I hope you all had a nice weekend (with your moms!) KC and I headed down to San Jose on Saturday for a Mother’s Day dinner put together by Alexis and yours truly.
Before leaving Oakland, KC and I walked to Piedmont Avenue and had breakfast at La Farine, my new favorite hangout. KC and I each ordered coffees (they were super hot and super dark — my top two priorities when it comes to coffee). KC had a chocolate croissant; I opted for another petit pain (like I said, bread is my vice), this time I got the seeded loaf which had sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds on it. Y-U-M.
Oh yeah, I also had some fizzy water. Because we all know how I feel about bubbles…
This breakfast reminded me of Europe. Alexis and I have traveled abroad quite a bit together, and we used to go sit at cafes and have coffee and snacks almost everyday when we were traveling. Oh Paris, Rome, Austria… how I miss you.
Ok, enough reminiscing.
Alexis and I had asked my mom what she wanted for dinner for Mother’s Day. The only thing she told us was to make fish and to make the dinner “spring themed.” Very nice. Very vague.
All in all, I think Alexis and I both did a fabulous job making a spring meal. Look at us, hard at work:
I was in charge of appetizers and cocktails (guess why!). I made two appetizers (both repeats — sorry!) and one cocktail. For the first appetizer, I made green goddess dressing and served it with spring vegetables.
Springy, yes? I chopped up two heirloom tomatoes, half an English cucumber, some radishes, and some heirloom carrots. Fresh and delicious — perfect for a spring gathering! Also, this dish is gluten-free and vegetarian (not vegan though, sorry!) so it’s great even if you’re dealing with limiting diets.
For the second appetizer, I made crostini with ricotta, peas, mint, and prosciutto, which I made last week for New Jersey night. Alexis and I both thought it was so delicious we should share it with Mom.
So yummy! Really, these are super easy to make and really tasty. I would recommend using whole milk ricotta for these, though — I used part skim this time (that’s what was in the fridge), and it’s a little dryer than whole milk kind.
Ok, so the highlight of the whole pre-dinner merriment was really the cocktail. I made a drink called The Cuke, which basically tastes like spring in a glass. Delicious! I found the recipe here and adapted it.
To make these, I sliced 3 limes and 1 1/2 English cucumbers and added everything to a pitcher, along with the juice of 2 limes, 1/2 cup of sugar, and a big bunch of mint. Everything was muddled together (I just used a wooden spoon), then I added 2 cups of gin (Bombay Sapphire, because my parents are fancy). All this went into the fridge to steep together for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I poured the mix over ice and topped with sparkling water. Seriously delicious.
These drinks are super refreshing; and the mix just gets better the longer it steeps in the fridge, so it would be great for a party since you can make the base ahead of time and just let it hang out.
Alexis tackled dinner and dessert; and, as usual, everything was delicious.
She made grilled halibut served over spring vegetables; garlic shrimp; roasted asparagus; and a spring salad with oranges, avocado, almonds, and all sorts of other goodies.
For dessert she made a cream cheese pound cake with a strawberry coulis:
I’m not that big on cake, but I could have eaten like half this thing in one sitting. Thank goodness I don’t have the leftovers at my apartment — that would just be a recipe for disaster.
Alright, well I have to get ready for New Jersey tonight (very important!). More cocktails and appetizers later!