Mother's Day Brunch Menu

Mother's Day is this Sunday. You better buy a card now-- all the good ones will be gone and you'll be left with something like this:

I don't know about you, but there are two days I really don't want to go out to eat-- Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. It's not that I don't want to celebrate both those days, but being in an over-stuffed restaurant surrounded by people at other tables whose faces hold all the joy of folks having foot surgery just under the table... it's not my idea of a good time.

So we're having a Mother's Day Brunch at our place. My parents are coming, Patrick's parents are coming and my grandmother is coming too. Here's the menu so far:

Asparagus Galette
Deviled Eggs
Potato Salad with Lots of Dill

Baby-Back Ribs
Grilled Shrimp
Brownies
Little Lemon Tarts
Prosecco & Bloody Marys

We're still open to suggestions and will flip some things around but this seems like a nice, spring-time menu.

Thanksgiving Menu

I'll be monkeying around with this menu in the coming days and adding links to recipes as I post/gather them. I'm enjoying getting ready for the holiday. Today, I cleaned out my kitchen cupboards and took stock of what pots, pans, and staples I have, which felt great. I need to get some tablecloths but other than that, we're pretty well set.

Appetizers

Sweet Potato Chips and Caramelized Shallot Dip
Goat Cheese and Honey Toastinis
Crudites
Cheese and Cracker Tray****

Main Course

Spinach Salad with Dried Cranberries, Candied Walnuts, Bacon, and Pear Gorgonzola Dressing
Ambrosia****
Apple Brined Turkey
Mom's Roast Turkey***
Mom's Sausage Stuffing
Patrick's Rubbed & Smoked Tri-Tip*
Mashed Potatoes*** & Gravy
Spinach Gratin with Ham
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Savory Apples
Peas & Onions
Sweet Potato Souffle**
Rolls and Butter

Dessert

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes
Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce*
Pumpkin Pie with a Ginger Snap Crust (gluten free)
Brownies (gluten free)

*my husband's recipes... I love a man who cooks!

**my in-laws are bringing this... it's the dessert that thinks it's a vegetable!

***my mom will be making the mashed pots and a second turkey. Yum!!!

****my auntie is going to town with these ones.

Dinner for the In-Laws...

We had my husband's parents over over for dinner on Sunday night-- our first dinner guests in our new home! It went great! Here's what was served:

To Start...
hard salami
Gruyere cheese
various Greek olives
French baguette

Main Course...
grilled tri-tip, rubbed with spices, salt and olive oil
grilled shrimp-in-the-shell, marinated in pesto and fresh ground pepper
stuffed potatoes (I'll post the recipe later this week)
asparagus, sauteed in olive oil, salt and pepper

Dessert...
Kona coffee
carrot cake

The carrot cake was made from a recipe I got from The Cake Mix Doctor. Scoff all you want, this cake is delicious and it beats every made-from-scratch version I've ever used. I sent my in-laws home with a big hunk of it.

I think the main thing to keep in mind when cooking a full meal for others is to keep it simple, do as much in advance as is possible (I made nearly all of the meal before noon on Sunday and got to spend the rest of the afternoon playing Wii) and make stuff you know the people will like. It's not the time to try anything new or anything too wild. You can't go wrong with meat, starch, veg.