Mother's Day Recipes and Free Printables

Me with my mom.

It's May... 

and I can hardly wait to celebrate 

everything this month has to offer...

including

Mother's Day...

In honor of all the moms out there...

Happy Mother's Day, 11 days early...

You're welcome!

Why so early??

Here's why I'm getting ready extra early...

Between now and then

in those 11 days:

 Our daughter will attend prom... (eek) and go to 

all the appointments... the hair and the nails....

The Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo--which are

 mostly food celebrations for our family, 

but I'd hate to miss them...

squeeze in a TV appearance, 

a baking class, two academic award ceremonies,

and 6 baseball games... yes, only six... 

but remember...it could have been 7!

The silver lining.

So... if your schedule is anything like mine..

I have a few recipes and a few free printables 

to make your Mother's Day less stressed

 and hopefully a little easier.  Pretty too...

I think the printables are so cute...

And with the crazy schedules

a little extra free and pretty

goes a long way in my book.

I have to mention,

about all our to-do's on our ever growing

to-do list...

I am so grateful for every bit of the busy.

--all the fantastic

adventures we are going on... 

in the next 11 days.

Truly...

these days are full of the good stuff... 

this is the time to make

those sentimental memories...

and...

those memories we cringe over, the memories we

save deep inside...until we are trapped in a car for 

5 hours searching for a daughter's prom dress...

(At which point, it becomes time to share our 

best and worst prom memories... 

mine are mostly good ones...

about the dress... and the corsage...

 and the dinner...

and the dates... it was all good...)

About two weeks ago,

I was reminiscing about my 

prom from decades ago...

 We had the time... on our drive to

the third store, to try on 

what seemed like the

82nd dress...

(You'll be happy to know the third store was 

the charm, she found her perfect dress...

the dress that had her skipping to the

 big mirror in the hallway.)

 I was telling her all about how my

 parents video-taped the 

the entire pre-prom scene...

From the moment my date 

pulled into the driveway, the camcorder's red

light was shining away.

This camcorder was a shoulder-mounted

deluxe piece of modern technology...

--it was the largest

 camcorder known to man, 

rivaling TV newsroom equipment.

(In 1990, camcorders were all the rage and

very high-tech at the time...we were cool.)

My folks captured it all...

my dress...

my date's matching bow tie,...the corsage...

--the corsage by the way,

it was tiny white roses with pink

 and white iridescent ribbon...

with little bits of baby's breath... it was gorgeous...

(My dress was a Robin's egg blue... and as I write 

this, the description...Well, it doesn't sound as 

magical as my memory of it is... 

And that's the beauty of it all...

My dress may have not been as 

amazing as I thought it was...

but my memory of it is.

Turns out...after my date

 and I were off to dinner...

my parent's were horrified to find that

 the camcorder didn't record a thing...

nothing,

just static... 

the Poltergeist kind...

yep.

It's funny now... and 

although we don't have any actual photos

of my Jr. prom... I have all the memories.

I hope for all of us, our May

is packed with new memories of

beautiful moments.

Just remember to snap a photo or two...

--just in case.

***

Start making those memories with this fun and

may I say, easy-to-make: MOMosa Bar...

Complete with a menu...and tags.

Remember: Mother's Day does not need to be FANCY...

but it ALWAYS needs to be THOUGHTFUL...

right...

Grab your hot glue gun and make some cute 

Mother's Day picks to stick

into cute chicken salad sandwiches... recipe is below.

Print the flowers... glue to a toothpick or skewer...and yay!!

The picks and toppers are just below...

A word about OUR FAVORITE Chicken Salad...

First. It is very, very hard to photograph chicken salad.

Chicken salad is almost never sexy 

and does not take great photos...

But chicken salad is doing the very

 best she can and she tastes...

AMAZING.

The Greek Yogurt version is very WW friendly

 and relatively low in points. 

 If you are low-carbing it... it's not too bad either...

 maybe cut back on the grapes and nuts a bit...

and maybe serve with celery stalks.

My husband is NOT a fan of Greek yogurt.  

I made two versions of 

our family favorite chicken salad, 

one...with the traditional mayo and sour cream...and the other

was a Greek yogurt... I

 served him a sampling of both...

He says he cannot tell the difference.

I think it's the spices I used...

Penzey's has an awesome spice for chicken:

 Ruth Ann's Chicken and Fish Seasoning... it's pretty great.

  Penzey's in online... or visit on of their stores.

  --not sponsored...I just love their spices.

ENJOY!!

