My first weekend that I was no longer working in the restaurant business was the weekend of Mother’s Day. This was intentional. Mother’s Day is the busiest day for restaurants. All staff members work and it is a long day.
It also can be one of the worst experiences in a restaurant. Many places present an abbreviated menu and rush you through your meal so that they can seat as many customers as they possible can. If you are looking for a great relaxing meal, my suggestion is to cook at home.
That first weekend free, I was able to cook a Mother’s Day meal for my mom and family. Believe it or not, it was an easier day than if I was still working in the restaurant. It was also more enjoyable to be able to do for my mom what I was unable to do before.
So, to honor my mother, here are a few of her recipes. Two of them are appetizers and one is for dessert. All of them are recipes that I cherish.
My mother loved to cook with artichokes as an ingredient. She has numerous that use canned artichoke hearts. If you have fresh artichokes, you can substitute the same amount of cooked fresh hearts in place of the canned variety. Below was one of her go to recipes for gatherings.
Artichoke Squares
1 can Artichoke Hearts 1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese 1/2 cup Olive Oil 1 Egg Garlic to taste
Preheat oven to 350℉. Drain hearts and set juice aside in a bowl. Mash hearts and add bread crumbs, cheese, garlic and olive oil. Add egg and juice and beat. Add this to mixture and stir until well blended. Pour into a buttered casserole dish. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate. Cut into squares before serving.
This artichoke dish is the one that received the most request for the recipe as well as most request to be prepared. The key to this dish is the boiling of the artichokes. If you over boil them, the leaves will not stay attached. If you under cook them, the leaves will be hard and you don’t get the full artichoke flavor.
Stuffed Artichokes
2 Artichokes 1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 4 cloves Garlic, chopped 1/3 cup Olive Oil
Boil artichokes for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350℉. Mix the dry ingredients. Saturate the dry mixture with olive oil. Stuff the leaves of the artichoke with the mixture. Bake, covered with foil for 1 1/2 hours in a large dish with 1 inch of water in it, to keep the stuffing from drying out. Serve warm.
This is a recipe that I did not know about until after my mother passed. One of her friends made it and brought it to the house for the guest after my mothers funeral. My older siblings remembered my mom making this dish. However, the younger group were not aware of it. It is one of the moistest cakes I have eaten. In this day of cake mixes that line the grocery store shelves, this cake is as easy to make as a mix.
Sour Cream Cake
1/2 cup Butter 2 cups Sugar 4 tablespoons Cocoa 1 cup Boiling Water 2 Eggs 1/2 cup Sour Cream 2 cups Flour 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 350℉.
Cream butter and sugar. Add cocoa and mix well. Add unbeaten eggs and blend. Add sour cream, then flour gradually. In a separate bowl, pour water over baking soda and add to the above mixture and mix well. Add vanilla and mix. Bake in a greased and floured pan for 30 to 35 minutes. For a 2 layer cake, divide batter equally between two pans. When cake has cooled, top with your favorite icing.
I hope that you enjoy my mother’s recipes as much as I have over the years. Her recipes are ones that I never change. I enjoy them and the memories just the way they are.
