Today were talking about Mother’s Day on Global BC noon news!! One of the first Mother’s Day I remember celebrating, was one where my Dad would supervise my sister and I as we labored away with Elmer’s glue and macaroni, fumbled through the kitchen and much to Mom’s delight, delivered a heartwarming macaroni portrait and a nutritious breakfast of Cheerios and milk. As we’ve grown up, Mother’s Day has certainly evolved but the sentiment remains the same; we celebrate the women in our lives that selflessly give themselves to raising families, building safe places and being genuine boss babes we can look up to.

This year, to celebrate Mom, I’m giving Cheerios and macaroni art an age appropriate upgrade!

Check out the segment here!

Sunday Celebratory Sips

Mimosas

Champagne for Breakfast is a celebration must. I’ve teamed up with Glory Juice and Chandon Sparkling Wine to put together some celebratory libations with a healthy twist!

Orange Grapefruit Lime

I adore this bright and smooth citrus juice. It’s great for repairing and protecting the body. The grapefruit’s lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and the vitamin C makes a great immune system booster!

Apple Lemon Kale Cucumber Celery Ginger

Green and mean– this 30% green is sweet and tart from the apple and lemon combo! It’s great for alkalizing the body, boosting the immune system and cleansing the blood and liver!

Watermelon Pineapple Raspberry Ginger Lime Mint

Super refreshing, this sweet fruit juice has a citrus twist. The watermelon juice is rich in beta-carotene, folate, vitamin C, vitamin B5 and smaller amounts of B1, B2, B3 and B6. The pineapple juice can also help reduce blood pressure as it contains high amounts of potassium and helps lower sodium in the blood! This one is a seasonal fave at Glory Juice so be sure to get your hands on it while you can!

Pick your favorite juice (chilled, of course!) and fill a champagne flute half way, top up with Chandon. With notes of apple, pear and citrus flavors this is a fantastic choice for creating a mimosa to remember! Garnish with a fruit slice or wedge of the juice’s feature fruit and you’re good to go!

Almond Milk Lattes

This is my favorite weekend treat and it just so happens to be my Mom’s favorite too! If you have an espresso machine, simply pour your shots of espresso and top with steamed Almond Breeze Almond Milk.

If you don’t have an espresso machine, start with fresh whole coffee beans—I love Caffé Artigiano, grind them on a coarse setting and put your French Press or Coffee machine to work! While I’m waiting for the coffee to brew, I froth Almond Breeze Almond Milk and pour half coffee, half almond milk. I add half a teaspoon of vanilla or hazelnut flavoring for extra special occasions!

Appies from Glowbal Group

Dungeness Crab Cake

Mix:

2lb Dungeness crab

½ fluid oz fresh thyme leaves

1 cup mayonnaise

6 fluid oz brunoise celery

1 lemon zested and juiced

Salt to taste

*Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Garlic aioli:

1 clove of roasted garlic

1 egg yolk

1 egg

1 teaspoon Dijon vinegar

½  lemon zested and juiced

8 fl oz grapeseed oil

Salt to taste

*Place all ingredients into a blender except the oil and lemon juice.  While blending drizzle the oil and juice alternating until the aioli has the right consistency.  If too thick, add a pinch of cold water.

Plating:

Place 1 tablespoon of aioli on the plate.  Sear crab cake until warm in the middle not hot.  Place crab cake on top of aioli and garnish with a little herb salad.

Japanese Wagyu Fritters

Fritters:

1 cup grated mozzarella

1 cup ricotta

Salt & pepper to taste

*Take the mix and scoop a tablespoon of a mix into a bowl of all purpose flour.  Dip in eggwash and then finish in bread crumbs.  Place fritters in the fridge and wait to use.

Truffle aioli:

1 charred onion

1 clove roasted garlic

½  lemon zested and juiced

1 teaspoon of Dijon vinegar

1 tablespoon truffle oil

1 tablespoon truffle tapenade

1 egg yolk

1 egg

8 fl oz grapeseed oil

Salt to taste

*Char onion under a broiler or on a grill.  Remove burnt pieces and place in blender with all ingredients except the oil and lemon juice.  While blending drizzle the oil and juice alternating until aioli has the right consistency.  If too thick, add a pinch of cold water.