Mom-osa Bar,  Mother's Day Mimosas
Karri Perry Blue Ribbon Kitchen

Assorted fruit juice-chilled:

Orange, 

Pineapple, 

Grapefruit, or Lemonade

Prosecco or Champagne

*Sparkling Water or Ginger-ale for non-alcoholic version

Garnish: fresh berries, fruits, mints, rosemary, citrus slices

Fill a glass half way with chilled juice, top with champagne and garnish. Cheers!!

Free Printables-Simply copy the photo and print.

***

JUICE TAGS

***

PICKS and TOPPERS

***

PICKS/TOPPERS

***

MENU and Directions

Lemon Tart with easy Lemon Curd Recipe

Karri Perry, Blue Ribbon Kitchen

(Crust Recipe below)

Quick Lemon Curd Filling

2 large eggs +1 egg yolk

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Pinch of salt

In a large glass bowl or a large 8-cup glass measuring cup whisk the melted butter and sugar together, add the eggs and yolk, whisk well, and finally add the lemon juice.

Microwave for one minute, stirring well after each 1 minute interval.  Keep heating the mixture one minute at a time and stirring in between.

Curd will become thick and begin to increase in volume.

The lemon curd needs to reach 185 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant read thermometer and have enough thickness to coat the back of a spoon.  Microwaves vary, so check the curd after each minute interval.  Mine was ready between 5-7 minutes.  Every batch may differ slightly on time.

Pass the lemon curd through a mesh strainer to discard any tiny bits of cooked egg or lemon zest. Using the strainer helps the lemon curd to be extra smooth and free of any small bits... if the mixture is whisked well from the start and stirred at each 1 minute interval, very little egg should appear.

Let curd cool for 5-10 minutes. Spoon the lemon curd into Filo cups or a pre-baked tart shell.

If using lemon curd for toppings, spoon into a glass container and store covered and refrigerated up to two weeks.

Refrigerate any tarts or desserts made with the curd.

Serve with berries, fresh vanilla whipped cream or meringue.

Crust:

Use Filo cups available in the freezer section of the grocery

Or

Make a pie dough to fill a tart pan- bottom crust only.

Dough:

Recipe by: BlueRibbonKitchen.blogspot.com

Pie Dough- (For one pie crust)
1 ½  cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
½  tsp salt
¼  cup chilled Crisco, cut into ½ inch bits
1  stick of chilled butter cut into small bits
¼ cup chilled vodka and water in equal parts

Combine all dry ingredients is a food processor, pulse 5 seconds. Add chilled butter and Crisco while processor is running, until combined (30 seconds).  Slowly pour in the water/vodka mix until dough forms a moist ball.  All the liquid may not be needed.  Remove dough, wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days

Roll dough 1/4 inch thick or a little thinner... place in tart pan.

Blind bake the crust at 350 degrees on the middle oven rack for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let cool completely before filling with lemon curd.

Our Favorite Chicken Salad

Karri Perry, Blue Ribbon Kitchen

Greek Yogurt Version:

1-2 Cups cooked chopped chicken (can be rotisserie)

3/4 Cup red grapes washed and halved

3/4 chopped celery

1/2 Cup toasted chopped pecans

1/2 cup mild shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt

1 ½ teaspoons Penzey’s: Ruth Ann’s Muskego Ave Chicken & Fish Seasoning OR Use (1/4 teaspoon each of: tsp garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, lemon zest)

1 ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

Prepare and set aside first five ingredients in a medium bowl.

In a small bowl stir together the yogurt, red wine vinegar, seasonings and honey.

Pour sauce over waiting chicken, grapes, celery, shredded cheese and pecans. Stir and refrigerate chicken salad until ready to serve. Serve on croissants, small rolls, crackers or in a lettuce leaf as a wrap.

Chicken Salad Mayo Version:

1-2 Cups cooked chopped chicken (can be rotisserie)

3/4 Cup red grapes washed and halved

3/4 chopped celery

1/2 Cup toasted chopped pecans

1/2 cup mild shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 Cup good Mayonnaise (I used Duke’s)

1/4 Cup sour cream

1 ½ teaspoons Penzey’s: Ruth Ann’s Muskego Ave Chicken & Fish Seasoning OR Use (1/4 teaspoon each of: tsp garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, lemon zest)

1  ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Prepare and set aside first five ingredients in a medium bowl.

In a small bowl stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, red wine vinegar, seasonings and brown sugar.

Pour sauce over waiting chicken, grapes, celery, shredded cheese and pecans. Stir and refrigerate chicken salad until ready to serve. Serve on croissants, small rolls, crackers or in a lettuce leaf as a wrap.