The Mother of All Days...

This Sunday is the day all dutiful children pay tribute to their dear mothers (even if in infancy when it is the dad who plays the Santa-esque role of gift giving to Mum - not that I have any living memory of that). While Mother's Day may officially be on the 13th this year, a long history of working in restaurants and living overseas has sensitised my own mother to get her tribute when I have a moment. This year, I had specific instructions to make "that Greek dish" (with a decided undertone of "I don't care if it is Saturday or Sunday, but that's what you're making"). Mum refered to her decadent treat of spanakopita ; phyllo pastry stuffed with feta, ricotta, spinach and herbs. It is a rather rich dish for one who generally eats small portions of well-done meat, so she looks at spanakopita as a rare treat. Naturally, I was more than happy to make it for her (along with potatoes roasted in olive oil, chicken stock, lemon and thyme accompanied by a homemade Greek salad), as I could tell she truly enjoyed the dinner. (We obviously dug deep into our Prairie French-Canadian roots for this dinner!).

As I said above, a history of restaurant work has generally made me unavailable for Mother's Day; it is, without a doubt, the busiest day of the year in the restaurant industry. In a former incarnation as Restaurant Manager, an average "busy day" would bring in about $10K; Mother's day would easily surpass $25K. This, in turn, has led me to believe that society too readily accepts that an extra-special Mum wants to wait an extra-special long time for a meal in an extra-specially busy restaurant. Generally, it is the children who see "taking-Mum-to-brunch-on-Mother's-Day" as an absolution of all sins committed against her in the previous year that think picking up the cheque counts as an act from the heart. Remember when Mum was pleased as punch that you made her a card with glued macaronis and sparkles proclaiming how much you loved her? In the end, maybe that is all that is needed to honour thy mother on this special day; something made well and truly from the heart. We may not have had a big fat greek mother's day at our house, but I can rest easy that Mum was pleased with the simple gift of love in the form of Greek pastry.