In our house, we like to make sure that holidays are back to back lol. Just joking, I hate it! Lol the Kids have their birthdays right before Christmas and I have my birthday right before Mother’s Day. I just got spoiled with my birthday last week, but I’m already looking forward to Mother’s Day! Here’s my Mother’s Day Gift Guide from all my favourite Canadian brands.
I practically LIVE in my PJs and La Vie en Rose are the most comfortable. I love their variety, their sales and their materials. They have sales, buy 1 get 2 free. I get SBean pants/short/capri & tank/short sleeve/longsleeve XS, HBear in S and me in M and pay for 3 items!!! The Kids won’t wear anything else to bed now lol. The Easter Bunny brought us new spring jimmies and they are amazing!
If you are looking for the PERFECT gift for a new Mommy, look no further than Cas’ Unique Diaper Cakes. She has a ton of options but will work with you to pick the best one for your Mommy. Our Besties in Pennsylvania just had their 1st baby and we wanted to send them some Canadian love. They are both self proclaimed nerds. She loves Star Trek and he loves Star Wars, so Cas came up with the Vulcan Salute using a cute Star Wars onesie! She was INCREDIBLE to work with and had great customer service. She is out of Calgary so if you are in the area, give her a DM. She also ships to anywhere, so it is very convenient! The one I picked contained; 56 size 2 diapers, 1 star outfit, 1 pair of jogging pants, and a Star Wars onesie.
I am always looking for a lightweight towel that doesn’t hurt my sensitive skin and I found a new Quick-Dry Travel Towel from Slowtide, that I absolutely love. It is super light, dries quickly and doesn’t feel scratchy on may skin!
As a Mom, a nice bottle of wine is a perfect Mother’s Day gift. My favourite Summerland winery, Haywire Winery is the perfect place to pick up a bottle of chardonnay or a nice merlot. It took us 10 years of living in the Valley to pick a winery to become members, we chose Haywire because they have great wines, the service is top notch, and they have a wide variety of wines and spirits. They also have fun events at their winery with beautiful views. They are open for tastings and other experiences/events are on their website.
You can find so many perfect gift options at Saje at all price points. I love the diffusers and all their essential oil blends but the rollers and the chapstick are 2 of my favourite products. They have a limited edition Mother’s Day Sidekick with all my personal essentials on sale right now!
A few years ago I got a box of local snack items and Handfuel became my new favourite go to snack. They offer uniquely flavoured nuts that are super delicious! The Salted Caramel Cashews are my favourite but the 10 pack box would be a perfect gift, giving that special lady in your life an amazing variety of quality nut snacks.
You can never go wrong with a plant! Our local plant store, Gardenworks has EVERYTHING. Plants, fresh flowers, clothes, gardening tools and fun eclectic gift items. Check out your local garden store to see what fun things they have to offer!
I used to take a bath every Friday evening after a long week of work. These days, I rarely take baths but when I do, I use an oat soak from Só. All their products are luxurious and make you feel like you are at a spa.
I shared my favourite book for my birthday gift guide, it’s only right to share the second book for Mother’s Day, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. This book is just as good and just as terrifying as the first, enjoy!
Last year, my Mother’s Day treat post was my most viewed post of the entire year! Probably because it featured my Mom’s No Bake Cherry Cheesecake lol. Actually, I just finished the last piece of my birthday cheesecake a few days ago lol. This year, I am featuring some of my favourite treats like my favourite easy lunchtime salad, crêpes just like my Mom used to make, and a book for those of us that celebrate Mother’s Day without our moms. This can be a hard day for so many people, for me, but I also want to recognize my wonderful mother-in-law and the fact that I am a mother to two beautiful children. It’s hard. Hopefully these treats help your Mother’s Day be the best it can possibly be!
My Mom used to make us crêpes for our birthday breakfast. We would have a gaggle of girls sleepover, and everybody would trudge up the stairs in the morning to the smell of perfectly cooked crêpes stuffed with strawberries and whipped cream! Wow, great memories! I haven’t had a crêpe like that since my Mom made me one probably 13 or 14 years ago! This Mother’s Day, that needs to change so we made these delicious Strawberry Crêpes that were almost like my Mom used to make.
This martini reminds me of a Cosmo, Yum Yum Yum! I’ve seen this recipe, sometimes called things like wet lady parts or slippery when wet lol I prefer something a little more subtle lol. So, this Mommy Martini, or whatever you want to call it lol is the perfect sipper on a beautiful spring day.
I love cottage cheese. Growing up, cottage cheese was a side dish to a lot of meals lol. My Dad was a milkman when I was a kid so we always had dairy products in our house, including cottage cheese. This is why, to this day, I cannot eat cottage cheese unless it is full of fat at 2% and Dairyland lol! When I was pregnant with HBear, I made this Cottage Cheese Salad for lunch all the time. It was either this or coleslaw with cherry tomatoes. My cravings were weird lol. Usually I throw in some dill with this, but I didn’t have any so I didn’t lol this “recipe” is super forgiving and you could basically add whatever herbs and vegetables you want to make a great side dish or a perfect protein filled lunch.
