Happy Mother's Day!

First I would like to say Happy Mother's Day to my Mommy! And of course Jeremy's Mommy too:) They really do a lot for us and words can't even describe how much we appreciate it!

Today I hosted a wonderful Mother's Day Luncheon. There were 10 people there. My Mom, my Grandma, my Mom's two sisters Sherrie and Tammie, Sherries Mother-in-law Alice, Tammie's daughter Rachelle and Rachelle's daughter Christasia, my Uncle's wife Kyla, and My Mom's boyfriend Steve's Mom Janet and myself. On the menu was Chicken salad on croissants, cold cuts, pasta salad, deviled eggs, veggies and dip, potato chips, chocolate covered strawberries and homemade New York Style cheesecake with strawberry topping. I slaved away in the kitchen pretty much all day yesterday while Jeremy was gone. He picked a great time to be gone because I did not sit down until after 9:30 last night. I was pooped! But it was well worth it. I will include some recipes at the end of this post. I also let the Martha Stewart come out in me and I made everyone the cutest little vases with flowers. I thought it would be a fun little gift and it was very fun to make.

I hope that by Mother's Day next year, I can celebrate being a Mommy myself. That is Jeremy and I's hope and although things have not gone quite as planned thus far, we hope that what has not broke us, only makes us stronger and we will keep trying to add to our family.

A few recipes to take note from the luncheon today...

Chicken Salad
4 large cans chicken-drained and shredded
1 stick butter-melted and cooled
15 oz. Hellman's mayo
1/4 c parsley minced
1/2 t curry powder
1/4 t minced garlic
pinch of marjoram
pinch of salt
pinch of white pepper

Mix and serve

Deviled Eggs
For every 6 eggs you hard boil...
1/4 c Hellman's mayo
1 t prepared mustard
1 t distilled white vinegar
1/4 t salt
a little pepper
Add to the yellows and beat, fill egg whites and sprinkle with a little paprika

New York Style Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter melted
4 8oz. packages of cream cheese
1 1/2 c white sugar
3/4 c. milk
4 eggs
1 c sour cream
1 T. vanilla extract
1/4 c. all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350, grease 9 inch springform pan
In medium bowl mix graham crackers and melted butter, press into bottom of pan
In large bowl mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth, blend with milk, and then mix in eggs one at a time, mixing enough to incorporate, mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth, pour filling into prepared crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, turn oven off and let cool in oven with door closed for 5-6 hours, this prevents cracking, chill in fridge until serving.
****This is Jeremy's all time favorite dessert I make. I made it for our 1st Valentine's Day together and I think that is what won him over:)

Supreme Strawberry Topping
1 pint strawberries
1/3 cup white sugar
1 t vanilla

Cut 1/3 of the strawberries in half. In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine strawberries, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. In a blender puree about 1/3 of the sauce then mix back into remainder. Store in refrigerator.

Pasta Salad
Tri-color pasta
olives
grape tomatoes
brocolli
Cheese crumbles
Sun Dried Tomato vinegarette dressing
Mrs. Dash salad seasoning

I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day! It was a beautiful day.