So. Cooking, while never on my I-could-do-this-for-a-living list, has always been a definite interest of mine and something I (almost) always find enjoyable, relaxing, and a chance to express my creativity. My fiancé's summary of dinner is often something on the lines of "weird... but good!"
This past weekend my sister was in town (to go wedding dress shopping with me, as it happens) - and we realized that this meant she would be home for Mother's Day for the first time in about 8 years. We decided that of course we should do something to celebrate.
We briefly considered our options for a dine-out brunch, but decided that a) any good local brunch spots would be packed that day, and b) it would be more fun to do it ourselves! So, with some mad cross-country emailing and some across-the-cubicle advice from my coworker and the lovely writer of With Bite, we came up with a scrumptious brunch menu:
Lattes (although I have been informed they are more of a cafe au lait since they aren't actually made with espresso): I made a pot of coffee so my Dad could have his black, then nuked half-mugs of skim milk, frothed them up with this great battery-operated frother my best friend gave me for Christmas, added vanilla syrup and topped with coffee, then sprinkled the foam with a little bit of cocoa. In deep blue mugs it had a very dramatic effect. (Perhaps a career as a barista is in my future?)- Smoked salmon: I couldn't decide on hot or cold smoked salmon so I got some of both, from Willy Krauch's Nova Scotia smokehouse. Yum!
Fruit salad: We combined strawberries and mango with cucumber to compliment the salmon, then added fresh mint leaves. We poured a bit of champagne and orange juice over the top to let all the flavours blend, and garnished with a sprig of mint. It was beautiful!- Chocolate crescents: A sweet garnish for the plate, we only made enough of these for each person to have a taste. A roll of frozen multigrain pastry dough was improved immeasurably by the addition, in the middle of each crescent roll, of a square of Just Us! fair trade milk chocolate.
Scones: At my sister's insistence our main carb for the meal was scones, made by her from our mother's go-to recipe. One half of the recipe was mixed with frozen raspberries for a delicious purply treat. The other half was up in the air until I looked in the fridge and caught sight of a bag of shredded Italian cheeses: cheese scones it was! Brushed with garlic butter before baking, they made a great compliment to the cold smoked salmon.
Heart-shaped eggs: This started out as a bit of a joke by my sister but I thought, why not? I bought a large heart-shaped cookie cutter (with a "comfort edge" on the top which gave me something cool to grab onto) and placed that in the frying pan as I cooked the eggs one at a time. The eggs were from a local "hobby" farmer in my hometown, and have delicious bright yellow yolks! I had gone with my mother the previous weekend to the farm to pick some up and had seen the happy chickens pecking away in their run in the yard. Things always taste better when you can see where they come from! A dab of Nova Scotia-made pepper herb jelly was the finishing touch.
Mimosas: What fancy brunch would be complete without some champagne and orange juice? Ours were served in fancy flutes and garnished with a frozen strawberry and some leftover mint leaves from the salad! One of the funnier moments of the morning was when our mother, drinking her latte and waiting for the food to be ready, called innocently from the other room to ask where the champagne was for her orange juice! Little did she know...
Brunch was delicious and the company was grand. To top it all off, there was a cheeky card (from papyrus, referencing how only such a fabulous mother could have daughters as fabulous as us), a mini rose bush (a throwback to the years when we gave her a real rosebush each year) and a one-of-a-kind Creations by Jennifer necklace. Needless to say, we were pretty proud of ourselves!
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