Today was the third in a series of annual Mother’s Day
Brunches in different cities. This blog is for you MissyFitzy!
The inspiration came from my lovely green view of Mount Victoria in Hong Kong. The view from my window is of the trees on
the mountainside. All year-round there is a green view. I decided to bring the outside in to my home. Slowly I have
been converting my living room into a haven of green.
Although Often I feel that the
Urban Jungle is too gray and monotonous for my true inner nature, one day this week, I thoroughly enjoyed the smell of fresh blossoms cooking in the heat and humidity on the grey concrete of Hong Kong. The sunlight came out
yesterday morning, giving me the push to get going with my Mother’s Day Champagne
Brunch cooking. And cook I did.
My inspiration board for the food was done on my Mother's Day Board over on
Pinterest. I
suppose Pinterest also gave me a mood board to inspire my décor for the party.
This is me toying with layout:
As well, my assistant was able to find some lovely flowers from the lady under
the bridge. Her flowers are always a little dusty, but the need for instant
flower power was urgent, so they did in a pinch.
Crepes are a favourite around here. I once hired an
assistant purely because of her ability to make perfect crepes. I was considering
making fish tacos, but I wanted to make everything from scratch. (I have to
admit, I cheated on the artichokes, olives, baguette and sun-dried tomatoes and
used bottled and deli sources; but all else was handmade.) The real pleaser in
this
Spinach and Goat Cheese Crepe recipe was the goat’s cheese – it was divine when slightly melted. Although
the recipe I used called for chipotle, I’m pleased I left it out the result was
such a delicate melding of flavours.
Because I had a hankering for fish (taco option mentioned
above) I made these
Salmon Croquettes. This was a fresh salmon fillet that I baked
to perfection. When the onions were fried, they had a creamy texture and a
cheese-like flavour. It will be hard to use canned salmon again. The mix of
housewife bread and white bread crumbs gave real body to the croquettes.
I love my antipasto – when hubby and were first dating in TO,
we would always order the same thing at the restaurant: a pizza, the antipasto
and a bottle of red which usual made up half the dinner bill. At our wedding we
had a delicious antipasto too. This was a labour-intensive project (well worth
it with the tasty and praise-worthy results).
Mini-quiches were an eye-opener for me when I worked at the
Steckle (say steck-Lee) Heritage Homestead in Kitchener, Ontario. My mentor,
Jean Steckle taught me to make quiche, without the crust. What a time saver!
These little guys were a bit tiny, but packed with flavour. My assistant
painstakingly bathed, stemmed and chopped the fresh spinach so I could steam
and flavour the delicious results. And I always add a speck of freshly ground nutmeg
into my quiche.
Quinoa Greek Salad was a healthy option - although,
everything was pretty healthy at this table. Somehow the fresh coriander just
allowed the flavours to meld together. I used a Greek salad inspiration for the
dressing. The cucumbers are so crunchy these last few weeks. And the cherry
tomatoes from Israel did the trick.
The
Carrot Cake is an old traditional in my family – my mom
makes a kick-ass carrot cake. This was an ode to my own mother, who was not
sufficiently rewarded this year on Mother’s Day from my end – don’t worry mom,
I’ll get you back soon! I have to admit, the pieces of pineapple could’ve been
a tad smaller…
Brownies, say no more. These were pretty gooey and
delicious. I could’ve added more walnuts. I love the taste of walnuts and
chocolate. Hey, why aren’t there any chocolate bars with walnuts added? I actually
like walnut in my carrot cake too, but I thought it’d be overkill.
I cannot believe that I got a good batch of strawberries. I managed
to wash and dry these and left them out for a day to dry completely so I could
dip them. I put them back into the fridge to let the chocolate harden.
What a
hit. There was one little-lady at the party, a four-year old friend who
thoroughly enjoyed gobbling up these tasty morsels. Here are the ladies: