Mother's Day Brunch

My birthday has always been on or right around Mother's Day, so while it was a special first Mother's Day for my mom in the hospital, she's had to share her day with me ever since. Usually, this sharing came in the form of her cleaning the house, preparing food, and throwing a big party for the family on Mother's Day weekend when she was supposed to be relaxing. Then my brother started dating, and went on to marry, a May 8 baby and the birthday/Mother's Day weekend started turning into birthday/birthday/Mother's Day weekend. But my mom insists that it was never a burden and that it was always a fun weekend for the family to get together and celebrate. It's true: We all had fun. After the Saturday party, the family's men typically got together on Sunday morning and cooked breakfast for everyone. It was great.

Since my parents moved from my childhood home, this tradition has kind of fallen by the wayside. We still celebrate the birthdays (yes, I'm 35 and my mommy still throws me a birthday party), but what to do about Mother's Day is still to be decided. Since we just moved to our new home and I was excited to see just how many people our dining room would accommodate, I volunteered to cook everyone brunch. Yes, I enjoy working in the kitchen. Even on Mother's Day when I am supposed to be relaxing. Apparently it's genetic.

So this morning was great fun -- my aunt and cousin were even here from Illinois. (Another cousin graduated from Iowa State yesterday.) And everyone loved seeing the new house and eating brunch goodies and playing basketball and peek-a-boo with my endlessly fascinated little boy.

I do love moms. There's my mom, who is now an awesome grandma. And my grandmother. And my mother-in-law. In general, moms are the coolest. And they were all here today eating sausage & red pepper strata, ginger sour cream coffee cake, baby carrots, arugula salad, and...oh! I found a great recipe to share with you!

It is a little crazy to try a new recipe for a crowd of 12, but I'm adventurous. Plus, the recipe came from Ina Garten, who can do no wrong. So it was yummy, easy, and a delicious salad/dessert addition to a brunch.

 

FRUIT SALAD WITH LIMONCELLO

7 oz. plain Greek yogurt

1/3 c. good bottled lemon curd
1 T. honey
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 c. sliced strawberries
1 c. raspberries
1 c. blueberries
2 T. sugar
3 T. limoncello liqueur
1 banana, sliced
Fresh mint

For the lemon yogurt topping, whisk together the yogurt, lemon curd, honey, and vanilla and set aside at room temperature.

For the fruit salad, carefully toss together the strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, sugar, and limoncello. Allow them to stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes to let the berries maceate with the sugar and liqueur. Gently fold the banana into the mixture and sprinkle with mint.

Serve bowls of fruit with a dollop of lemon yogurt on top.

 

Speaking of dollops, here's a dollop of cute for you -- the one who makes me happy on Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all!