Roundups
What makes for a perfect Mother’s Day Brunch? Cocktails and sweets, of course!
Usually there’s only one foodie-type holiday a month. New Years. Valentine’s. St. Patty’s. Thanksgiving. You get the idea.
But May has a multitude: Mother’s Day, my birthday, Memorial Day… Oh, my birthday isn’t on your list? 😉
We start the month off honoring moms with breakfasts, brunches, and lunches, and we close May out with the official kick off to summer. Although I wouldn’t mind if summer just kicked itself off now, with open pools and fired up grills. The 90 degrees can hold off though.
Anyways, what better way to honor mom than giving her a shift off of meal prep? {Ok, perhaps a weekend off or {amd?} a massage would top that.} But let’s at least start with a nice breakfast. Better yet, brunch, so mom can sleep in. {ha.}
Here are are 12 of my favorite brunch-esque recipes that would be perfect for Mother’s Day, or any special occasion. From scones to cinnamon rolls and even some {ok a lot of} brunch-appropriate cocktails, here you go!
[Tweet “12 Cocktails & Sweets for Mother’s Day Brunch! #mothersday”]
Visit the collection above on Foodie to find the sources and recipes!
This post is sponsored by Foodie.
How are you celebrating Mother’s Day?
Recipe
This post is brought to you by Naked Juice:
Fad diets are everywhere. Each one seems to vilify a different food group. It’s almost impossible to keep up with what’s ok to eat and what’s not. But the one group of foods that is rarely bashed: fruits & veggies.
So instead of focusing on all the things that could be bad, why don’t we focus on making sure we’re at least getting the good stuff. Loading up every meal with mostly fruit or vegetables is a great way to get started.
Now I’m not a big fan on sneaking veggies into unsuspecting foods, but I am an advocate of doing so to up the nutrient value. It can be a good tool to get kids to eat veggies they don’t like, but try to use it as a teaching tool, not as a trick.
There are plenty of ways to sneak in extra fruits and veggies: banana pancakes, zucchini bread, pumpkin muffins. I got these two flavors of Naked Juice to try for this post, so I thought I’d see how I could use them in a different kind of snack, although they’re delicious on their own. Each bottle has a pound of fruit and no added sugar.
I turned to one of my favorite Thai desserts for inspiration: Mangoes with sticky rice.
I’m no sticky rice expert, so I decided to put a spin on the dish by turning it into rice pudding.
Instead of traditional sticky rice I used Arborio rice, the rice you typically use for risotto. This is the perfect dish to make with leftover rice from dinner.
Mango Sticky Rice Pudding
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 cup cooked Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup coconut milk {the canned kind}
- 1/2 cup Mighty Mango Naked Juice {or other juice}
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- Sprinkle of cinnamon {optional}
- 1 fresh mango, sliced
Warm coconut milk, mango juice, and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, about 5 min.
Stir in rice and cinnamon.
Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until most liquid is absorbed. The rest will be absorbed as it cools.
Serve while hot & top with fresh mango slices.
Powered by
Even babies love it!
Naked Juice is worth its weight in good! There’s a pound of fruit in every bottle. (Secondary messaging: Naked Juice has partnered with charity Wholesome Wave to improve access to fresh produce in communities across the country. You can help by visiting www.nakedjuice.com/gooddeeds. For every coupon downloaded, 1 LB of fresh produce will go to an underserved community, up to 100,000 pounds.)
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Naked Juice via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Naked Juice.
Dessert
About a year BB {before baby}, I quit my job as a renal dietitian to become a private practice sports dietitian. Best. Decision. Ever. I went the low risk route- I didn’t jump in and rent an office, shell out a ton of dough on new tools or gear, or pour money into advertising and branding. I did whatever I could myself and figured everything else could wait. Quitting a job with a steady salary is risky enough; I didn’t need to blow the savings I’d so carefully sacked away to make this “one day” a reality.
Since I didn’t have an office, I did most of my counseling online. That meant I spent a lot of time at home. Working at home? Dream job, right? Of course.
Until you spend hour after hour sitting at your desk talking to no one but yourself. Even the lively interweb of social media didn’t cut it sometimes. It got lonely and depressing. I could literally go for days without talking to a real live human being face to face {when the husband was out of town}. So I turned to a favorite workplace of freelancers- Starbucks.
