There’s a special bond between food and family. Whenever a special holiday comes around, it is most often accompanied by a family gathering centered around a meal. And though the whole family may be involved in the meal preparation, it usually falls on Mom to do most of the heavy lifting.
Mother’s Day is that one day of the year where Mom can relax and enjoy the day that is focused just on her. In the United States, the idea of honoring mothers with a special day dates back to the early 1900s. In 1902, West Virginia native Anna Jarvis began a campaign to celebrate Mother’s Day in May in honor of her own mother who had recently passed away.
Her idea took hold throughout the country, but it wasn’t until 1914 when a joint resolution of Congress was created, proclaiming a national day honoring mothers. Since that year, the second Sunday in May has been officially labeled as Mother’s Day.
Ways to recognize mothers vary from the traditional card and bouquet of flowers to homemade crafts like a macaroni necklace and crayon-drawn family portrait. Handwritten messages and sweet-smelling flowers have their place, but if you really want to show your mom some love, turn off the alarm, let her sleep in and present her with a special made-to- order breakfast served in bed.
Make the breakfast-in-bed project a family affair and include the kids. This is one special occasion where semi-homemade and simple replace gourmet and fancy. Select recipes that can be made in mixing bowls with only limited measuring and stirring involved. Some adult supervision will be needed to do the shopping along with a bit of oven work, but let the kids pitch in by helping with the meal assembly and final presentation. As an added bonus, these recipes make enough so the kids can enjoy breakfast as well — in another room, of course.
Jumpstart Mom’s breakfast in bed with a parfait composed of layers of vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit and your favorite granola. The assembly work is easy and a perfect project for kids. Divide the yogurt, fruit and granola in separate bowls, letting the kids spoon the layers into kid-friendly (no stems) serving glasses.
For extra embellishments include a small dish of coconut flakes, chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Extra parfaits make a perfect treat for the kids after they deliver Mom her breakfast or for a mid-day snack later in the day.
An easy “make in a bowl” recipe is blueberry sheet-pan pancakes. The batter is simple to put together, with the pancakes themselves baked in the oven instead of in a pan on the stovetop. Spread the batter evenly in a sheet pan with sides then dot with fresh blueberries. In less than 15 minutes, the pancakes are ready. The baked pancake can be cut into squares or made extra fancy by using a heart shaped cookie cutter to form the individual servings. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar and some warm maple syrup and your Mother’s Day main course is complete.
A homemade breakfast sweet is the final component of Mom’s breakfast-in-bed menu. Cornmeal gives these morning muffins a bit of crunch. A dollop of Mom’s favorite jam gives the muffi n sweetness and a bright pop of color.
Keep the electric mixer tucked away in the kitchen shelf. These easy-to-make muffins are made in a bowl with ingredients mixed together with a spatula. About 8 minutes before the muffins are done, remove them from the oven and use a spoon to make an indentation on the top. Fill the area with a dollop of Mom’s favorite fruit jam, then return to the oven for a final baking.
Finish your Mother’s Day breakfast feast with a special handmade edible card. A package of refrigerated crescent rolls, some cinnamon sugar and a strawberry can be transformed into the perfect edible message to Mom. Tear off pieces of dough and let the kids roll it into a rope. Use the crescent roll ropes to form letters that spell “I” and “Mom.” Let an adult take over and carve half of a strawberry into a heart. Place the baked letters on a plate that spells out “I love Mom” with the heart-shaped berry replacing the word love. Serve it up to Mom accompanied by some hugs, and the DIY Mother’s Day breakfast-in-bed project is complete.
I was blessed to have the perfect mother. Of course, I am sure this sentiment is shared by many of our readers. She was supportive of my dreams, was careful not to say too much about my early boyfriend selections and instinctively knew when I needed a hug or that long-distance phone call to get me through a tough time.
She was also a terrific cook. Her recipe box was filled with handwritten recipes with special notes about the recipe’s origin and tips on the proper preparation. Some recipes in her collection were on the elaborate side, like her veal Marsala that we enjoyed on special occasions. That was one of those early cooking with wine experiments that became a birthday dinner favorite. Others were special in their homespun simplicity like her individual meat loaves topped with a just-right piquant tomato sauce.
Although my mother, Marie Reitz, is no longer with us, her recipe box remains, providing a legacy of recipes to enjoy and teach to other family members who were not as fortunate to learn hands-on with her in the kitchen. Every Mother’s Day, my fingers glide through those handwritten, yellowed-on-the–edges recipe cards. Even the simple act of reading them reconnects me to my mom and reminds me of who I am and how my mom was such a big part of molding me into the woman, and chef, I am today.
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