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Summer is just around the cor-

ner and so is the first big holiday of the season. Mother’s Day, a time to thank and honor our mothers for giving us life, raising us and being there for us through thick and thin, falls on Sunday, May 10.

Have you picked up a gift for your mother, or the mother of your children yet? If not, time is of the essence.

Whether she is still hard at work raising children, or her kids have grown up and are now out on their own, Mom deserves our best efforts come Mother’s Day. Rather than just picking up flowers or chocolates again this year, why not go the extra mile and pick out a gift that will be memorable?

Because some of the most memorable gifts are those that are personalized, one idea may be to shop at a store like Hillary’s Hand-Painted and Personalized Gifts of Hopkins. Storeowner Hillary Feder says they have a wide selection of gifts to choose from.

“We have a lot of handcrafted necklaces in stock that can be personalized with children’s names, special dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries and the like,” she says. “Personalized gift baskets are also especially popular.

We have gifts that can be placed in them that are appropriate for just about anyone—the coffee lover, the busy executive, the exercise nut.”

Liz Mugford, a buyer at the General Store of Minnetonka, says she expects gifts that are focused on making memories to be big this year. “We have some great memory books and prompted journals with places where moms can write down ideas and memories that can one day be handed down to their children, making it an heirloom piece,” she says.

Also expected to be big movers

this year, gifts that pamper, such as Thymes brand lotions, fragrances and bubble baths, which are produced right here in the Twin Cities.

“We also have a wonderful selection of jewelry, including Pandora and Alex and Ani, and gifts that will be appreciated by Moms who enjoy such activities as cooking, travel and gardening,” says Mugford.

If you plan to do your shopping in St. Louis Park, there are a variety of shops to check out at The Shops at West End, while in Excelsior, browsing the inventory at the many shops along Water Street is sure to be enjoyable.

If shopping for a gift seems like too daunting of a task, another great way to show how much you care is by picking up a gift certificate Mom can use to get something she likes at her favorite store. Many stores offer them. So do spas like newreflections salon, which has a location in Minnetonka. The spa offers services ranging from haircuts and waxing to facials and full body massages.

Another great gift idea is to give Mom the day off on May 10, and surprise her with the news that Sunday morning. Dad and the kids can bring Mom breakfast in bed. Then for lunch, surprise her with a picnic basket already filled with goodies and take her out to the lake, or her favorite park. For dinner, a visit to her favorite restaurant may be in order.

No matter what you decide to get Mom, or do for her on Mother’s Day, any effort is sure to be appreciated.

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APRIL 2015

Mother’s Day

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secretto Mother’s Day gifting success

GIVE: TIME, NOT STUFF!

mother? Or, if you must give something kitchen-related for Mother’s Day, consider something that’s pretty and fun, too, like decorative serve ware. Buy from a store that offers free gift wrapping services – that makes it even easier to give a good- looking gift.

She nursed you through countless cases of childhood sniffles, taught you to tie your shoes and made a mean omelet, and she’s still your go-to source for good advice and your favorite homebaked cookies. Are you really going to just give Mom a pair of socks and some flowers for Mother’s Day? You can do better than that. In the tradition of a current pop-culture meme, here’s a “give this, not that” list of Mother’s Day ideas.

GIVE: GIFT CARDS. A gift card to her favorite store was another popular selection of moms surveyed by Ebates. But don’t think giving her a gift card is all you have to do. Research to find just the right card for her; and then offer to accompany her on a shopping excursion to her favorite store. That way, you’ll be giving her two things she wants most - a gift card and time spent with you.

GIVE: YOUR TIME. Last year, 44 percent of mothers surveyed by online deal site PriceGrabber said they wanted quality time with their family for Mother’s Day. Whether your family includes adult children who live and work far from their childhood home (and Mom) or a busy family with young children, it can be hard to find time to spend with each other on a regular basis. On Mother’s Day, make a point of devoting the day to Mom. Whatever you choose to do together - dine out, visit a botanical garden or just hang out at home - you’ll be giving her the gift she wants most: time with you.