Outlets, WiFi, windows, music, coffee, snacks, and most importantly, human interaction all in one place. Given my undying love of all things coffee, it was the perfect set up. Just a couple hours here and there was enough to get me my fix. {Of people that is. My coffee fix was never satisfied. 
}
And thus began my love affair with one of my now-favorite Starbucks treats: the cinnamon chip scone.
I loved them so much. I didn’t so much love the nutritional profile. I mean a treat here and there is no biggie, but with the record I was started to accrue, it could’ve gotten dangerous.
So I made my own version. Still a treat; much healthier; just as delicious. The only problem was I couldn’t find cinnamon chips. Because I was so desperate to recreate my treat, I made my own cinnamon chips. The were delicious. But seriously, who has time to make cinnamon chips when the craving for a scone strikes? Not me.
Enter step-dad to the rescue. He hunted down the chips, sent a few bags my way, and has kept replenishing them. I started slacking in the baking department and suddenly I had an excess inventory of cinnamon chips.
What to do, what to do… Back of the bag to the rescue! Problem. Solved. Coconut Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars.
I subbed coconut oil for the butter and tossed in a handful of coconut flakes. There’s a reason the recipe’s on the bag– delicious.
And since everything’s better with sprinkles:
Highly recommended.
Today on tiny sneakers I’m looking for advice on beach travel with a baby. You can also read my sob story about my bout with mastitis.
Guest Posts
Jen was kind enough to whip up this perfect Easter treat for us, and then I went and didn’t post it in time for Easter. #fail. But there’s no reason you have to wait for another Easter to roll around- this is not only the perfect spring dessert, it’s the perfect anytime dessert. I’m going to have to start requiring samples to go along with guest posts. 
here we go.
it’s easter.
loads of displays of chocolate eggs are zapping our system.
the anticipation for the easter bunny’s arrival is sending some kids into a frenzy.
and rightly so on their behalf.
but…is opening a brightly coloured foil wrapped chocolate egg as a grown-up as exciting as it was when you were five?
i’m guessing not.
the one thing i have felt in my life is a sort of roller coaster of development. you are born, embrace all that is child-like, hit the tweens and puberty and are forced out of all that and into more grown up adventures. then you are in your twenties or thirties, and are of course loving that and all it brings, and eventually you get knocked up and have to change your life right back to what you have grown out of. all of the precious time you took for adult development to shape you into this cool hip person now has to give way for baby einstein, peek-a-boo and nursery rhymes. and everything you do, eat and entertain yourself with has all the appeal to the 3 year old sitting in your lap – not so much yourself.
or you don’t have kids all together and feel a little left out when it does come to the easter egg hunts and gorging yourself on the required chocolate of the season.
so when do you get to have it all? the kids, the development, the holidays?
and why can’t it be sophisticated, refined and for lack of a better word – grown up?
that’s why am i bringing to you this….perfectly designed for the grown up table.
espresso chocolate ganache tart.
say it with me….espresso chocolate ganache tart.
think about it. savour it. now go and make it.
perfect for easter dinner.
not too pretentious for having with girlfriends.
classy enough for a dinner party when entertaining the boss or clients.
place a bowl of foil eggs on the kids table.
place this on yours.
and don’t forget the bubbly!! caps it off perfectly.
espresso chocolate ganache tart.
makes one 9 – 10 inch tart. i have on occasion stretched it out to accommodate a 12 inch one.
sweet shortcrust pastry dough.
the original of this comes from my grandmother. it’s the classic one – i didn’t re-invent the wheel here. but a trick i have picked up is adding powdered sugar to the crust rather than refined sugar. i feel it incorporates better and adds a smooth finish to the pastry. you could also add a touch of citrus zest if you like. i personally like a sweet dough – if that’s not your deal, just leave out the powdered sugar. do not adjust the other ingredients.
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
1/2 teaspoon of fine salt
9 tablespoons of unsalted butter, chilled and diced
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons of ice water {i actually use about 4 but start with 2}
1) sift the flour, salt and powdered sugar together {if using} into a bowl and then rub in the butter.
2) mix together the egg yolks and ice water. add to the flour, mixing as you go. the dough must be a little wet to hold together. if you feel your dough is still a little dry add more water, a tablespoon at a time, till desired consistency is achieved.
