Weekend Update May 11, 2014

"She thought of mothering, which was really another word for being present and caring what happened to someone."Joe Hill

Congratulations, you have  navigated the complicated  holiday other wise known as Mother's day and come out on the other side. Only Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to carry a bigger emotional load- you know this is true because only Thanksgiving and Christmas are featured in more movies. And if you consider how many Thanksgiving and Christmas movies could be subtitled "Crazy Holiday Moms and Their Crazy Craziness" Mother's Day may top all holidays in the emotional baggage per hour ratio.
 But by now the phone calls and/or gifts and/or cards you did or did not give or receive have or have not hit their mark-   

and hitting a bullseye on Mother's Day may have been
even more complicated than that sentence.

The instigator of Mother's Day Anna Jarvis, would have hoped that you avoided  commercialized, expensive demonstrations of  appreciation. She had a vision for a day filled with heart-felt words of love and gratitude- no pricey flowers, no high-pressure presents, just sweet and sincere sentiments. You know, like these:

Mom, you are destructive and out of control.
But really pretty
 in a concentric circles kind of way.

Mom, you are my favorite prison in the whole
wide world.

Or maybe your a mother,and today you  had the proverbial table turned on you. The breakfast table, to be specific- maybe today some one else made sure that you went off into the day with a good breakfast. Around here, there was a good breakfast on the table (nearly) every day of the week, and the very best part was, no one had to wake up from a night's pleasant rest to enjoy it. 

Ah, breakfast for dinner! So strangely comforting, so vaguely naughty, so incredibly cheap! 

And pretty yummy too. Here how a week of Mother's Day breakfasts for dinner worked out:

First up,Buttermilk Pancakes.  Okay. If you like pancakes, you will probably love this recipe. If you're used to using a boxed baking mix, just stir up the dry ingredients and zip them into a  plastic bag until pancakes minus 20 minutes, then combine the dry mixture with the eggs, butter and buttermilk. Easy Peasy. 

This recipe has been a go-to favorite for years in this kitchen and even works when you substitute half of the flour for either whole wheat flour or a gluten free flour blend. Grilled sausages and asparagus and pan-roasted tomatoes on the side, and the week was off to an easy and delicious start.

Next, the heretofore untasted Deep South Soul food wonder, chicken and waffles.  I had often wondered what it was about the (sort of strange) combination of chicken and waffles that could spawn entire restaurants. Well now I know. The leftover pancake batter was thinned down with a little more buttermilk waffled up and topped with shredded rotisserie chicken and an amazingly simple mustard sauce. A quick saute of mushrooms, bell peppers an onions while the waffle iron did its thing, and

Wow. just wow.
I love chicken. I love waffles.
I love chicken and waffles.

 And here's a neat discovery: Baked Huevos Rancheros. You know that half a bag of corn chips in the back of the pantry that no one's going to eat but you can't throw away? And that can of tomato sauce, jar of salsa or cup or two of red sauce leftover from lasagna? Toss it all together, top it with cheese and eggs and throw it in the oven for about not very much time and do you know what you'll get?

You've got dinner, you kitchen magician you!

Here's a sort of cross section- I made the mistake of baking it too long, so we didn't get the runny egg goodness that would have made it better, but still- this was a super fast, super easy dinner.

And that half bag of stale chips is gone!

It's a funny thing about breakfast for dinner. It feels so...nurturing. And maybe that's why making breakfast (or lunch or dinner) became the thing to do on Mother's Day.

 Because maybe what most mothers want on Mother's day is to feel, well, mothered. 

(Even if we know that we don't always mother all that well.) 

And I hope that this week once or twice, you feel well mothered.

Even if you're not a mom.

Even if you don't have a mom. 

I hope that this week you're close to people who love you.

 who know how to be present with you.

who care about what happens to you. 

who know how to make you feel safe

and how to help you be brave.

people who every once in a while

(even if it's ever so unlikely) 

 give you all the good mothering you need.