DON’T GIVE: TECHNOLOGY. Put some thought into the gift a week or two before the big day so you can be sure you’re giving her something she really wants, like a piece of unique jewelry, her favorite bath products, or an attractive scarf.

GIVE: A GREAT MEAL OUT.

It’s easy to understand why dining out was on the list of mostThere’s a difference between a wanted gifts for mothers in every thoughtful gift that has meaning geographic area surveyed by to the recipient, and something Ebates. What could make Mom clearly bought out of desperation happier than enjoying a great just so the giver has something to meal with her family? Not having hand over on Mother’s Day. Moms to cook it herself or clean up afknow the difference. Things like terward! Taking Mom out for meal cowboy boots, sunglasses and is a time-honored Mother’s Day even designer purses were among tradition and restaurants can be the items mothers said they didn’t busy on Mother’s Day. For many want in a survey by Ebates. Don’t restaurants, Mother’s Day is one wait until the last minute to buy of the busiest days of the year for something she may not want. their restaurants. When choosing

DON’T GIVE: STUFF.

a place to take Mom, look for a place that will please her palate with familiar flavors, good food and the kind of warm, comforting ambience she creates in her own dining room or kitchen. Familystyle restaurants are a good choice for Mother’s Day because there’s something on the menu for everyone.

DON’T GIVE: PRACTICAL KITCHEN ITEMS.

Do you really want to give Mom a smartphone that will be obsolete by next Mother’s Day? Or a tablet so complicated she’ll never figure out how to use it on her own? If your mother’s digitally inclined, chances are she already has the tech she needs and wants. And if she doesn’t, trying to choose it for her can be like trying to pick a pet for someone else - never a good idea. Instead, keep gift items simple, personal and nostalgic.

The bottom line…

No matter how much Mom be thoughtful about mom and says she wants a new electric can give her what she would treasure! opener or how much she needs a new set of pots and pans, don’t give these items on Mother’s Day. Moms are more than just the sum of the time they spend in the kitchen. If she really needs and wants those things, why not give them to her at some other time of year, for no other reason than she’s a great

SUN MEDIA

Discover the history of

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earliest Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mothering Sunday,â&#x20AC;? on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40day period leading up to Easter). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mothering Sundayâ&#x20AC;? honored the mothers of England.

During this time many of Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was

often brought along to provide a festive touch.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mother Churchâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the

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Non-traditional Every year around this time, people rack their brains trying to come up with the perfect gift idea for Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re one of the many who eventually gives up and decides to just pick up the old standbysâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;chocolates and flowersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;here are five ideas for nontraditional gifts Mom is sure to appreciate.

CLEAN HOUSE

A gift that will really show Mom how much you care is the gift of a clean house. This may be a bit tricky to do since Mom lives in the home too, but a good strategy is to wait until she is out of the house doing the grocery shopping, meeting with friends, etc., and get the work done while she is goneâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; with Dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s help of course.

Try to do it the week of Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day so she knows the significance of your actions.

MAKE A MEAL TO REMEMBER

Following the theme of giving Mom a day off, how about encouraging her to leave the house on Sunday â&#x20AC;&#x153;to take a little time for herselfâ&#x20AC;? while Dad and the kids prepare a gourmet dinner in her honor on May 10. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll know something is up, but not the details.

If cooking is too daunting a task, or would take too long, you can certainly order-in from her favorite restaurant. Just make sure you go the extra mile of personalizing the table to show Mom how special she is to you.

One idea may be to print up photographs of Mom having fun with her kids in advance, put them in frames, and set them up on the table. Another, to have the kids write down things Mom usually does that they will take care of themselves

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PLAN YOUR NEXT FAMILY VACATION

If Mom is usually the one in the family who does all the planand deliver them in a gift box that ning for family vacations, take the will be waiting on the table. initiative of getting the legwork When she opens the box, let done for your next anticipated trip.

