“Anyone who spends any time in the kitchen eventually comes to realize that what he or she is looking for is the perfect chocolate cake.”
This sentence opens a chapter in More Home Cooking, a novelistic cookbook by the late, great American writer Laurie Colwin (if you don’t know her writings, track her down). She then presents a trio of easy recipes for scrumptious chocolate cakes.
Here at “A Bowl of Cherries” we love girly beauty: pretty china, vintage crystal, posh scented candles. But even to us, the Victoria Day weekend—when many Canadians open their cottages for the season—suggests one thing: a few cold beers. It’s not nicknamed “May 2-4” for nothing. Which raises the possibility of a bleary morning after.
Childless hipsters can head to their neighbourhood diner for a curative fry-up, but those of us with families have to improvise.
So we are mothers. A day devoted to celebrating this must be good, no? In both senses of that imperative.
But Mother’s Day comes loaded with baggage: sometimes sweet (a child’s handmade card), sometimes forced (a child’s handmade card) and sometimes, well, uninspired (spa certificates...just, no.)
Brunch is overrated; roses are overpriced; breakfast in bed means scrambled eggs in the sheets. A day off (and alone) might appeal, but perhaps seems a rebuff.
