Thanks Mom!

Pancakes and coffee in bed, flowers and wine. Tiki parties. These things are good, but nothing like that can begin to express the admiration, gratitude, and love I have for my mom.


When my dad passed away, Amanda and I spent about three weeks at our childhood home with my mom. That time is a blur of visitors, pain, tears, donuts, confusion, and a few exceptionally beautiful moments that shine through brighter than anything else. 

My dad passed away at the end of August. It was hot at the house, nearly 100 degrees. A day or two after he was gone, in a mixture of grief and exhaustion, compounded by the heat, I completely shut down. I was literally too tired, weak, and sad to move. Grief and stress had a lot of physical effects on me, actually�from weird rashes and breakouts to weight loss to my back going out so bad that I literally couldn't stand up straight or walk normally for a couple of days. But on this particular evening, I hit a breaking point. I couldn't stop crying, I just wanted to sleep, and my body felt physically weighed down by sadness. I could barely lift my arms.

�Come on.� My mom said, grabbing my arm, trying to pull me out of bed. �I can�t.� I cried. �I can�t move, just leave me alone.� I turned away from her, and buried my face in the pillow. �Come on,� she said again, pulling me out of bed. She grabbed Amanda, and, against my protests, led us out to the pool�one of those 3 footer above ground types.

�Let�s go� she said, pulling me in. Tears were streaming down my face, my legs felt like cement. I just wanted to crawl back in bed. 

The water was cool and refreshing, and as soon as I stepped in, the heat of the day instantly started to melt away. I started to feel a little bit better. I don�t know who started it, but the next thing I remember is the three of us running in a circle making a whirlpool, laughing hysterically, cheering and holding hands. After a little while, Evan joined us. We ran as fast as we could, around and around, in that little pool that barely held the four of us. My grandma and aunt came out to watch, smiling and laughing. My arms and legs felt weightless for the first time in days.

We still had a lot of healing to do, we still have a lot of healing to do. But at that moment, in that very moment of total selflessness, when we were all grieving and in pain, when my mom could have crawled into bed forever like I wanted to do, she didn't. She pulled me out of bed and out my head, and showed me how deep and selfless and exactly-what-you-need a mother�s love can be. At that moment, I knew we would get through it together. I knew that there would be more tears, but that there would also be laughter and even joy. 

Love you ma, and thank you, times a million. Happy Mother�s Day!

PS. We got you a juicer.

Tiki Party!

Let�s have a Mother�s Day TIKI PARTY! 

There are tons of Mother�s Day food blog posts and ideas out there, and the majority are all flowery and lavender colored, and filled with breakfast in bed and tea sandwiches. I�ll admit, I�m guilty of doing this in the past. But what about the badass moms!?
What about the moms like mine who would trade a croissant for gooey ribs any day of the week? Who would much rather have a leftover slice of pizza for breakfast than a scone? What about the ladies who love hoppy beer and Tarantino flicks, or the ones who are far more comfortable in a pair of sweats in front of a baseball game than in a flowery silk scarf at a garden party?

When I was growing up, my dad was the one who loved flowers, beautiful fruit tarts, and waffles. My mom appreciated those things, sure, who doesn�t, but the quickest way to her heart was a plate of enchiladas. If I was throwing my mom her ideal Mom�s day feast, it would for sure include Mexican food and tequila shots with lots of 70s rock. But since the internetz have been filled with Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo, and I just blogged about these amazing chilaquiles, I wanted to share a different kind of Mother�s Day feast. Even though it�s not a fiesta, this is a party my ma would love a whole lot more than your typical mom�s day champagne brunch�  a TIKI PARTY! 

Why a tiki party? Well, for starters, Amanda went to a tiki bar in on a work trip to Chicago a few weeks ago, and for some reason her photos sent me down a very serious tiki rabbit hole that had me purchasing several bottles of rum and reading up on the history of faux-Polynesian tiki culture, which was in full swing in the US from 30s through the 70s. And secondly, I happen to know that my mom loves a good tropical cocktail and retro tiki snack! Not gonna lie, we ate our fair share of rumaki growing up! 

I have a few fun tiki recipes to share with you, so you can throw your badass mom a super rad and retro Mother�s Day party! Since tomorrow�s Cinco de Mayo, we�ll skip a day, and our first recipe will be up Wednesday. Here�s what you have to look forward to:

Three Dots and a Dash Cocktail
Ru-mock-i
Coconut Shrimp Rangoon
Frozen Key Lime Pie Cups

And, here a couple of recipes from the archives that you should include in your tiki party:
Fried Chicken Musubi
Hawaiian Style Sliders
Coconut Pineapple "Shave Ice" Sundae

And, if you still need a little more inspiration, here's a quick look at my Tahitian vacation from a few years ago (where I got this cute little tiki guy, below). 

IT�S TIKI TIME! 

Baked Coconut Buttermilk Donuts with Ginger Glaze

I think you should have donuts with a mom this Mother's Day. Whether it's your mom, your mom's mom, a friend's mom, a mom friend, or a new mom, and even if it's over the phone or FaceTime or Skype. The beauty of the internet is that we can be close even if we're far away. We can send pictures instantly, and even make the same donut recipe to eat together when we're miles and miles apart. 

The older I get (which, I might add, is only a few weeks away from my last twenties birthday� yikes!), the more I appreciate moms. A lot of gals I know are having babies, and man, that looks really hard. And also my mom, she's so tough and brave and strong (and pretty! and fun!). Mom's really carry the load for everyone. I wish we understood that as teenagers. Hey teenagers, be nice to your moms! 

So, here's to the moms! On Mother's Day, and every day. Celebrating Mother's Day with donuts. Celebrating every day with donuts. Celebrating mothers every day. It's a big circle, you guys� like� a donut. 

These donuts are so pretty and perfect for a springy Mother's Day brunch. I'm obsessed with the sweet coconut cake and spicy ginger glaze combo. If you're less into major ginger heat, start slow, with just a little ground ginger, and work up to the fresh stuff. 

Also, if you're looking for a gift for mom, get her a donut pan, already! 

Baked Coconut Buttermilk Donuts with Ginger Glaze

Donut base adapted from this recipe

Makes 12 donuts 

Donuts

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla 

3/4 cup desiccated coconut (dried, shredded, and unsweetened)

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (grated super fine and pulpy on a microplane)

1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

2.5 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Additional desiccated coconut (about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease donut pan(s).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and sugar. Pour buttermilk in a measuring cup, and stir in melted butter and vanilla. Add half the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, stir, then add half the egg/sugar mixture, stir. Repeat with remaining buttermilk and egg/sugar mixture. 

Fill donut pan holes just barely to the top. I usually pipe donut batter in with a plastic bag, but this is a bit thicker, so I just spoon it in and spread it around with my finger or a spoon. Bake for 10-15 minutes (my oven took exactly 13 minutes), until donuts are just golden, spring back when touched, and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in donut pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter if you only have 1 pan. 

Cool completely on a wire rack before glazing. 

To make glaze: In a large bowl, whisk together both gingers, water, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar, and whisk until combined and smooth.

Put coconut in a separate dish or plate.

Dip cool donuts (smooth side down) in glaze, then immediately into coconut. Let sit until glaze hardens, about 15 minutes.