We had a restaurant in town called Corleone’s and I loved it. They served authentic Italian pizza and they had my absolute favourite pizza ever created, the Apollonian pizza. Ninja re-created this Honey Cheese Pizza for me and next time I will add provolone, but honestly, this was a pretty close interpretation! I like thick pan crust pizza so we didn’t split the dough into two this time but you can if you want a thinner crust. It’s all about the cheese and honey, delicious!
I hate cookie dough. Actually, that is a lie lol I love cookie dough, but I’m a rule follower, and the rules say you are not allowed to eat raw cookie dough because of… eggs. I finally found a recipe that helps my neurotic side and gives me the opportunity to actually eat, raw cookie dough! These No Bake Cookie Dough Bars are perfect because they’re no bake, absolutely delicious, and they don’t use raw eggs so everyone can enjoy delicious cookie dough for once!
What To Do When I’m Gone: A Mother’s Wisdom To Her Daughter By Suzy Hopkins Book with illustrations I lost my Mom in 2013. Right away I related to this book because I too used to think about what it would feel like if I lost my mom. In all of those scary thoughts, I had no idea what it would be really like. What day 1 felt like as opposed to day, 3000 without her. This is a story/guide from a mother to her daughter about what to do in a world where your mom isn’t there to call up and ask, “how long do I bake a potato for?“ Lol this is a real thing! I will forever regret, not asking my mom how to make her beef stew! As someone that has been through it, this mom gets it right. Day 12 was helpful to me. I really stopped to think about her daily advice and I cried and I let memories flood over me. Words that you need to hear during that first year, and second and third… like, New normal and you won’t get over it but you’ll get through it. The first holiday, your own birthday, a year anniversary. They’re all awful milestones that you don’t think about, but this book does. I also loved how when all else fails, cook and use family recipes! Great advice! This is a great book to have on my shelf and reference on those days when I miss my mom the most.
Strawberry Crepes
14
crepes5
minutes5
minutes30
minutesIngredients
2 cups milk
4 eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups flour
2 cups strawberries, sliced
Garnish: maple syrup and whipped cream
Directions
Whisk together milk, eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until batter is smooth. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
Heat an 8-inch frying pan over medium-low heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan, tilting pan immediately from side to side to form an even circle. Cook about 1 minute per side, or until lightly browned. Remove from heat and stack until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve stuffed with strawberries (or your favourite fresh fruit) and top with maple syrup, whipped cream and MORE strawberries.
Ingredients
2 oz vodka
1.5 oz peach schnapps
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz cranberry juice
Directions
Chill a martini glass in the freezer or fill it with ice water while you prepare the cocktail.
In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, peach schnapps, lime juice, and cranberry juice. Fill the shaker with ice and shake well until the mixture is chilled.
Strain into your chilled glass and garnish with a lime twist.
Ingredients
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1/4 cup cucumbers, chopped
2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Directions
Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
Serve immediately or chill before serving if desired.
Ingredients
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup friulano cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
2–3 tablespoons honey
cracked black pepper
Directions
Make the pizza dough.
When you are ready to make the pizza, preheat the oven to 375.
Place the dough on a floured surface and stretch into a rough circle (to make thin crust, cut ball of dough in half. stretch each ball out into circles and double the cheese).
Place the dough on a pizza pan or pizza stone.
Top with the friulano, mozzarella, and then sprinkle parmesan on top.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and the crust is golden. Remove and cool for a couple of minutes.
Drizzle on honey, grind on fresh pepper, cut in wedges and serve.
Ingredients
½ cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup flour
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
- Frosting
1 1/2 cups white chocolate candy melts
½ cup heavy cream
Gel food colouring
Garnish: sprinkles
Directions
Combine brown sugar and softened butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer until evenly blended.
Add in flour, condensed milk, and vanilla. Blend on med-high until you have a thick dough. Fold in chocolate chips.
Line a square baking pan with parchment paper, then spread dough out evenly in your pan. Make sure to press firmly all around the surface to get one uniformed layer. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Once chilled, combine white chocolate melts and heavy cream in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir frequently until melted and creamy. Add a drop of gel food colouring.
Take the dough from the refrigerator and pour your topping layer over the surface. Add sprinkles to the top. Return to chill for another hour, then cut and serve.
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #424 Election Day. This week, we get together on voting day to discuss: tired, The Masters, my birthday, early Easter, Vancouver, Flyover Canada, Stanley Park, city parking, election songs, & Billy Corgan’s podcast.
This was my recovery week from last week’s epic Vancouver adventure! Doctors appointments, therapy appointments, HBear’s band trip to Vancouver to perform and watch the Symphony, and the first KVR bike ride of the year! I didn’t go on the ride because I was unsure if halfway through, I would be able to make it back down lol But everybody else enjoyed the views and our visitors from out east!
