Mother's Day and Cooking Ahead

The month of May is a busy one.  The return of warmer weather and longer daylight hours ignites the May calendar.   A May calendar can quickly be filled up with graduations, school promotions, end of year school activities and sports, weddings and all that comes with a wedding, gardening season and of course, Mother’s Day.  

Every Mother’s Day I reflect upon the growth of my children and me as a mother over the years. I welcome the overwhelming sense of gratitude that washes over me.  I spend much of my day with a grateful heart at the forefront.  I am so very grateful that I get to experience what is one of the greatest joys in life, being a mother.  

I have spent every Mother’s Day, since becoming a mom, with my children.  I embrace the day and appreciate the opportunity to spend some well deserved fun time with them. No cleaning, no laundry or errands on this day.  It's a day of fun without thinking about or feeling guilty about not tackling the “To Do List”. It’s an opportunity to make some wonderful memories of the day.

 It seems that each year I have chosen to celebrate Mother’s Day differently.  I want to emphasize the, I have chosen, here.  I have been my own activities director for this annual holiday because I want to choose the experience I want to have and the opportunities I want to create to make wonderful memories that I will surely treasure as the years pass.  I have done things such as gardening with my children, enjoyed a nice dinner or lunch out, gone walking in the woods, visited a favorite store or playground or done fun art and craft projects.  

Food has always been a big part of holidays and special events in my family.  Certain holidays come with much loved traditional dishes and treats. Christmas morning calls for homemade cinnamon rolls, Thanksgiving an array of pies adorns our table and birthdays feature a custom made cake for the birthday celebrant.  I’ll be honest, making all these delicious holiday foods does take time and planning.  A lesson I learned in the beginning of my mom years was that if I spent these special days making the food, I would miss out on the fun and essence of the day.  I missed out on playing with birthday and Christmas gifts because I was busy in the kitchen making everyone’s culinary dreams of the day come true.  I always enjoy pleasing the pallets of my family, but it has at times come at a cost to me.  So, I had to decide how I was going to make this all work for all of us.  I still wanted to be the family chef but didn’t want to miss out on the day.  My solution: cook ahead.  

Cooking ahead has been the perfect solution.  I have been doing this for many years now and it has worked beautifully!  We all get to nosh on the delectable goodies of the day and I am no longer stuck in the kitchen making it all happen while everyone else in my family takes pleasure in what the day has to offer.  Instead, I am stuck in the kitchen a day or two before!  All kidding aside, this method has served me well and has given me the best of both worlds.  Here are my top tips for having the best of both worlds:

1.  Plan out a menu.  Be sure your menu allows for food that can be cooked ahead and stored for a day or two before enjoying.  Soups, casseroles, some salads, baked goods and pasta dishes are all great choices. 
2. Write up a list of the items you will need to pull off your special meal, then schedule a time to shop for the ingredients.  Nothing is worse than not having what you need when it's time to get the job done. 
3. Plan a time a day or two before the holiday or special event, for you to prepare as much food ahead of time as possible. Set aside as much time as you will need to complete the tasks you have planned out.  This is where you peel, chop, dice, puree and pre-cook all the items you can. 
4. The day of the holiday or special event should only include reheating, throwing your dish in the oven to bake or quickly putting together food that can not be made ahead of time. Your goal is to have a very minimal amount of work to do today. 

I have planned out my menu for the day to include a lemon breakfast bread with sliced fruit for breakfast, some leftovers from Saturday night’s dinner for lunch and a gluten free, vegan, mushroom lasagna for dinner with a simple green salad and homemade herbal iced tea.  I plan to assemble my list and shop for the ingredients on Wednesday and prepare everything on Saturday so the only thing I have left to do on Sunday, Mother’s Day, is to pop the lasagna in the oven and set the table.   Cooking ahead has been the, have my cake and eat it too, solution.   

So, what am I doing for Mother’s Day 2023?  Once again, I have put my activity director hat on and have come up with what I think will be a fantastic way to spend the day.  I plan to eat my lemon breakfast bread and fruit sitting on top of a local mountain top overlooking a stunning lake.  Yup!  We are going on an early morning hike and will enjoy breakfast on the mountain top with views of the lake laid out before us.   I think I’m easy to please.  I planned the day and will make all the food. The only thing I need to make this plan a reality is a little help from the Mother of all Mothers, Mother Nature!