One of the Best Mother's Days Ever!

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When we awoke early on Friday morning we decided to get a few things done around the house, like clean up and organize to get ready for our upcoming brunch on Sunday. We had enough time to do that and get to Costco when it opened at 10 a.m. to pick up everything we needed. I also had a few minutes to download my email and catch up with anything new for my publication. Then, just as we were about to leave, Adele called to say that Larry was at Doylestown hospital. I had heard from Mom when she went there the day before that Larry had a horrible rash on his face. He had seen a doctor who had given him an antibiotic, but when it seemed to be worse, they decided to go to the hospital. They put him through some tests to make sure it was not something more serious and deep-seated than they thought and injected antibiotics. He was not contagious, so he came to the brunch on Sunday looking a feeling much better since all the tests had good results. The conversations with Adele from the hospital gave us a late start, though.

We spent the afternoon preparing Shabbat dinner, running out to a regular supermarket in the afternoon to pick up potatoes in a five-pound rather than a 20-pound bag to make home fries for Sunday. Friday's menu turned out to be leek, potato and Cope's Dried Corn soup; hydroponic lettuce salad with mangoes, craisins and cashews; coleslaw, buttered noodles with parmesan and cream; and pan-seared tuna with caramelized red onion and honey mustard pan sauce. I ran out of time to make dessert so I put together a cup custard dessert from my junior high school cookbook in about five minutes and put them in the oven when the challah was done baking. I forgot how good such a simple dessert can be. I like it better than creme brulee which tends to get overly rich and gooey sometimes and leaves a film in your mouth. We had the custards with gorgeous giant strawberries that came from Costco. Only Larry joined us for dinner. Kenny had arranged a Russian night club evening for that night and Beth joined him there. We had great leftovers for lunch after services on Saturday.

There was a Bat Mitzvah again this week, but this time, a different middle school was involved so we did not know the kids. The New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle was a little difficult this week and I had to resort to looking up one of the title's of Dolly Parton's songs on the internet to finish it. I thought the words were " Here we go again" and they were actually "Here you come again." Ari arrived from Washington around dinner time. Jess and Alex decided to come Sunday morning and go back after the party so they would not need a dog sitter. We had a really late dinner out with Ari on Saturday night at The Drafting Room. Then we came back and made the home fries and herring in sour cream for the brunch. I fell asleep before watching the end of a new SNL but it is recorded on TIVO.

It had been threatening to rain on Sunday, but the morning dawned sunny and bright and just the right temperature with a light breeze. Jess and Alex arrived with the girls about 9:30 and helped get everything ready for the party which was called for 11:30. Right before they arrived we decided to call Sylvia in Israel on Ari's new portable Mac with Skype. It turned out that Bobby Senders was there visiting for Yom Ha'Atzma'ut. We had a wonderful long conversation. We took the computer and put it on the kitchen counter so that we could fry our french toast and they could see us preparing breakfast and we could see them. I had not seen Bobby in a few years and was amazed at how much he looked like his father now. We tried to reach them again when Jess and Alex arrived about 20 minutes later, but there was no answer. Beth also came over early to help get everything ready.

It was all around an almost perfect day—gorgeous weather, my wonderful, affectionate little granddaughters playing with their cousin, Brenna, everyone in the family in relatively good health. My cousin, Ann Wieder, came in from Westfield and brought her mother, Aunt Ruth, from Elkins Park. The house and garden looked great. The food turned out terrific. The buffet brunch was lox and bagels with cream cheese, salad plate, whitefish salad, pickled herring in sour cream, french toast, poi pancakes with maple syrup, omelets to order, home fries, cheese plate, assorted muffins and croissants, juices, fresh strawberries and mango, coffee and tea. Dessert was a decorated chocolate cake from Costco, ice cream, and Erica made a butter cake that was incredibly rich. Everyone always comments that I should be waited upon on Mother's Day, but I can think of nothing more satisfying for a mother than to have the strength and resources to provide a great home and a great feast for loved ones. How could a restaurant experience compare with this? I enjoyed myself immensely having my family around me, helping me, and watching them have a good time catching up with each other's lives. I am really happy that Ari has come back to the East Coast and can participate in events like these without a long and expensive airplane flight. It was an incredibly beautiful day and everyone is home, safe and sound, and ready to start a new week.