Historically, this was a day when serving girls in Britain were given the day off to visit their mothers, take them a cake & spend time with each other.
You’ll know by now from the numerous blog posts to this site, Tea with Mary Kate looks to inspire us to take note of the ordinary & appreciate it for the extraordinary that it is, each and every day. Many of you will know that it’s Mothering Sunday on 14th March 2010 in the UK, but at many different times around the world. Historically, this was a day when serving girls in Britain were given the day off to visit their mothers, take them a cake & spend time with each other. As a child, I remember all the ladies of the church, actual mother or not, receiving a beautifully scented daffodil corsage. It was a very special occasion & the smell of that daffodil can still transport me back to being on the steps of the church on that Sunday.
While I feel it’s important to say thank you, I also feel there is such pressure, such expectation these days that it can swamp the whole Mother’s Day affair & leave it feeling more like a duty than something you’d choose to do
But I hope this blog does inspire you to choose something different, unique & special this year, & far from necessarily expensive.
On this day for some, it’s a time to remember their mum’s who are no longer with them – but more I think it’s a time to appreciate those in our lives who play the role of “mum” to us (& this could be someone different from your “official mum”). What I hope this blog post will inspire you to do is to choose to show the mum to you what they mean to you, when they’ve really supported you & why you appreciated it – after all, it is the simple day to day acts of kindness through which we show our love of others.
Taking or more boldly making Afternoon Tea
This could be at one of the many excellent Tea shop’s that we have (see my blog posts on Bettys Tea rooms & Peak View tea rooms). While I can say that would be a truly lovely treat, there’s also a decent chance of these places being very busy or worse fully booked – so for this day if you’re running out of options, how about making an afternoon tea for that special person? You could serve it on a cake stand if you have one, alongside a small bunch of beautiful spring flowers, with your creation of cake that you’ve just wrecked the kitchen making ( do tidy this up though as otherwise, it will be fair to say that the treat could perhaps be perceived to be a little misplaced!).
Alongside the cake, I would suggest to serve this with bread & butter with the option to spread lashings of apricot Jam (home made if you have it) & whipped cream, together with a hot pie (gooseberry was my personal favorite, the next being blackcurrant, with the deep purple sweet juice to serve with it). You could also cheat & order from the Clifton Cake cafe which supply their delicious cakes for your special event if you are in the Bristol area of UK.
Clifton Cake cafe mothering Sunday Tea & cake
Another savoury option is to make the ubiquitous but gorgeous egg & cress sandwiches (do add my secret ingredient garlic salt when you make up your egg mix, trust me, you’ll never have egg mayonnaise sandwiches without this again once you have tasted it). I love old fashioned cheese & pineapple on sticks, with Quiche & other pies.
And of course, a big, steaming pot of strong tea to warm the heart as well as the toes, in the most lovely cups that you can find, to make it an extra special treat.
Mother’s Day Breakfast Tea Tray – tea in bed is such a wonderful indulgence on Mother’s Day.
Another idea is to hit the ground running from the first moment with breakfast in bed for your excellent mum. This could ba a tea tray, with a beautiful cloth on it, again, a beautiful bunch of flowers would go just perfectly alongside toast, marmalade & for simplicity, boiled eggs are a rather good addition. A lovely bowl of fruit salad or favourite cereal could also be served, the treat being that’s all ready for them in a lovely bowl, with all the cutlery shining & ready to use. And of course, this would have tea, a perfect breakfast blend to accompany breakfast – I can’t imagine a better treat – tea in bed is such a wonderful indulgence on any day, especially on Mother’s Day.
Beautiful tea tray for breakfast
Home made Mother’s Day lunch
If you are feeling like being extravagant & totally going for it – make Mother’s Day lunch! Devise a menu, lay the table with a crisp cloth, a simple decoration of spring flowers – daffodils, snowdrops & the first tulips in miniature buckets would be perfect. Even ivy laid trailing around the table is very effective at bringing spring indoors. You could print/write a menu, make little place cards, with the “mum” place card having pride of place.
And then serve your lunch. I’d go for a simple starter of homemade soup, or a fresh salad with grilled goats cheese or smoked salmon. Followed by a roasted main course, so yummy it is difficult to beat – roasted veggies are fabulous – do put in a little crushed garlic & I promise you they will taste gorgeous! Finally, a baked pudding of some sort is a lovely finish – but the sky’s your limit – make all their favourite food!
Mary Kate welcoming Sean & her brother to supper
If you’re far from home
Then do send a card, & perhaps some flowers & chocolates, but next time you’re together, have a “Belated Mother’s Day”, so you don’t miss out on the chance to say thank you.
I wanted to finish this mother’s Day treat’s blog with this lovely illustration of “A very Victorian tea party” from MME illustrations, a great idea for a mother’s day gift!
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