3) invert dough out on to a lightly floured surface and gently knead together until smooth. form dough into a ball. flatten dough slightly and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
rolling out and blind baking your crust.
pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. roll out your dough, on a lightly floured surface, as thinly as possible – about 1/8 inch thick – to line the dish you are using. to line the tart pan simply roll your dough around your rolling pin {to avoid stretching out your dough} and roll it out over the surface of your pan. using an extra piece of dough wrapped in plastic, push down your dough into the edges & sides of your pan. once your are happy with this roll your pin over the top of the pan to cut off the excess dough {save this dough! or transfer right away to little tart shells or cut out in strips, twist, egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake!}. prick the dough all over with a fork and freeze/chill for about 15 minutes. {also if you have the freezer space a fun thing to do is prepare a lot of these, in different sizes and shapes, to have on hand in the freezer at a moments notice!}. line chilled dough with parchment paper and your "baking beans" {store bought pie weights or dry beans – i use nave beans – that you have specifically for this task.}. set on a baking sheet and blind bake in the center of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. remove the parchment and the beans and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes. whne this is all done coast the crust with a egg ash {one beaten egg}, you can do this when hot or cold. then return the crust for one final time to the oven for 5 – 10 minutes to get it all shiny and golden brown. perfect. remove from oven and let cool completely.
espresso chocolate ganache.
the secret to this is the instant espresso powder. yes, it’s a powder. yes, it’s instant. yes, you can buy it in the grocery store. no, it’s not beans or brewed espresso. i’m sure you could possible seep crushed espresso beans in the cream while heating but not grounds – you would have to strain the cream before adding to the chocolate and the ground might sneak through the strainer. you could also swap out the espresso for a liqueur but that’s another recipe for another day!
12 ounces good quality 70% cocoa dark chocolate {you could do half dark and half semi-sweet but you want to have at least 6 ounces of dark chocolate in there.}
1 1/4 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder
chop up your chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl, sprinkle with espresso powder and set aside. in a small to medium saucepan heat your cream on low till just boiling, stirring constantly so it does not scald. pour hot cream over chocolate and espresso powder. starting in the center stir chocolate mixture until smooth and creamy. keep stirring till all the lumps are out. pour into prepared crust, smooth the top out with an off-set spatula and allow to set for 2 hours at room temperature or one hour in the fridge. serve with a dusting of powdered sugar or with sweet vanilla whip cream.
thanks heather for letting me hang out today!!
Jen Gronick is the voice behind the blog, Experience the Wonderful. When she’s not creating recipes and good food to eat, displaying her diy projects and expressing her voice, she is busy being the mother of two and the wife to her own mr. incredible.
After re-locating from the westcoast and putting down roots in the french-canadian countryside, jen and her family are still trying to discover it all and “experience their wonderful” every chance they get.
Recipe
Fruit is fabulous. It’s nature’s dessert- it’s sweet, it’s succulent, it’s juicy, and the flavors are bold, exciting, and unique. Yet for some reason I shy away from some of the most basic varieties.
Like pears. I like pears- out of a can. I walk by the pile of pears in the grocery store bins, hesitate for a minute, then keep walking. There are less than half the choices of kinds of pears than there are apples, yet I continually pass them by, not knowing what type of pear would be good to bite into.
I finally figured enough was enough. I’d grab a couple pears, taste them, and then I’d forever know if I was an Anjou or a Bosc or a Bartlett fan.
But the night I brought my selection of pears home was the one chilly night we’ve had so far, and because I had 3,495 other things to do that night, I thought it’d be a great time to experiment with poached pears.
Not a bad decision- a poached pear is like a baked apple- a delicious fruit made even better served warm and juicy.
Ingredients
- 3-4 pears {I used Bosc & Anjou}
- 1 cup cranberry pomegranate juice {or any no sugar added variety}
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
Instructions
- Peel pears and core from the bottom.
- Place in deep pan with juice and spices.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Simmer about 30 minutes, or until pears can easily be pierced with a knife.
- Optional: After removing pears from pan, continue simmer juice until it reduces by half into a syrup. If you want, toss in some dried cranberries to plump up with juice.
- Serve syrup warm on top of pears.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/poached-pears/
So the verdict in the battle of the Bosc vs the Anjou. The Bosc was the clear winner from the first bites; the husband and I agreed. I’m a save-the-best-for last person, so I ate the Anjou pear first. When I returned to the Bosc pear, I decided the Anjou was the winner. The husband stuck to his guns with the Bosc.
So the moral of the story is, don’t be scared of pears. They just taste good. 
