The Brunch-Free Mother’s Day

I know there are many moms out there who look forward to spending their Mother’s Day in the vicinity of a buffet table, oohing and ahhing over the display of smoked trout and the ice sculptures and the vast array of colorful treats at the dessert table. Then there are the moms (and I know several of these at Andrew’s Montessori preschool) who enjoy a breakfast prepared entirely by children. They smile right through the crunchy bits in the waffle (is that baking soda?!) and strawberries dipped in what has to be melted “chocolate” crayon… I ate one of those – once.

Now, heavily influenced by the Napa lifestyle, I am more…relaxed. I don’t want to get dressed up just to have a mimosa on “my special day”. What makes it special is not having to do anything for most of the day. And that means not having to clean up the well-intentioned messes of loved ones.

Here’s how it went this year, my recipe for perfection: all day on the deck chair with the two books I’m reading: The Four Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss. (A girl can dream, can’t she?!) And Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry by Katrina Kenison. (A sweet find at an SFX newsstand.) Both books are about finding balance in busy lives. Isn’t that appropriate for reflection on Mother’s Day? Michael brought me his own mimosa creation made with Cara Cara orange, grapefruit and Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut. He then took Delia and Andrew to The Model Bakery in St. Helena. (Look and drool!: themodelbakery.com.) They returned with my favorite Pain au Chocolat and raspberry croissants. And there I sat, with my handmade cards, my little vase of flowers/weeds, wonderful coffee and more mimosas. For fine dining, there was la Frittata Michael. This masterpiece of egg, shrimp, crab, spinach, artichoke, onions, hand-foraged mushrooms and Gruyere is reason enough to have married him. His coup de grace is topping it off with amazingly fresh salsa from the Napa Farmer’s Market. One of the joys of Napa and the rest of bountiful California, for that matter, is the influence of Mexican cooking on our fusions of Asian, French and Italian culinary traditions. Peppers find their way into just about everything and the kids are always happy with leftovers if they are wrapped in a tortilla. This is not how we ate in New York! And I didn’t need to leave my deck chair to dine this Mother’s Day. Plate on lap, I watched bees buzzing around the lavender in the garden. Let them work!

Later, I called the moms and made sure they got their packages of Red House goodies. I learned my lesson about getting them the same pashmina in the same color, so this time my mom received the Red House Fine Gauge Silk Sweater (RH16) in black, and Michael’s got the Red House Cashmere Cardigan (RH17) in pink. Both also received gifts of fine art: grandchild-painted canvas tote bags of their favorite flowers – Tea Rose for Michael’s mom and Calla Lily for mine. (This was Michael’s wonderful idea – xoxox!!!)

I hope all mothers had as nice a day!