Mom know the â&#x20AC;&#x153;giftsâ&#x20AC;? can be There are plenty of resources availcashed in any time. able on the Internet for just about any place you may want to go.

PURCHASE CONCERT Kids may not be equipped to TICKETS FOR MOM buy tickets, but they can certainly No matter what Momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s musical pick out neat places to go and tastes, chances are good one of things to do on their next trip. her favorite acts will be coming to town soon. With Dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s help, figure FINISH AN out who she would most like see- INCOMPLETE PROJECT ing in concert, order tickets and Another great idea that is sure to present them to her on Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s be appreciated is to finally finish a Day. If tickets are not available yet, project that has been waiting around but the tour dates have been pub- for a long time. Just about everyone lished, present her with a pretend has a room waiting to be painted, or ticket to be cashed in at a future clutter waiting to be boxed up that date. is crowding the basement.

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Creating the Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day is fast ap-

proaching. How are you planning to honor Mom this year?

Instead of getting another bouquet of roses or box of chocolates, how about presenting her with a gift basket filled with goodies she is sure to appreciate?

After all, Benjamin Franklin once said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s better to give a gift basket than to receive one.â&#x20AC;?

According to giftbaskets.com, Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day is one of the most popular times of year to give a gift basket. Some of the most popular items to put in them are chocolate, fruit, gourmet items and cookies, but they are also very easy to personalize with unique gifts.

If your Mother enjoys gardening, some great gift gifts to put in a basket would be a new pair of gloves, a shovel, kneepads, a watering can,

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APRIL 2015

Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day

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perfect gift basket for Mom

and a few packets of seeds. For the coffee aficionado, a new coffee mug, a few trial-sized bags of gourmet coffee and maybe a gift card to Starbucks or Caribou.

Stephanie Beyer, the gift shop manager for Bloomington Drug and Gift, located at 509 W. 98th Street, says her store stocks plenty of items that are great for gift baskets. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have garden items in stock for the Mom who enjoys gardening. We also carry Wind & Willow brand spices, dips and pickle mix for the mom who enjoys canning and cooking. Lakegirl brand candles and apparel is also great for a gift basket,â&#x20AC;? says Beyer. Lakegirl is a Detroit Lakes, Minnesotabased company whose products celebrate everything that is great about summer in Minnesota.

You can also find a great selection of gifts to fill a Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day

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Basket at Live Laugh Love Gifts of Edina. The store, located near 50th and France, specializes in gifts that will really pamper Mom. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have an assortment of Pretty You London slippers that will help make your Mom feel like Queen for the day. They come in a variety of colors and designs and are very comfortable. We also have some amazing and unique jewelry and carry Mangiacotti brand hand wash and TokyoMilk perfume,â&#x20AC;? says Live Laugh Love Gifts co-owner Kary Shaw.

If you decide to do your shopping in Eden Prairie, a great place to shop is the Eden Prairie Center, which has dozens of shops that will offer a great variety of gifts.

When it comes time to put your basket together, here is a step-bystep guide for getting the job done: 1) Pick out a basket or other

container at your favorite gift shop, or a store like Michaels or JoAnnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fabrics.

2) Choose your filling. Save money by using newspaper, recycled bags or other recycled soft materials for the bottom of the basket and cover it with nicer looking cellophane or tissue paper.

3) Purchase items to fill your basket. Choose 3-to-5 big items and a variety of small items to fill the basket.

4) Once you fill your basket, wrap it up in cellophane or tissue paper and tie it shut with a ribbon.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait till the last minute to put your basket together though, or you may miss out on the best gifts to put in it.

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Mother’s Day

APRIL 2015 • SUN MEDIA

A meal fit for Sundays

are synonymous with brunch — the traditional Mother’s Day brunch. Instead of reserving a table at your favorite haunt, you and your mom can avoid the brunch crowds this Mother’s Day if you treat her to a fabulous meal right at home. Instead of serving the traditional brunch fare of omelettes, muffins or pancakes, let mom know how much you care by going the extra mile to make something more extravagant.

