Mother's Day & OIAJ

Now that I’m back in the states, I’m hoping my blogging can become more regular again. But with a crazy-busy summer packed with a full-time internship in Manhattan and a family trip to Greece, this could prove rather difficult….

While I’ve got the time at home (well, one day at least!), I’ve decided this’ll be a catchup/ketchup/catsup/alrightttttt, catch up post. I’m tellin’ ya upfront! (Translation: this could get supa random.)

Mother’s Day was the greatest because we all got together, once again. We are Family, after all. And what better way to spend Mother’s Day than with all your fave people, right?

Can I please just share with y’all how my dad first took this photo?

Since the point of the photo was to lift up my mom, my dad kind of missed the point the first time around. We got a good laugh out of it, though!

Just like the reception location, the place we ate brunch was unbelievably gorgeous — with a perfect lakeside view:

Like most brunches, it was served buffet-style. Downside: reminded me of mensa. Upside: the food was 100x better!

I filled my plate with scrambled eggs, a breakfast sausage, a barbecued rib, a scoop of cold pasta salad, and loads of fresh fruit.

 I know this is not the way things are supposed to turn out, but after my added salt-less Lent, I am loving that I can salt eggs again. Is it just me, or are eggs so much better with a sprinkle of added salt?

Besides the fruit being so fresh and juicy, my favorite part of my meal was undoubtedly the barbecued rib. They don’t make those in Italy.

Oh, wait…let me rephrase that: My favorite until the dessert, that is

A sliver of carrot cake with — you guessed it — cream cheese frosting. Moist spice cake dotted with flecks of carrot, pieces of walnut, and thin ribbons of frosting. I die.

The happy couple even stopped by to visit before they jetted off to Cabo. I told Kelly to enjoy the warm weather for me — She-bo doesn’t get that warm…like, ever.

My other eats throughout the week included:

• My very first OIAJ (Oats in a Jar). This heavenly concoction can be made the night before, or the morning of. It’s made when you have just a little bit left in your peanut butter, almond butter, or any other nut butter jar. How convenient that our peanut butter was running low right when I came home (Thanks, Dad for making those pb&j’s!)

Since I didn’t think of it until the morning of, I chose to make the oats and then put them inside the jar — perfectly delicious, IMO.

I loaded my oats with a handful of pecans and a few slices of frozen banana. I’m begging you guys to try this — so much better than the oats I make in a bowl and then put a dollop of pb on top of. Maybe because it’s super fun eating out of a jar? I felt like such a rebel Kind of like when you drink from the milk carton…a la Danny Tanner when he goes psycho and becomes Dirty Danny in the episode when he’s standing in the closet and overhears his family saying he’s a neat freak! Wow, now that I’ve completely embarrassed myself…

• After looking at food porn Foodgawker, I stumbled across a recipe for an Asian-inspired Salmon via This Week for Dinner. I followed the recipe almost to a T, simply substituting a different type of salmon for the Norwegian fillet the recipe calls for.

I had never made fish before, so to be honest, I was pretty excited it turned out to be edible! The only thing I’d change for next time would be to let the sauce reduce a little more to become thicker.

Consistency of the sauce aside, the actual flavor of it was pretty good — infused with orange juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger. On the side, we had some steamed broccoli with a few splashes of soy sauce and sesame oil and added sesame seeds on top. The brown rice that accompanied the meal? As I was choking it down (slight exaggeration), I tried to remind myself that it was the healthier choice — but I can’t pretend to like it. I much prefer the Uncle Ben’s brown rice variety in a bag. You know, the one that warms up in the bag in 90 seconds? Simplicity and tastiness Next time, I’m going for something a little more flavorful — maybe some added black beans, different flavors of rice…

• My grandma’s family-famous homemade pizza

Ain’t she cute?

My mom and I were thrilled when we smelled this baking in the oven…poor Dad wasn’t along for the ride eats!

I had 2 slices of pizza with cheese & Italian sausage, as well as some lettuce with carrots and my grandma’s from-scratch vinaigrette. And at Grandma’s a meal ain’t complete unless you have dessert, so I finished off my meal with a peanut butter cookie. (At G-ma’s): from scratch, natch

After lunch, a rousing game of Scrabble was played between my Grandma (G-ma), my mom (Ma), and me (lil’ Ma). Is lil’ ma a rapper? I’m so behind on the times…

See the word wrung? Jackpot, baby! TRIPLE WORD SCORE. Bam.

Somehow lil’ Ma ended up winning:

Even though at one point my letters looked like this:

I mean, really?

After talking for a while longer, my mom and I headed out to beat the crazy storms. Only a day trip, but so nice to see them before I leave for the summer.

And I Ask You: What’s the best thing you’ve eaten this week?

I’m not gonna lie: OIAJ were the most magical thing I’ve eaten since I’ve been home.