Mothers Day

So, for Mothers Day, my sister and I got up pretty early to make dumplings for lunch. We decided to ban my mom from the kitchen for an entire day and have her relax. Actually my sister and I just recently learned how to make dumplings on a trip to Shandong last year to visit some relatives we'd never met before. They didn't believe us when we told them we couldn't make dumplings and they started laughing! Apparently they could make all sorts of delicious treats from the age of 8 because that's apparently how you do it, your mother passes it down to you and so on. Seeing as the only person in our family who could make dumplings was our grandmother and she never taught her kids we all had to depend on her. After her stroke that left her paralyzed in her right half, none of us had had dumplings in ages... until now!



Looks pretty neat on the tray, huh?



All cooked and on plates.



My grandparents enjoying the fruits of our labor!



The one on the left are dehydrated flowers and they can keep for 2-3 years. No need to water or anything. The one on the right have to be watered.





I actually made this cake the night before, it has a chocolate cake bottom with chopped hazelnuts with a thin layer of vanilla cream on it and on top of that is a raspberry-blueberry mousse. As you might be able to see, the mousse wasn't as firm as I would've liked it, it was way too soft. *EPIC FAIL* But it tasted pretty good. My aunt who rarely eats sweet things asked for seconds and ended up scraping and licking the platter!



My grandmother, and my mom on the left with my aunt. My aunt got married quite late and decided not to have any children... Maybe it was after she had been helping my parents raise the three of us that she had had enough! Either way, she's like a second mom to us and we always remember her on Mothers Day.




The tortellini and ravioli with cauliflower puree on top that my sister and brother had prepared for dinner that evening. It was really tasty and everyone ended up in a food coma that evening after a whole day of deliciousness.


So, what did you do for your mother on Mothers Day?