When I was in college and belonged to one of those exclusive, girls-only clubs, one of the most exciting annual events was Moms’ Weekend. On a certain weekend in the spring all of our moms would descend on small town Indiana, take us out to dinner, and, if we they were lucky, drink cheap beers with us at the frat next door. Saturdays were spent shopping and eating good food in Indy or Bloomington, and after a big brunch on Sunday all of the moms would head home. A good time was had by all.
Since then my mom and I have spent a lot of similar weekends together, but this past weekend was the first time since college that it was a more organized affair. My mom, Matt’s mom, and Matt’s friend Nate’s mom all came to Minneapolis for shopping, eating, and celebrating birthdays, among other things. The only thing making this weekend different from those in college was the children acting a little more like adults. We drank nice wine instead of Schlitz, we fit in morning workouts instead of sleeping off hangovers, and there was no pulling over on the side of the highway en route to our shopping destination to find out what breakfast looks like after being partially digested. (That orange juice was a bad idea.) ’Twas a success!
On Saturday morning my mom and I ran a St. Patrick’s Day 5K around Lake Harriet, and she inadvertently dressed like the Irish flag. After running every morning for the last 30+ years this was my mom’s first organized race, and I was honored to run it with her. This is the before picture; my mom’s expression makes me laugh.
Here we are after winning the race and before picking up our free Salted Nut Rolls. If every post-race buffet included Salted Nut Rolls I would never stop running.
After going out to eat on Friday and Saturday we decided to stay in and cook on Sunday. We made stops at three different grocery stores to pick up supplies for a Mexican feast, and by the time we got home it was time for a snack. I discovered freshly made quark at Whole Foods, so we snacked on that with some homemade rye bread, my aunt Amy’s delicious peach jam, and some kumquats.
Before we got around to actually making dinner we made the most amazing candy in the world (with the possible exception of Salted Nut Rolls): Blood Orange Caramels. I hate it when people overuse superlatives, but these candies are so, so wonderful that my choice of words is justified. I found the recipe on Matt Bites a few weeks ago, and I’ve been dying to try them ever since. Not owning a juicer was the only thing holding me back, but, miraculously, my mom arrived bearing a lovely violet juicer for my birthday. Thanks, Mom!
Note: If you want the recipe for the caramels, click here. I’m just going to show off a few pictures of the process.
My mom roughly chopped a bunch of almonds…
…while I juiced a bag full of blood oranges. We used almost all of these. It takes a lot, but it is so worth it. Hurry up and make them while they’re in season!
Pretty fruit.
I discovered that a bottle of Patron was the perfect height for holding my strainer steady.
These take a bit of time to make, with the juicing and the stirring and then more stirring, but they are absolutely worth every second.
For dinner we made carnitas, yuca fries, and bacony pinto beans. It was far from being the healthiest meal we’ve ever made, but it was definitely delicious. More on those recipes at a later date.
Mom looks like such a goofball in that first picture. Also in the chopping picture….
Deer in headlights