Mother’s Day is this Saturday, and what better way to treat her than with a homemade meal. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, putting in the effort to cook her favourite foods and spend time with her is something every mother would cherish. Here are some of our tips for planning the perfect meal, complete with some yummy recipes at the end.
Pick a colour scheme
Sticking to a colour scheme will help you set a really aesthetic table spread. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to show off how well you know your mum by using her favourite colours. We went with pink as the main colour with subtle pops of yellow and green for the supporting.
Decorate with fresh flowers and cute tableware
Is it even Mother’s Day without fresh flowers? Fill some vases with her favourite blooms and accent the table setting with any extra you have. Candles and cute tableware are always a go too – most of ours are from In The Roundhouse, because we’re such a fan of their fun styles and colours.
Choose a yummy wine
Pick a wine that pairs well with your food. Top level pairings are red wine if you’re serving meat, or white if you’re serving seafood, however if you want a more refined pairing, a good bottleshop should be able to help you with varietals. We went for the Calabria Pierre D’Amour Rosé, which was light, refreshing and just a little bit acidic, perfect for pairing with our ceviche and cacio e pepe.
Create a menu using her favourite foods
This one’s an obvious one, but you’re going to need some great food at any Mother’s Day meal! Curate a menu using some of her favourite dishes and surprise her with a yummy feast. Pro tip: prep as much as you can the night before or before she arrives, so you’re not stressed and running around the kitchen when she get there. Then, you get to spend more time together!
We created a menu consisting of scallop ceviche, watermelon, feta and mint salad, cacio e pepe and vanilla cupcakes for dessert. Here are the recipes for the savoury dishes (we cheated and bought the cupcakes pre-made).
Recipes
Scallop Ceviche
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 250g scallop meat
- 1 lime
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
- A handful of coriander
Instructions
- Chop the scallops into small pieces. Put in a bowl with the juice of the lemon, lime and chilli, cover and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
- Mix in the chopped onion and coriander, then serve on scallop shells or small canapé plates. These can also be served with plantain chips or tostadas.
Watermelon and feta salad
Serves two
Ingredients
- 250g watermelon
- 1/2 small red onion
- 120g feta cheese
- 1 handful of fresh mint
- Extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Scoop out and chop the watermelon flesh into chunks, discarding the peel (or buy it prechopped like we did from Maloney’s Grocer).
- Peel and finely slice the onion, crumble the feta, then pick the mint leaves, tearing any larger ones.
- Place it all into a bowl and combine. Drizzle over a little oil and season with black pepper.
Cacio e Pepe
Okay, we cheated here too and used the Fabbrica Cacio e Pepe pasta kit. Don’t judge us, but it’s so good and saves so much time. You can order it through Milkrun, buy it from the Fabbrica store in the city or from bougie local grocers like Maloney’s.
