Mother's Day Feast!

Best Mother's Day gift EVER: Owen spontaneously saying at the breakfast table "Happy Mother's Day!"  NOT KIDDING.  Apparently Jeremy had been working on Owen saying it all morning (beginning at 5:45 AM, neat!) and the fact that he remembered and said it to me meant the world to me!!  He said it to his grammies as well :)  This little mister is the best! 

For breakfast, J made me cinnamon chip pancakes, bacon and fruit salad - perfect!  After church and a nap, we headed to Tuttle Creek State Park for a little hike and some outside time!  Little Man was so stoked for a new park!  We finally convinced him to leave the park in favor for a hike and he ran for about 15 minutes down the trail.  At first I was wondering if he was going to run for the entire 2 miles.  Silly me, not-yet-two-year-olds do eventually tucker out!  He finally asked to go "up" and he enjoyed the hike from on high!

For Mother's Day dinner I first requested a feast a la my friend Brandy's blog One is Hungry.  Although we had to make it a bit Owen friendly by adding a dip he would eat, and eliminating cheeses he would ask for, we would deny him, he'd throw a tantrum, then we'd give it to him, and then he'd spit it out and it would be wasted.  Maybe we have an adult-only cheese feast next weekend! 

Please note the beautiful roses Jeremy and Owen got me for Mother's Day!  They are so pretty and make our kitchen smell wonderful!

We thought it would be fun to have a picnic on our hike, but it didn't really work out.  So we thought we'd eat in our backyard.  And then I started to get bug bites, so we moved the picnic inside...that, and our neighbors were outside shouting at each other and the whole no-privacy fence thing kind of ruins a nice dinner outside.  So my wonderful husband put together this lovely feast at our kitchen table :)  We had rotisserie chicken, arugula, tomatoes and cucumbers on a baguette; Sun Dried Tomato Dip with cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers and pita chips; and some red grapes (my continual craving.)  Everything was FABULOUS!!  The sun-dried tomato dip was served recently at a JAG event and I'm addicted!!  You must try it!

Sun-dried Tomato Dip

~The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook~

Ingredients

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped (8 tomatoes)
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream  (J used Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
10 dashes, hot red pepper sauce (J used tobasco, but maybe next time we try Sriracha)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)

Instructions

Puree the tomatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, red pepper sauce, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the scallions and pulse twice. Serve at room temperature.

Happy Mother's Day!