A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

I’m have to admit that Mother’s Day totally snuck up on me. Maybe my head has been in the sand, but all of the sudden I turned around and oh wait, Mother’s Day is THIS WEEKEND!! So, I checked in with my gal pals from Go Local Boston and we put together a few ideas for Sunday! For a quick and easy meal, we decided on Tequila Lime Chicken. This is an easy recipe, Ina Garten’s actually, and it came out AMAZING. Really tender and flavorful. We paired it with a little pea soup, and I love it served in mismatched mugs.

Brother’s Marketplace in Weston is really my go to place these days. I can pick up almost everything I need in one place. It only looks like I spent hours slaving in the kitchen preparing. Let them do all the work while you sit on the couch eating the Mother’s Day chocolates you bought for yourself. For our shoot, we picked up a few items for a killer cheese board, some flowers and of course a little bubbly. Those delicious desserts are from Praliné in Belmont. Try to just buy one tart, I dare you! They also make some delicious macarons, so pick some of those up for good measure. Need to wrap your gifts and pick up a card? Check out Bottle Branch. Elizabeth creates these amazing botanical note cards, stickers and gift tags. These items just stepped up your gift giving game! Looking to add in a little fun? Have you checked out the gifts at Sense and Humor? I love the “World’s Okayest Mom” mug.

So let’s talk cheese plates. This one has my favorite cheese on it, Cobb Hill’s Ascutney Mountain, along side of Consider Bardwell’s Dorset, and a little Great Hill Blue Cheese to round out the plate. Ascutney Mountain is an Alpine style cheese made with raw farmstead Jersey cow milk that has a sweet and nutty flavor. Dorset is a washed rind, raw Jersey cow cheese that is ripe! It has a rich, buttery texture. Great Hill is based in Western Massachusetts and is full flavored. Leah loves sour cherry, so the Divinia sour cherry spread was a perfect choice. It’s bold and sweet, perfect on this cheese plate but could easily be added to pastry or spread on your favorite sandwich. Effie’s oatcakes are one of my favorite snacks. I eat them straight out of the bag, but they are perfect for a cheese plate. They are made locally in Hyde Park and have a sweet nutty flavor to them. I always like different textures on my cheese plates, so we included Copper Kettle’s Cranberry Welsh Cakes that are made locally in Westwood. For bubbles, I love the 90+ Cellars Prosecco, and for those who aren’t drinking, the Laurel Hill Sparkling Cider is a great choice.

Need a gift for mom? Have you heard about La Doce? Husband and wife team Laura and Bruno Alves just launched their brigadeiro company. These Brazilian chocolates are made from 100% cacao, organic condensed milk and organic butter. They come in five flavors: milk chocolate with milk chocolate sprinkles, dark chocolate with cocoa nibs, dark chocolate with sliced almonds, pistachio and coconut. You can buy them online and they will HAND DELIVER the next day! Talk about fresh. The consistency of these chocolates is amazing, they just melt in your mouth. I love the chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, but the pistachio was a close second. A box of 4 is $10 and a box of 12 is $25. And at 80-100 calories per piece, I’m not ashamed that I polished this box off before Mother’s Day even came.

How can it be Mother’s Day without flowers? These beauties are from Brother’s Marketplace, designed buy the talented Ali Papa. She’s self taught and is killing it over in Weston. Stop by and say hello!

What are you doing for Mother’s Day?

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