mother's day wrap up

can we eat it yet?

as you all know, the three pbe gals are related in the following fashion: mooncrazy and doodles are sisters and i, maltese parakeet, am mooncrazy's daughter. we started this blog because the family occasions are all about the food, and all we ever talk about is food, and it's only gotten worse since we started this blog. the men in our life have all learned not to touch the food until they ask, "has this been photographed for the blog yet?" i even caught my dad snapping pictures of the food as it was going on the table at thanksgiving!

so, when i invited my ma over for mother's day brunch, i knew it had to be the perfect menu and photo-worthy, as well. no pressure. i wanted to do a nice, french sort of meal with a carbon-friendly green/local theme and as organic as i could make it, too. ingredients from my crop share were on the menu as were items from the santa monica farmers' market (and i took the bus there, too). everything else was from trader joe's! (love you, tj!)


leek tart. love my convection oven!

here's what was on the menu:

mimosas with organic oj and chandon champagne (neither local nor organic, but soooo good)
leek tart with herbes de provence and whole wheat pie crust
salad with tri-color roasted beets and goat cheese with honey-dijon-white balsamic vinaigrette
chicken sweet italian sausage
roasted purple, white and red potatoes with garlic and rosemary
sicilian blood orange cake with fresh whipped cream


why, yes, the cake is crooked. but everything looks better on a cake plate with a dusting of powdered sugar. the silicon bundt cake pan sounded like a good idea when i bought it.

the cake is the same cake that i made for the is my blog burning stale bread challenge that we participated in a long time ago. i did it in a bundt pan this time, which i don't think i would do again. my bunky offered up halfway through his slice that he thought it tasted like froot loops. he got such a look from me for that one. although, i have to agree that, on second tasting, this cake is a little sweet and i might use less sugar in the batter next time, knowing that it's going to get soaked with the syrup.

all in all, i think everyone enjoyed the meal, especially the guest of honor. happy mother's day, again, mooncrazy!