Mother's Day: Breakfast in bed made easy

(written for the Los Altos Town Crier)

Combining two bits of information – breakfast is the most important meal of the day and Mother’s Day is the only day of the year designated to spoiling mom from the moment she wakes – I can make a compelling argument that Mother’s Day breakfast is the most important meal of the entire year.

Is that too much pressure to put on a breakfast?

No, because making the task far more approachable are two other tidbits: All the moms I know are impressed by even the smallest gestures of love, and all the children I know would jump at the chance to deliver breakfast along with a hefty helping of sloppy kisses and doughy hugs to their mom’s bed.

A heaping home run

So, dads, get ready to harness your children’s nimble fingers and infectious enthusiasm in preparation of Mother’s Day breakfast in bed.

The menu I’m sharing is a home run for two reasons.

First, it offloads the majority of the work to the kids. If yours are on the younger side, dads will need to handle the sharp knives and stovetop/oven bits of the feast. But even young children can take on much of this breakfast prep.

Second, the recipes take advantage of spices and condiments that you likely already have at home. If your wife does the lion’s share of the grocery shopping, chances are your refrigerator is already amply stocked with her favorite flavors. Staples in our house include black truffle salt and lemon curd. You’ll see both used in my Mother’s Day recipes.

Be sure to search through your shelves before heading off to the market. (Psst: Moms, there’s no shame in preloading your cupboards with food faves in the days leading up to the big morning. I say that weighting the scales in your favor is smart.)

My Mother’s Day menu generates enough food to feed an entire family while satisfying both sweet and savory cravings.

So let Mom sleep in while you and the children scurry about the kitchen. Then delight her with a meal that she can enjoy while relaxing in bed. Don’t forget to include her favorite morning beverage. Oh, and make sure that you tackle the kitchen cleanup, too.

Children’s tasks

• Wash the berries, chives and mushrooms.

• If you have an egg slicer, children can slice the strawberries with ease.

• Mix the lemon curd and yogurt.

• Break up the toffee (loosely supervised, to ensure not all is eaten in process).

• Assemble Sweet & Savory Twisties.

• Crack and whisk the eggs.

• Deliver tray of food and heaps of love to mom in bed.

Breakfast-in-Bed Berries

• 2 cups mixed, fresh organic berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 1 tablespoon lemon curd (can substitute honey)

Rinse and drain berries. Add blueberries and raspberries to large bowl. Hull and slice strawberries and add to bowl with other berries.

In smaller bowl, mix yogurt and lemon curd together until fully incorporated.

Line up four small serving bowls or glasses and place 1/2 cup berries in each dish.

Garnish with 1 tablespoon yogurt/lemon curd mixture.

Makes four servings.

Sweet & Savory Twisties

• 2 tubes ready-to-roll Crescent rolls (I use Immaculate Baking brand)

• 3.5-ounce bar of milk-chocolate-covered toffee (broken into pieces)

• Powdered sugar for dusting

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons ham, diced

• 1/4 cup Gruyère cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 F (or according to package directions). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Assemble sweet: Open one tube of dough. Roll out dough and instead of breaking into triangle pieces, use knife to cut dough width-wise into eight thin strips. Four of these will be tops and four bottoms.

On half of dough strips, sprinkle broken pieces of toffee. Top with dough, secure at ends, twist tightly and place on baking sheet.

Assemble savory: Open second roll of dough and again, using knife, cut dough width-wise into eight thin strips. Four will be tops and four bottoms.

On bottom strips of dough, spread Dijon mustard onto 1/2 of dough and sprinkle with ham and cheese. Top with dough, secure at ends, twist tightly and place on baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets. Dust sweet twists with powdered sugar.

Makes four servings.

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are meant to be tender and fluffy. The trick to preparing them perfectly is to cook slowly over low temperature. Folding the eggs with a rubber spatula during the cooking process ensures the ideal texture.

• 6 eggs

• 3.5-ounce pack shitake mushrooms, sliced

• 3 teaspoons unsalted butter

• 2 pinches black truffle salt (can substitute kosher salt)

• Pepper, freshly cracked, to taste

• 1 tablespoon crème fraîche

• 3 chives, diced for garnish

Heat nonstick skillet on medium high and add 1 teaspoon butter to pan. When butter is melted, add mushrooms and allow to cook without stirring until mushrooms begin to squeak (approximately 2 minutes). Stir mushrooms and add salt to taste. Finish sautéing, remove from pan and set aside. Wipe skillet clean.

Reduce heat to low and add remaining 2 teaspoons butter to pan.

Crack eggs into bowl and add truffle salt and pepper to taste. Whisk eggs vigorously until very frothy. When butter has melted, add eggs to pan. Count slowly to 30, then begin gently stirring eggs with rubber spatula to create fluffy curds of eggs – should take approximately 12 minutes.

When eggs begin to look cooked (i.e., most of the liquid is gone), remove pan from heat and fold in tablespoon of crème fraîche. Top with sautéed mushrooms and garnish with chives.

Makes four servings.