Mother’s Dream

We celebrated our moms a week early for Mother’s Day. Jason’s parents (sadly) returned to Maine this week for the summer. We wanted to make sure we got a little mom-celebration in before they took off.

we miss them already!

Due to our recent change in income status, we had to do Mother’s Day on a budget this year. We invited our moms over for Sunday brunch. They were both allowed to bring a date and both chose to bring our dads (whew!).

only my mom is smiling for the camera!

I’m sharing this today, hoping it may inspire someone else to do a similar, low-budget mom-honoring brunch this coming weekend. The meal was fantastic and our moms felt loved – success!

First, the decorations… we broke out our china and flatware… which we rarely use, but this was a fun excuse… also picked up some flowers at Costco and put two in bud vases at our mom’s seats. So, an $8.99 bunch of flowers is all this cost us – we already had all the other fancy-schmancy stuff thanks to our wedding guests.

Next, the FOOD. I’ve made this brunch a couple of times before and it is a hit!

I discovered these recipes during an episode of Everyday Italian (with Giada de Laurentiis) on Food Network a few years ago. Here are the recipes and my tips/suggestions:

Crostata with Raspberry Jam: Any berry jam will work. This time, I used blueberry and it was yummy. Tips: I briefly toss the almonds around in a hot pan to give them a little extra flavor. It’s also important to allow the dough to chill for one hour – it’s very easy to work with if you do that.

(still cookin’… I forgot to get a good shot of the finished product!)

Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato, and Fontina: I subbed broccoli for the asparagus (my dad hates asparagus!) and mozzarella for the fontina (to save money) and it was fantastic. This recipe is really easy. My only regret is that I should have made two frittatas as I think our guests would have appreciated bigger portions of protein – due to all of the sweet treats we were serving!

Bruschetta with Ricotta and Marmalade: Oh my goodness, this is HEAVEN. I’m so glad we had some pieces leftover because I munched on a couple more in the afternoon. Sounds like a totally random combo – but OH. SO. GOOD. Tip: we grilled thick slices of bread on the grill. That way, we could do the whole loaf at once and they turned out perfect!

Giada’s brunch menu also calls for a delish Raspberry Bellini. Sadly, we did not have those – but they are yummo.

I did try one new menu item…

Strawberry-Banana Muffins

I made these on a whim the morning of the brunch. We had brown bananas and some strawberries that were about to turn bad. So, I used my favorite banana bread recipe, threw in the strawberries, made them muffins and they were SO GOOD.

Here is the recipe:

Recipe card background source from here.

So, that’s how we honored our moms – filling their tummies with yummy food! How about you? How will you be spending Mother’s Day this weekend?