For example, she will find it hard to resist this “Chocolate French Toast with Salted Apples” from “Serena, Food and Stories” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) by Serena Bass, because it tastes just like a warm chocolate croissant, but it’s topped with apples sautéed in butter and sprinkled with salt for a more delectable treat.

CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST WITH SALTED APPLES Serves 4

You can get everything ready the day before with this recipe.

Try to get Gala apples, which are fragrant and retain their shape.

When choosing a bread, go for a plain white one. That way, the recipe won’t get too sweet. Look for a loaf with a fairly even crumb so the chocolate doesn’t run out through any holes when it melts.

2 extra-large eggs 1⁄4 cup half-and-half 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 4 1-inch-thick slices day-old bread 4 tablespoons chocolate chips 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 Gala apples at room temperature, quartered, cored and cut into 12 wedges each 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil Kosher or Maldon salt to taste Preheat the oven to 250 F. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half and vanilla.

Mom

Pour the egg wash into a shallow dish that can hold the 4 slices of bread laid flat. Using a very sharp straight-bladed knife, trim the crusts off the bread. Carefully cut a horizontal pocket in each bread slice big enough for the chocolate chips to spread out a bit, and not sit in a big lump. Fill each bread pocket with 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips and lay the bread slices in the egg wash. Let them soak for a minute, then turn them over and leave in the dish while you sauté the apples.

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat for three minutes, and then add the butter. When the butter has stoped sizzling, turn the heat to high, add the apples and sauté until they are translucent and caramelized, about five minutes.

If the heat isn’t high enough, the apples will sweat and steam and will never brown at the edges.

Transfer the apples to the oven in an oven-safe dish while you cook the French toast.

Heat the oil in a heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat and add two slices of bread. Cook for two to three minutes per side to a crisp golden brown, adding more oil if needed.

To serve, cut the slices diagonally and set one half on the other so the melted chocolate shows.

Place the apples on top and scatter with a little salt.

History e 5 from pag Mothering Sunday celebration.

People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.

In the United States, Mother’s Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother’s Day meetings in Boston, Mass. every year.

In 1907, Ana Jarvis, of Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, West Va., to celebrate Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the second Sunday of May. By the next year, Mother’s Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.

Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessmen and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother’s Day. It was successful, and by 1911 Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May. While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Days at different times throughout the year, there are some countries, like Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium, that also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

1 cup self-rising flour 1 cup Sultanas 1⁄2 cup currants 1⁄2 cup Glacé cherries, quartered 1⁄4 cup chopped candied peel Zest of 2 lemons 2 teaspoons mixed spice FILLING & TOPPING 1 pound almond paste 2 tablespoons apricot jam 1 egg, beaten, to glaze

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Butter and line the base and sides of an 8-inch deep round cake tin with buttered greaseproof paper.

2. Place all the cake ingredients in a large bowl and beat well until completely blended. Place half the mixture in the prepared tin and level the surface.

3. Take one-third of the almond paste and roll it out into a circle the size of the tin. Place it on top of the cake mixture. Spoon the remaining cake mixture over and smooth the surface.

4. Bake for about two hours until well-risen and firm to the touch.

Cover with foil after one hour if the top is browning too quickly. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

5. When the cake has cooled, brush the top with a little warmed apricot jam and roll out half the remaining almond paste to fit the top. Press firmly on the top and crimp the edges to decorate.

SIMNEL CAKE 6. Mark a criss-cross pattern This cake has now become an on the almond paste with a sharp Easter cake but originally it was knife. If desired, form the remaingiven by servant girls to their ing almond paste into 11 balls.

7. Brush the almond paste with mothers when they went home on Mothering Sunday. Recipe cour- beaten egg and arrange the balls around the outside. Brush the tesy of www.britannia.com. tops of the balls with egg as well.

Place the cake under a hot grill to CAKE INGREDIENTS turn the almond paste golden.

1 cup butter, softened 8. Decorate with crystallized flowers such as violets, primroses 1 cup light muscovado sugar and jonquils, if desired.

4 eggs