Happy Mother's Day, Moms

Paul and I hosted a Mother's Day brunch for my family which included about 20 guests. Stella and I made this kind of artsy sign. It originally said Mom, but Paul commented that there would be more than one Mom present! So true. And even if you're not technically a mother, we all mother somebody. We used letter stencils from Amy Atlas' Sweet Designs: Bake It, Craft It, Style It (buy this book, trust me, you will LOVE it). We taped the letters to a mirror which isn't the best design choice but it looked kind of cute in person!

My Mom loves lemon so we decided to give her a lemon dessert table including a Vanilla Sixlet Cake with Lemon Custard Buttercream and Vanilla Buttercream, Vanilla Sugar Cookies, Lemon Shooters, and Tangy Lemon Bars. We added lemon drop candies plus a jar of sixlets. Guests were encouraged to take home sixlets, lemon jelly belly beans, lemons, and limes.

The Vanilla Sixlet Cake with Lemon Custard Buttercream and Vanilla Buttercream was dreamy. I used Amy Atlas' Vanilla Butter Cake recipe (p. 11) and vanilla buttercream recipe. I added Trader Joe's Lemon Custard to about one cup of buttercream. I used this for the filling. This cake cuts like wedding cake...perfect slices every time. The texture is sturdy, but delicate and so good. Stella helped by separating the sixlets by color since we were only able to find bags of yellow/green/white. The top looks a little lonely. Mental note: decorate the top next time!

Stella helped me stack the Vanilla Sugar Cookies. I decided to decorate with yellow and green polka dots to mimic the sixlets. Stella really enjoyed placing the cookies on a bed of lemon jelly belly beans.

The Lemon Shooters were the star of the party. Everyone loved the refreshing sweet and tangy flavor. I made the vanilla pastry cream from the recipe for Boston Cream Pie Cake found in BAKED Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented (p. 135-137). I used a pastry bag to add the pastry cream, then a layer of Trader Joe's Lemon Custard, then I topped it with fresh homemade whipped cream. I served them in shooters with adorable little spoons. I wanted to sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps, but decided to pass since I associate gingersnaps with the Fall.

I didn't take pictures of the food (apologies, but I'm a dessert girl!), but we also served bacon/sausage, Roasted Potatoes with Green Peppers, Shutterbean's Baked Artichoke Squares, Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast with Blackberry Butter, fresh fruit, Biscuits and Gravy, and mimosas.

Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater by Gail Simmons

I absolutely adore Gail Simmons on TopChef and TopChef Just Desserts. She's the only judge who is capable of routinely giving constructive criticism without sounding mean spirited. It's a great life skill. You can tell that she truly cares about food and the chefs who cook it.

I don't read very many biographies, but I devoured this memoir because I wanted to learn how she scored such a great job. Talking With My Mouth Full does not disappoint. I anticipated the TopChef chapters the most, but I discovered that the first chapters are much more illuminating. Perhaps the more recent past needs more time to marinate to develop.

Ms. Simmons sprinkles recipes throughout the book. I cannot wait to try this simple salad (p. 64). I'm waiting for summer when the tomatoes are more in season:

"And every single day for breakfast and dinner, I would eat the same salad. The Israeli kids taught me how to make this kibbutz staple. Dice a tomato and a whole cucumber. Mix them with cottage cheese, salt, and pepper. I also would mix in a little mustard, with a fried or hard-boiled egg."

I recommend this book to anyone obsessed with Gail. She's lived a very interesting life from Canada to New York, from working with Jeffrey Steingarten to TopChef, and she even includes a photo of the menu she used at her wedding! She includes useful infographics like a list of those who work the front of the restaurant and the kitchen (p. 126-7). The sketches are darling. She also lists the 12 courses served in general order (p. 99). Simply amazing.