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This Mother’s Day, Tell Mom to Go to Her Room for Breakfast in Bed

I begin with a confession. I’m a mother and I don’t like Mother’s Day. There. I said it.

I know I'm not the only one. Admit it. You, too, think Mother's Day is another contrived holiday, a la Valentines’ Day, that pressures normally reasonable people to (a) buy silly, impersonal cards, (b) send pesticide-ridden flowers, (c) take their loved ones to crowded restaurants at odd times of the day because all the reservations at normal meal times (like before 10:00 p.m.) have been overbooked for six weeks.

Or (d) do something really outrageous, like make mom eat breakfast in bed.

Don't get me wrong. I love the original intent of breakfast in bed, but the right setting with the right company is crucial to its success. (Imagine, if you will, a romantic, lakeside inn; a bed pilled high with pillows, down comforters, and sheets I will never have to wash; and a passionate, pleasing and playful BFWB. You get the picture?)

But a G-rated Mother's Day breakfast in bed doesn't quite live up to the hype

And yet, it is my annual fate. Each year, my wonderful daughters – twins, age eight – conspire with their father to prepare me a delicious and sumptuously laid out breakfast that I have to eat in bed without my usual Sunday breakfast accoutrements, e.g. the Sunday New York Times, a sturdy table to spread it out on, and the presence of my beloved family.

Here’s how it works. On that second Sunday morning in May, before I arise from my beauty sleep, they bring me a tray lavishly decorated with flowers from our garden, a collection of hand-made cards, and a breakfast fit for a queen: French toast made with a day-old Lakewinds Bakery baguette; eggs from local, pasture-raised hens; milk from local, pasture-raised cows; and maple syrup from Hamel, Minnesota; plus a generous garnish of fresh berries and/or bananas (alas, neither local), Brown Cow maple yogurt, and a pot of Jasmine-pearl tea – my favorite.

With great fanfare, they present this glorious meal, watch as I open, read and fawn over the cards, and then, just as I pick up the fork to take my first bite, they leave.

“Wait! Where are you going?” I implore, as they scamper out the door and close it behind them.

“We’re going to eat our French toast!”

“Can I come eat with you?”

“No! JUST STAY IN BED!!!”

And so I stay, feeling a little forlorn, abandoned even. This must be what it’s like to be in timeout; no wonder they hate it so much! So I eat my Mother’s Day breakfast in silence, being careful not to drip maple syrup on the sheets I will most definitely have to wash, and wanting so much to be in the presence of the people I love the most.

My ears prick up when I hear the sweet sounds of their voices calling to me from the kitchen. What's that they're saying?

“Whoa! That’s waaaay too much maple syrup!”

“Stop touching my plate!”

“Papa! She put too much maple syrup on her French toast… that’s WASTING!”

“Stop touching my plate!”

“She’s WASTING MAPLE SYRUP! That stuff’s EXPENSIVE!”

“I SAID TO STOP
(pause) TOUCHING (pause) MY (pause) PLATE!”

(a third, definitely deeper voice) “GIRLS! STOP BICKERING OR I WILL TAKE IT ALL AWAY AND TAKE YOU TO YOUR ROOMS AND YOU WILL SPEND THE REST OF THE DAY THERE! (pause) WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT?!? I MEAN IT!!!”

Then I sink back a little deeper into my pillows and plop a strawberry into my grinning mouth. Ahhh, maybe Mother’s Day breakfast in bed – alone – isn’t such a bad way to spend the morning, after all.


My BFWB's Recipe for French Toast

  • French baguette or brioche, one day old
  • 4 eggs from local pasture-raised hens
  • Splash of Cedar Summit or Organic Valley half and half or whole milk (or a couple of Tablespoons)
  • Pinch of grated vanilla bean or a cap full of vanilla extract
  • Sprinkling of lemon zest (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)

Cut bread into thick (1-inch) slices.

Use a whisk to lightly whip the eggs in a wide, shallow bowl. Then add the half-and-half, grated vanilla bean or vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest. Blend lightly.

Thoroughly soak slices of bread in the egg mixture, turning several times to make sure each are soaked through.

Preheat a large, non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil to coat the pan. (You want the pan hot enough to crisp the outside of the French toast, but not too hot to make the olive oil smoke.)

Put soaked bread slices into the pan. Cook until the bottom is crisp and brown. Turn over.

Cook second side until it is also crisp and brown. (The finished French toast will be crisp and brown on the outside, but like a custard on the inside.)

Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon, with a side of warm, MInnesota-grown maple syrup.

 

For more Mother's Day breakfast in bed ideas, check out these sites:

http://allrecipes.com/howto/making-breakfast-in-bed/detail.aspx

http://www.ehow.com/how_4547_serve-breakfast-bed.html

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/mothersday/breakfastin...

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/mothers-day-brunch

 

Shari Manolas Danielson is editorial director at Simple, Good and Tasty. Her last piece for SGT was Observations from a School Lunch with My Kids - and the Cook Manager. You can write to her at shari@simplegoodandtasty.com.