How I like to spend my Mother's Day

Instead of relaxing, taking the day off and going to the spa, I spent the day baking. Not that going to the spa isn't great, if you like that kind of thing but I would rather cook or bake because that is what I enjoy doing. It's Mother's Day so we should do what we want and if we can get a bit of a break from "mommying" in the process, that's even better :)

I am happy to take control of planning my holidays and special occasions. I'm also the bake-my-own-cake kind of birthday girl so big surprise there :) I don't have big expectations from Jean-Louis. I know he can be thoughtful but now with Tristan, I just don't expect that much from him. I hear of moms who become disappointed when their husbands don't plan anything special for them and they wait all day for a surprise that doesn't happen. I imagine it would be sad. I would rather plan something myself and know that it's going to happen rather than do nothing on Mother's Day. Like most occasions, I think acknowledging it with a nice meal and cake is best.

This year, I decided to host high tea and invite my sister and her family of four over. They ended up bringing a guest so there were 8 of us in total. I didn't want to spend the day slaving in the kitchen and be all tired from it so I planned on making just one thing. The one thing, as it turns out, took a day and a half to prepare! Yes, I finally made croissants! They turned out just like what I imagined and somehow I feel like I have crossed over the line to an extreme-foodie :) I made plain croissants, as well as a few pain au chocolat, and a few with ham and cheese rolled inside. They were all yummy. I love how there can be so many variations once the basic recipe is there.


Other things we served, which were bought and/or assembled, were avocado and cheese topped mini toast, foie gras topped mini toast, and tuxedo truffle cake. We served this with a French Earl Grey orange mandarin tea and Chinese sphere jasmine tea. We didn't over do it this time but then again, it wasn't meant to be a meal. The croissants were sort of huge though and some people did get full. I didn't know they would grow that much when baked. Yeasty!

So there you have it! I spent my Mother's Day baking and hosting a tea party. The best part of it was that my croissants turned out great and all the guests liked it too. Can you tell by all the croissant pictures I posted ? ;) Even Jean-Louis raved about it and he was skeptical since he saw me skip steps in the recipe here and there along the way. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer, which I purchased in advance as a Mother's Day gift for myself. Yes, I do that too :) In fact, I think this is the first gift I have ever bought myself for Mother's Day.

Lastly, Tristan made me a beautiful piece of canvas art in daycare for Mother's Day. You can see his fingerprints in some parts too :) I was quite impressed. An artist in the making, you think? :)