Spa Bath - Take Mom Away

There was a time where Mother's were proclaimed goddesses and worshiped - Imagine that! Now we take advantage of this “Hallmark” holiday to honor the special mother or mother-figure in your life.
Mother’s Day is a time for children helping dad make breakfast in bed for mom, and hand-made crayon cards. It’s a time for mom to kick back and let other’s wait on her, for a change and give back a little of what she gives to them all week.
This is the busiest day for flowers and restaurants, and phone systems are jammed with children remembering their mothers.  This year, May 8^th is Mother’s Day.
This year you can try something a little different, but you may want to get a move on – it’s only two weeks away. What about indulging your mom with a Hot Air Balloon ride, or take her on a sailboat ride that includes a Sunday brunch.
 If mom still has young ones at home how about giving her a day away from the kids. If she is like most mothers she will not know what to do with herself.  Give her a spa getaway or a weekend retreat and furnish her with a couple books she has been dying to read but never had enough time.
If you can’t afford a get-away, take the kids away and give her a nice spa gift basket so she can let bath bubbles take her away.
If you want to help the kids come up with ideas for Mother’s Day gifts,  check out Mother’s Day Central for craft ideas.
No matter what you do for her,  she will undoubtedly feel loved – and just remember, if you forget Father’s Day is next month, and what goes around comes around!

Celebrate Mother's On Their Special Day!

Mother’s Day is one of the biggest florist days of the year. It’s the one day a year we set aside to celebrate our mothers, and when we remember to thank them for all they have done for us. Many of us use this day as a sort of family reunion and celebrate with grandmothers, all the siblings, and their children.
Don’t think of putting a party together for Mother’s Day as a chore. Make it a loving gesture filled with fun for everyone. Include the kids in the process. Sing songs with them, make preparation a game. Since usually it’s a mom who is putting a Mother’s Day party together for her mom, mother-in-law or mother figure it should be more fun than work.
Decide whether you want a more casual affair, or just an intimate dinner. Consider what Mom would prefer.
Put together a brunch buffet, where everyone can serve themselves – scrambled eggs with sausage, hash brown potatoes, fruit, coffee cakes, muffins and mimosas. For more intimate affairs use the good china.
For more casual parties consider a pot luck, where everyone brings something and you don’t have to do all the work yourself – after all it’s your day too. You can combine the potluck with the grill (some great recipes can be found at www.grilling.com).
No matter what you are planning - place flowers around the room for that added touch. You can purchase a planter and decorate it nicely for the table, then send it home with her to hang or plant in her garden.
Although mother's usually prefer to be remembered throughout the year, they still appreciate the effort to please her. They don't really want gifts, but still like to receive them. The most precious gift you can give her is to have all of her family around. A nice photo of the entire family, in a personalized frame, would be a special touch, or something for her garden – like a birdfeeder or fountain. No matter what you get her, she will love it!  (For more Mother's Day gift ideas, click here)

Brunch Casserole

"Chicken combines with hash browns, sour cream, ham and cheese for a filling, one-stop morning feast." (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream 1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed 1 cup cubed, cooked chicken meat

1 cup diced ham 1 onion, chopped 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1 cup crushed potato chips 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1.	Combine undiluted soup, sour cream, hash browns, cubed chicken and ham, onions, and cheese. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
2.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Top with crumbs, and drizzle with melted butter or margarine. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Crazy Cakes For Your Next Party

What's a party without a cake? No matter what you are celebrating there is a cake for the occasion, and it goes almost as fast as any other of your great food.

There are so many wonderful cake pans available to make unusual and them cakes for birthdays and other celebrations. 

I couldn't resist passing along this website from Parenting Magazine (http://www.parenting.com/node/122102) with some great cake decorating ideas for kids theme birthday parties.

With Easter this weekend I thought you may want to serve this adorable bunny cake. It's so easy to make anyone can do it, and the kids will want to help.