Plating:

Place 1 tablespoon of  aioli on the bottom of the plate with three fritters on top.  Lay 1.5 oz of shaved wagyu on top of the fritter.  Garnish with some micro greens, truffle salt, and shaved truffles.

Zeppole

Dough:

11g dry yeast

31g warm water

250g warm milk or swap out for Almond Milk

125g sugar

681g all purpose flour

150g whole eggs

125g cubed room temperature butter

*Combine water, milk, and dry yeast together and set aside for 10 minutes.  Combine all ingredients except for the butter in a mixer and mix on low speed with a dough hook.  When dough is forming turn the speed a little higher and slowly add the cubed butter.  Once all the butter is added to the dough, mix for 3 more minutes.  When dough is finished mixing, wrap with seran wrap and place in the fridge over night and use the next day.

Anglaise:

½ cup homogenized milk

½ cup whipping cream

1 vanilla bean split and scraped

3 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons sugar

*Combine milk, cream, and vanilla bean and place into a pot. Bring mixture to just below a simmer.  Remove from the heat.  Whisk egg yolk and sugar together, while slowly pouring in hot milk mixture.  Return custard to the heat in a pot.  Stir on low heat until custard is the right consistency, test by running your finger across the back of a wooden spoon that was in mixture, if a path stays from your finger line then you are good.  Do not boil.  Strain and chill custard.

Plating:

Fry doughnuts at 325 degrees farenheit for 3-5 minutes.  Place in bowl with a little icing sugar.  Transfer to a plate or bowl.  Place a fluid ounce of anglaise on the bottom of the plate or bowl, place doughnuts on top.  Drizzle with a little chocolate sauce and candied hazlenuts.

One-of-a-Kind Gifts

Restored Memories

If you’re like every millennial, most of your pictures are on Instagram and unlike Facebook, your Mom hasn’t infiltrated this channel, not yet anyways! I’ve recently discovered Minted and I am in LOVE with these personal and unique ways to hardcopy and share photographs—you can even turn Mom’s famous spaghetti recipe into art work!

When searching for the latest pic of you and Mom, you realize just how long it’s been since you’ve had your picture together, consider gifting her a family photo-shoot with one of Vancouver’s top photographers—I love the work of Linda Mackie, Christie Graham and my most frequently used, Alison Khul.

Renewed Health

For most Moms, their own health and wellness can easily fall to the wayside. It’s in their nature to put others needs before their own and this can be one of the first things to drop off. Give your mom the gift of renewed health with a few treats to keep her health on point.

Natural Overhaul

Treat Mom to some goodies from Saje Wellness. These natural products are great alternatives to products that contain chemicals and smell so good she’ll get the added benefits of stress relief! This year I’m gifting my mom a natural deodorant.

Healthy New Eats

For the Mom that loves to cook, try giving her a new cookbook that highlights new recipes for her to try! It seems like every Canadian is loving FEAST and my household is no different! It’s both an inspiring story of two friends on the quest for truly Canadian recipes.

And if you really want to upgrade Mom’s kitchen, I don’t know a person out there that isn’t absolutely dependent on their Vitamix. It’s fantastic for smoothies, nut mylks, soups, sauces and so much more!

Train the Brain

I truly adore the app Luminosity at any age! But I really love to gift it to my parents because it lets them exercise their brains in their downtime. As we start to age and learning opportunities and new stimuli aren’t as frequent, it’s important to bring brain health front and center. Luminosity let’s your train your brain with fun exercises and challenges.

Reignited Travel Lust

If your mom is entering her retirement age, travel might be something on her mind. Feed her wanderlust with Flight Centre and set up a registry for her Italian dream vacation and contribute to it for Mother’s Day, Birthdays, Christmas etc.

Go a step further and gift her the app, Babble. Similar to my point on training the brain, this will let her learn something new and better prepare for exploring Tuscany like an old pro!

No matter what you do, Mom will love it. That’s the great thing about Moms—they’re your biggest fan! This Mother’s Day (Sunday!!) be sure to give her a little extra love and let her know just how much you appreciate everything she does for you!

How do you plan to celebrate with Mom? Let me know in the comments below!!!

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day everyone!!

Natalie XO