I love the first two weeks of May. First we celebrate May Day with May poles and flowers and then we celebrate Mother’s Day with good food and lots of fun. When I was a child in grammar school, May Day was one of my favorites. We decorated soup cans or wove paper baskets and filled them with flowers for our Moms. We rang the doorbell, left the flowers on the doorstep and ran away. The fragrant smell of roses still takes me back to those warm days of May.
My Mother’s Day celebrations began when my husband started a Mother’s Day tradition before our first child was even born. In May of 1989, two weeks before Hudson was born, I was given a carnival rose bush to acknowledge my passage into motherhood. From then on I was given a plant for the garden, usually a rose bush, each Mother’s Day. Last year I was given a calla lily, Amelia’s favorite flower. Whenever I see a carnival rose or a calla lily, I think of my children and husband and remember years of being honored by my family. I am also reminded of how much I love them all.
We have celebrated Mother’s Day many different ways over the years. We have had brunch at Latitude’s, dinner at Le Bilig, and had bar-b-cues at our house. One very exceptional year we were vacationing in Texas on Mother’s Day. We dressed up and went to brunch at a Country Club in Fort Worth Texas. I still remember the bright green and hot pink dress I had on, with shoes to match. What was I thinking? I know I felt beautiful at the time. Amelia was in pink lace and Hudson and Ed wore suits. It was a very special Mother’s Day we shared with Ed’s Mom, Gail. Ice sculptures, giant floral arrangements, and champagne flowing freely. What a lovely memory. One year my kids agreed to play doubles tennis with their Dad and me on Mother’s Day, which was great fun. I just tried to stay out of the way of my tennis playing family. I don’t know what is in store for this year; I know that just being with my family will make the day wonderful.
Just in case the mother in your house would like nothing better than to have a home cooked meal prepared by her family Mother’s Day, I have a menu to share with you. This menu is easy to prepare, tailored for those who are inexperienced. The trick to keeping the meal simple is using such fresh and tasty ingredients. How about making a trip to the farmers’ market part of your Mother’s Day weekend? You can pick up lettuce, asparagus, potatoes, and either lamb or pork. Add some cherries and you have the makings of a fine celebratory meal. If you really want to make your meal extra special, buy a bunch of fresh, beautiful flowers from the market for Mom.
Carol Arnold is marketing manager of the Foothill Farmers’ Market Association. Reach her at foothillfarmersmarket@gmail.com.

Farmers’ Market Mother’s Day Menu
Green Salad with fresh herbs and balsamic vinaigrette
Roasted Asparagus
Roasted Potatoes with onion
Marinated barbecue pork tenderloin
Vanilla ice cream with fresh cherries

Farmers Market Shopping List
Lettuce
Fresh basil, parsley, chives
Snow’s Citrus Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
Snow’s Citrus Mandarin Orange Marinade
Asparagus
Olive oil
Potatoes
Onions
Pork roast
Salt and Pepper
Cherries
Lemon
Flowers for Mom

Grocery Store Shopping List
Champagne or Sparkling Apple Juice
Vanilla ice cream
Mother’s Day Card

Ingredients

Pork:
1 2 pound pork loin marinated in ¼ bottle of Snow’s Citrus Mandarin Orange Marinade

Potatoes:
2 pounds fingerling potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
½ onion, diced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Asparagus:
1 ½ pounds asparagus ends trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Salad:
1 head lettuce, washed, dried, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Snow’s Citrus Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette

Cherry Sauce:
2 pitted fresh cherries(pit cherries before measuring)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

The Plan: Place pork and marinade in an airtight bag early in the day. Refrigerate. Make cherry sauce, refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and preheat bar-b-cue to 350 degrees. One hour before you would like to eat put the potatoes in the oven to cook. Fifteen minutes later remove the pork from the marinade (discard the marinade) and put the meat on the grill. Fifteen minutes later place asparagus beside the potatoes in the oven. Everything should be finished cooking at about the same time.

Roasted potatoes: Cut potatoes into one inch pieces. Dice onion. Mix potatoes, onion, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper together. Place in roasting pan. Drizzle three tablespoons olive oil over the potato mixture. Mix well. Roast in oven for 1 hour.

Roasted Asparagus: Wash asparagus. Break off tough ends by gently holding both ends of each spear and snapping the asparagus. Place in roasting pan. Sprinkle with two tablespoons of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 30 minutes.
Bar-b-cue pork loin: Place pork on grill. Close lid. Grill until pork reaches 160 degrees internal temperature, about 45 minutes. Turn once during cooking.

Salad: While dinner is roasting, prepare the salad. Wash the greens and herbs. Dry. Rough chop the lettuce and the herbs. Toss together. Add salad dressing just before serving.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Cherry Sauce: Bring water, cherries, lemon juice and sugar to a boil. Boil for five minutes. Chill until ready to serve. Pour cherry sauce over vanilla ice cream.