Pink Easter Bunny Cake (Parents Magazine)
Serves 16

Ingredients:

• 3 marshmallows
• Pink construction paper
• 2 black licorice laces
• 2 pink Jelly Belly Mint Cremes
• 1 black jelly bean
• 2 blue M&M's
• 4 spearmint leaves
• 2 orange slices
• 2 pieces hard-shelled Orbit gum
• 2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• Red food coloring
• 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
• 1 cake baked in a (1-quart) Pyrex bowl
• 1 (12 oz) cake baked in ovenproof glass bowl
• 1 Ring Ding
• 2 Yodels

What you'll need:

• A serving platter
• A bread knife
• A large resealable plastic bag

Trimming the cake:

1. Trim the tops of the two bowl cakes to make level.
2. Cut one of the Yodels in half on a slight diagonal to make the arms.
3. Cut the pink paper into 2 bunny ears, about 3 by 7 inches.
4. Arrange the cakes and snack cakes on a serving platter as pictured in template.

Frosting the cake:

1. Tint the vanilla frosting light pink with the food coloring.
2. Spread the pink frosting all over the cake to cover.
3. Place the coconut into a resealable bag and add a few drops of red food coloring. Massage the coconut and food coloring until evenly tinted.
4. Press the coconut into the frosting to cover cake completely.

To complete the decoration:

1. Insert the paper ears at the top of the cake.
2. Arrange the M&M's, black jelly bean, pink Mint Cremes and Orbit chewing gum as pictured to make the face and teeth.
3. Arrange the marshmallows as pictured for the bunny's tail.
4. Outline the bunny's leg with a long piece of black licorice lace.
5. Arrange the orange slices and spearmint leaves as pictured for the carrots.

Of course you can make the bunny any color you want, just change the color of the food coloring used to color the coconut and substitute pink items in the ingredients.

This cake will be a hit at your Easter or Spring party.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Having organized and hosted several community Easter Egg Hunts, I have quite a bit of experience in this area. It's a great deal of fun for an event that actually lasts less than 10 minutes, but seeing the faces of the children it is worth all the planning. Although it may be too late for a community Easter Egg Hunt this year it's never too early to start planning for next year, starting a fund or getting commitments for contributions.

In the meantime, it's not too late to put together a neighborhood hunt, or plan one for your extended family.

For the smaller scale, simply ask each participating family contribute eggs (Or, for the really die-hard hunters, get together with families and dye eggs as a group - don't make one person do it all!). Plastic eggs are easier, and not as messy, but dying eggs is a fun activity for young and old.
If using plastic eggs, fill them up with either small toys you can get at a dollar store, or candy. Make sure the smaller children to not have choking hazard toys in the eggs in their area.

In the larger hunts we offered prizes, so we put a number in an egg that would correspond to a prize. Having a prize for different age levels - like a large toy or gift basket (we had them donated by businesses in the community).

It always works better if you have a different area for different age groups, making the search harder for the older kids. Block off areas for different age groups, like 2-4; 5-6; 7-9. Have an age cut off point.

Make sure each child has a container to put their eggs. If they did not bring their own baskets, and you are not giving each child a basket, have plastic bags handy just in case.

One lesson I learned the hard way - both as a parent and an organizer - parent involvement always causes problems. Instruct parents this is a kids activity and NOT A COMPETITION! Every child should have the opportunity to get as many eggs as they can, ON THEIR OWN. Unfortunately there are some parents who may feel their child should get them all.

There are usually some smaller children who are shy and afraid to get out there and search, so make sure you keep some eggs back to put in their baskets after the hunt is over, so they don't feel left out.

An Easter Egg Hunt is a fun experience, but there will always be greedy people who can make it unpleasant, so lay down rules ahead of time as to age designated areas, no parents, no pushing and no taking eggs out of someone else's basket.

You can extend the event by having other outdoor parties to entertain everyone, including a sack race or relays.

Another aid for Easter comes from Avery Labels - click HERE for Free Easter templates to make great Easter placecards or Easter Cards from your own printer!

Happy Hunting!