This year for Mother’s Day, I thought it would be a good opportunity to cook lunch for my husband’s and my family. I love to have everyone mixed and mingled all together.

We are looking at about 12 people total for lunch.

Niceties

Before everyone arrives we will arrange things in such a way that everyone has a place to sit to eat, drink, and relax with each other. I will certainly set-up outside seating as well as inside seating, but it may be too warm out. I plan to fresh flowers set around and candles lit strategically.

Drinks

Adult Beverages

White Sangria

1 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, ½ cup White Rum, ¼ cup Triple Sec, 1 can 7-Up, Frozen or Fresh Fruit (strawberries, lemon slices, black berries, blue berries, kiwi, oranges, green apple)

Side Note: Using a sparkling wine is also fun.

Margarita

Fresh Margarita Recipe: ½ cup Lime juice, 4 tsp lime zest, ½ cup Lemon juice, 4 tsp lemon zest, 4 Tbs orange juice, 1 tsp of orange zest, ¼ cup of sugar or aprox. 3 oz of simple syrup (depending on how sweetness is preferred; need just enough to balance out some of the tartness of the citrus), pinch of salt, 1 to 1.5 cups of tequila, ½ cup of orange liqueur

Easy Margarita Recipe: 1 large can of frozen limeade concentrate, ¼ to ½ can of water, 1 can tequila, ½ can orange liquor, ¼ can lemon juice, ¼ can lime juice

My favorite thing for margaritas is Twang-A-Rita Unwind Lime for rimming.

Non-Alcohol Beverages

• Spa Water: Fresh mint and sliced lemon
• Organic Green Tea

Appetizers

My sister specifically requested these two appetizers.

Candace’s Famous Deviled Eggs

For the Deviled Eggs, I will pre-cook the eggs and bacon the night prior allow them to cool and then place them in the fridge so they are ready to assemble the next day. The keys are to use even amounts of sweet and sour relish, spicy mustard, cayenne pepper instead of paprika, and garnish with crispy bacon. I will post the full recipe of my deviled eggs on its own after the event.

Glazed Sausage & Pineapple

For these you can use any link sausage you prefer. Can pineapple chunks reserving the juice. Mix 3 parts teriyaki sauce with 1 part sweet chili sauce, 1 part pineapple juice, 1 part honey, and a dash of ponzu sauce or coconut aminos to cut the sweet. Place the coined sausage on a baking sheet, place a pineapple chunk on top, add glaze to each, poke with a pre-soaked toothpick (so it doesn’t burn in the oven), and bake at 425 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes.

Meats & Taters

Slow-cooker Herb Pork Roast

I have a large pork roast that I’m going to put in the crock pot on top of a bed of yellow onions and slow cook for maximum tenderness and flavor. To get the best flavor though, it is important that you dry the meat, season it liberally with salt and pepper then sear it at a high temperature to get some good color and crust on it. If you feel like it, you can make small cuts all over the roast and place cloves of garlic in them. Then place it on top of the cut up onion in the slow-cooker. Then add ½ to ¾ cup of broth, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, fresh or dried thyme, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbs coconut aminos, 1 or 2 Tbs of wine, beer, or whisky. Close the lid and cook for a long as you have. I think the lower and slower the better.

Side Note: I tend to no longer put veggies in my slow-cooker, because they over cook and get mushy.

Citrus Roasted Chicken

I’ve been making this dish for years and it is one of my favorites. Not only is it beautiful, but the roasted citrus is delicious. It has a pungent flavor so if you do not like strong tastes, don’t eat the citrus part. This recipe comes from The Comfort Kitchen Herb and Citrus Oven Roasted Chicken.

If I have room on the pan, I like to add little red potatoes to cook at the same time as the chicken. If I do not, I’ll use my countertop convection oven to bake some herbed red potatoes. I put them all in a large zip-lock bag, add 1 – 2 Tbs of avocado oil, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and sage. I’ll cook them at 375 degrees until they are done, usually around 30-ish minutes.

Veggies

I hope my husband was paying attention the other day when we were discussing this event, because he is now signed up to grill veggies for us.

I typically like to make my own marinade with avocado oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, herbs or purchasing a premade marinade makes things faster, here are a couple of my favorites: Citrus Herb Marinade or Balsamic Vinaigrette & Marinade.

• Purple Onion
• Zucchini
• Yellow Squash
• Okra
• Asparagus
• Pineapple Rings or Peaches

Dessert

Individual Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Using your favorite oil sprayer grease a 12 cup muffin pan. Drain a large can of pineapple rings in juice into a liquid measuring cup. Cut the pineapple rings in 4s. Using a small pan, melt 1 part butter to 2 parts brown sugar (1/3 to 2/3 or 1/2 to 1). Prepare an organic yellow or pineapple cake mix. Use melted butter (real butter, not margarine) or melted coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and substitute pineapple juice for the liquid in the mix. Also, give it a quick dash of real salt and an extra tsp of vanilla extract. These changes will create a super moist and flavor-filled mini-cakes. Place 1 – 2 tsp of the butter/sugar mixture in the bottom of the greased cups, add 3 pieces of sliced pineapple in each cup, with an organic dye-free maraschino cherry in the middle. Then using a small ladle, scoop the cake mixture into each cup. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow them to sit for about 5 minutes after you take them out of the oven. Using a knife, loosen around the edge of each one. Use a large sheet pan, put it over the top of the muffin pan, and then quickly flip it over to release the cakes. Then arrange on a cute platter for serving.

A second dessert will be provided by my talented baking father-in-law.

I’m looking forward to visiting with the family and eating all the delicious food.

And this menu is sure to please everyone!