European butter like Kerrygold or Plugra)
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled, tops removed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
extra cream for dough (just in case) and brushing the tops of the scones
Turbinado or demerara sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Use a grater to shave in the butter (this will make your biscuits extra fluffy!), and add to the bowl with the flour. Work the dough, with very clean fingers or a pastry cutter, until it looks a bit crumbly.
Make a well in the center and add your strawberries. Use a spatula to fold them into the flour mixture.
Mix the vanilla and cream together in a measuring cup.
Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and use your hands to gently mix it all together. The dough should be a bit shaggy but hold together well.
If it's not quite holding together, add 1 - 2 more tablespoons of cream at a time.
The dough should be moist and cohesive, but not sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently gather and knead the dough, then, using a pastry cutter, cut into 2 disks.
Roll each disk out until they're about 1 1/2" thick.
Use the pastry cutter (or a sharp knife) to cut each disk into 6 even triangles.
Place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and use a silicon brush to brush the tops lightly with cream.
Sprinkle tops with a little demerara sugar, then bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
The World’s Best Coffee Cake
This is without question the best coffee cake in the entire world. I know. That's a big statement to make. But it's true. Cake and pudding combine with brown sugar and nuts to create an explosion of crumbly, buttery, nutty, and sugary goodness. It was a staple at playdates when my son was little, and if I had a dollar for every time I’ve shared this recipe with friends…..well, let’s just say I don’t know anyone who’s made this and didn’t fall in love!
Ingredients
1 Box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (I use the deluxe moist one)
1 small box of instant vanilla pudding (the Jello brand is an easy one to find)
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil (you can also use olive oil, but be sure it’s a very neutral tasting one)
3/4 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
For the Icing:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a standing mixer, mix the first 6 ingredients for about 5 -8 minutes. You want them to be extremely well blended!
While the batter is mixing, prepare the cake pans and the nut/sugar mixture.
In a separate bowl, combine the 2 sugars, cinnamon and pecans. Set aside.
Grease and flour 2 round or square cake pans.
To assemble the coffee cake:
Put 1/3 sugar mixture into the bottom of each pan. Divide 1/2 cake batter between each pan. Then sprinkle 1/3 sugar mixture over the cake batter in each pan. Add the rest of the cake batter to each pan. Top each pan with the remaining sugar mixture. Take a knife and swirl through cake and sugar mixtures to make it look like marble.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center. They are done when the toothpick comes out clean, or with a few crumbs.
Cool the cakes thoroughly on a wire rack before icing them.
For the icing:
In a small bowl whisk together the sugar, vanilla, and milk.
Drizzle icing over cooled cakes.
French Baked Cheesy Eggs
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
4 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.
Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and Parmesan and set aside. Carefully crack 2 eggs into each of 2 small bowls or teacups (you won't be baking them in these) without breaking the yolks. (To save time, have all the eggs ready before you start cooking.)
Place 2 individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon of cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Quickly, but carefully, pour 3 eggs into each gratin dish and sprinkle evenly with the herb mixture, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place back under the broiler for 7 minutes, until the whites of the eggs are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly.)
The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.
News from UK Side of the Pond
Happy Mothering Sunday to all celebrating on the US side of the Pond. Still a little bit grumpy that we have to celebrate in March in the UK - generally when it is cold and wet!
I am leaving recipes this week to Lisa while I turn my attention to a separate newsletter which includes ingredients that come into season during May.
I do want to take 5 minutes away from that to tell you about my recent trip to London with my son, George. A lot of you will already know we do this annually - we have done it since he was in pre-school! Taking in museums, galleries, parks, shows, restaurants, and when he hit his teens - shops. Without fail, we would see a show, and this year we visited the KitKat Club to watch Cabaret. An Olivier Award Winning production and it is exceptional. Immersive, shocking, stuff of goose pimples! Full on but highly recommended. It is very much behind closed doors, even the camera on your phone is covered by a sticker. What happens at the KitKat stays at the KitKat! There is, however, a trailer that will give you a clue and I have included the link below.
Sneaky Peak at the KitKat Club
The second night we visited The Palladium to see George’s favourite comedian of all time ever, Russell Howard, who was recording a stand-up show for Netflix. Very funny, quite high on the smutty scale!
For our afternoon tea this year, we visited “Sketch” and it has not just flown, but has catapulted to number one on our “Afternoon Tea Chart” - yes it is a thing!
It arrives as five courses:
Smoked Salmon Lollipop
Assorted Sandwiches
Coronation Chicken, Cucumber and Egg Mayonnaise, Lobster Roll and Croque Monsieur.
Petite Gateaux
Chocolate & Coffee Opera, Strawberry Battenberg, Praline, London to Paris, Rhubarb & White Chocolate Globe, Orange Blossom Macaron & a Grapefruit Marshmallow.
Scones
Fruit or Plain, Cornish clotted cream, Organic Strawberry & Poppy Jam & Raspberry & Rose Jam
Cake from the Trolley
Citrus Sponge
An “EXTENSIVE” range of teas, or if a special occasion, a range of champagne and English sparkling wine.
Hands up - this afternoon tea does not come cheap, but it is quite the most indulgent that I have had. Very special! Concentrating on the food, I loved that nothing was massive and that I was able to enjoy all of the flavours, without groaning & holding my stomach. The scones, often a disappointment, were the best I’ve had.
Shall we talk jam? Yes, I am fussy. I didn’t win my Great Taste awards settling for average. These were delicious!
The surroundings were extraordinary and the string music being played by three musicians was a real treat. The art left me wanting to come back to see more. The staff were all delightful, helpful, courteous and definitely not condescending.
We both loved it and George was the first to say “This goes to Number 1!”
