Strawberries Mother's Day
CorbisRecipe developer and food writer Kemp Minifie tells the story of one of her favorite Mother's Day celebrations; shares make-ahead Mother's Day brunch recipes for waffles, baked French toast and strata; and gives tips for cooking with kids.

A Sweet - and Vanilla-y - Mother's Day

"Everyday is Mother's Day," my father used to say, beaming at my mother. Perhaps that's why, when the official celebration of Mother's Day rolled around, there wasn't much fanfare in our home. Some flowers and homemade cards and, of course, hugs and kisses. My mother, a frugal Yankee, didn't want us to give in to commercial pressures to spend money on her. When I became a mother I expected to carry on the tradition, or rather the lack of one, except that I've found I really do appreciate having a little fuss made over me. My mother didn't live long enough to see my children, so Mother's Day with my daughters has been spent in Newport, Rhode Island, where my mother-in-law lived. Mother-in-law jokes don't work in this case; I was so fortunate to marry a man whose mother was loads of fun.

One Saturday on a Mother's Day weekend in Newport, when we were out practicing the family sport, yard-saling, we discovered a pick-your-own strawberry farm. We made little pigs of ourselves in the rows, our red-stained cheeks evidence of all the berries we consumed while filling our baskets. Back in Newport, the girls insisted the berries be saved for waffles they wanted to make the next morning for their grandmother and me.

"I'm making the whipped cream!" claimed our older daughter, Haden, who was about seven years old at the time. My husband showed her where the bowl and beaters were and rattled off the basics: cream, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and a dash of vanilla extract. Then he went off to tackle the waffles with our younger daughter, Colby. Haden worked hard at her task, undisturbed, doing what she thought she'd seen done many times in the past. A dash is one of those vague measurements that can mean just about anything to a child, and when it's something that smells as good as vanilla extract, it's easy to think more is better. You can guess what happened. When she proudly presented her whipped cream, it was veering towards the color of cappuccino. We smiled and dolloped it on our waffles, complimenting her on her hard work. "By the way," I asked her later that afternoon, "how much vanilla extract did you use in the whipped cream?"
"Oh," she replied, "the whole bottle, Mom, of course."

Mother's Day Brunch Recipes

Whole Grain Waffles with Strawberries and Whipped Cream
Start Mother's Day off on a healthy note with whole-wheat waffles. You might expect waffles made with whole-wheat flour to be heavy but these are surprisingly light with a lovely, nutty essence. This recipe is a breeze for Dad and the kids to make together with plenty of opportunities for everyone to be involved. The waffle batter is assembled in one bowl (no separate bowl for the liquid ingredients). If you've got an old handheld rotary egg beater that spins smoothly, try using that for the whipped cream; it does a great job and the kids will find it fun.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallion Strata
If you've never heard of a strata, relax. It's just another name for a savory bread pudding and it makes a very appealing brunch main dish because it can be put together a day in advance; in fact, you want to make it that far ahead so that the bread can absorb some of the custard. It's a particularly good pick for Mother's Day when Dad and the kids are looking for something easy to make because there aren't a lot of extra ingredients besides the bread and custard, just the powerhouse ones of bacon and Cheddar with some scallions added for sweetness as well as a welcome touch of spring green. Simple as it is, there's just enough of a challenge here in this recipe to provide some teaching moments for beginner kids, such as how to cut the bread - serrated knife, please - and how to whisk the eggs and milk (whisk the eggs first, then whisk in the milk).

Baked Almond French Toast
Inspired by almond croissants, this baked version of French Toast, which is assembled ahead and then slid into the oven, is the way to go when you are serving a brunch; the classic top-of-the-stove method for French Toast is too labor-intensive. You'll love the way the almond topping crisps up to offset the custardy innards of the bread. Get the kids involved in the puzzle game of fitting the bread into the pan.


Tips for Cooking with Kids on Mother's Day

Read the Recipe: Obvious as it may sound, too many people skip the crucial step of reading the recipe over first. Get the kids to read the recipe aloud to you and discuss any steps they don't understand. Grab the opportunity to teach some math when measuring the ingredients.

Get the Kids Involved from Step One: Involve the kids in the whole process, from shopping for the ingredients, to setting the table, to cleaning up. This will really open their eyes to all that mothers do in the course of a day.

Give Every Kid Something to Do: Give everyone an assignment, a step to be responsible for. You want to build confidence in the kitchen for your children.

Don't Race the Clock: Allow plenty of time for assembling and cooking the dish. Accidents tend to happen when you're in a hurry.

Use Caution with Knives: Before any knife work is begun, make sure the knives involved are sharpened. A dull knife is a dangerous instrument in the kitchen compared to a sharp one. Review with your kids how to use knives safely and correctly in the kitchen and which one is best for each task.

Relax: The most important tip is to have fun and enjoy the process with the kids. Don't sweat the inevitable mistakes; they are what make the celebrations live on in family stories.