Mother's Day Meals and Miscellany

At our university, the semester ended Friday, and final examinations begin tomorrow. I have had end-of-term projects to grade, exams to write, meetings to attend, and other projects to complete before the semester officially comes to a close. This has caused me to experience some stress! That stress has been compounded by other time-sensitive duties, such as mowing the lawn before it's so long that I need to hay it instead . . . and, of course, planning for Mother's Day.

So there was no Scandinavian Saturday this weekend. I spent part of yesterday at work preparing a final examination, part of the day mowing the lawn and doing yard work, and part of the day shopping for Mother's Day gifts with the girls. There was just no time in there to select a menu, purchase groceries, and prepare several Nordic dishes for an ethnic supper before heading off to the dance performance (remember?). Instead, today was Scandinavian Sunday, and I got up early to make a breakfast that would suit the theme:

The fresh watermelon and the raspberry hot cocoa aren't Scandinavian, but on the large plate are smoked salmon scrambled eggs and a juneberry Danish pastry.

I didn't follow a recipe for the scrambled eggs; I made them more or less as I usually do but added scallions, white cheddar cheese, and smoked salmon for a Scandinavian flair. What a delicious combination!

To make the Danish, I filled puff pastry with a mixture of mascarpone cheese, egg yolk, sugar, flour, and vanilla extract. Then I topped the schmear of cheese with wild juneberry jam. Then I fringed the sides of the puff pastry and folded each strip over a strip from the other side to create a braided effect down the middle. The filling bubbled up through the braid and covered up that design, but it still tasted good. (You can't go wrong with juneberry.)

Susan opened her Mother's Day gifts at the breakfast table: greeting cards, a bouquet of flowers, a "cashmere"-scented candle, and a framed mini-quilt (suitable for hanging on the wall) with this Abraham Lincoln quotation stitched in the cloth: "All that I am or hope to be I owe to my mother." Then we put Mother's Day on hold and rushed off to Sunday school and church. Then we returned to celebrating the holiday by taking Susan out to dinner at El Sombrero, a terrific Mexican restaurant that, once again, did not disappoint. The wait to get in was long (as it was at every restaurant in town today), but the food was delicious; and they even brought Susan a complimentary strawberry margarita in honor of her fruitful womb. Olé!

Then we put Mother's Day on hold again as I rushed off to work to do more grading and write final exams. Then we returned to celebrating the holiday once again when the girls joined forces to make supper for Mommy:

The girls made New England clam chowder and pasta in a light al fredo sauce with seafood and vegetables. For dessert they served strawberry ice cream.

After supper we gathered around a warm TV for some family time, catching up on viewing some of the programs on our DVR. It was a Mother's Day focused on Susan at meal times with breaks for other obligations in between. Still we hope she felt as appreciated today as she is by us each and every day.

Here are the reasons that Susan can celebrate Mother's Day: Abigail (10), Hillary (8), and Suzanna (12)!