for Mom Celebrate with delicious picnic fare shared with family, friends

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At this time every year, mothers, grandmothers and special aunts have the luxurious opportunity to bask in well-deserved showers of affection from their family and friends. As my children have grown, each Mother’s Day I’ve enjoyed a wide variety of lovingly crafted cards and unique gifts. Their tiny hands have planted paper cups of marigolds and picked bouquets of daffodils. I’ve savored home-baked treats, full-scale dinners and even breakfast in bed.

Of all my Mother’s Day celebrations, the year my husband’s parents were visiting from Florida stands out as my favorite. The weather was unusually warm for May and my mother-in-law and I wanted an activity where we could be outside. So we loaded up the car and headed for the ocean.

We stopped on Route 1 just north of Camden, at Moose Point State Park. As it was early in the season, the entrance to the driveway was still gated. We left the car at the top of the hill and lugged the picnic hampers packed with food, china and linens down to the park.

After our picnic, we watched the children fly kites, and then we all explored the beaches. I romantically remember the event as a Monet-inspired, old-fashioned family day: a picture-perfect time in Maine, before the invasion of black flies and tourists.

My request for Mother’s Day this year is another outdoor repast, and I am hoping the weather will cooperate. The menu for our feast is elegant, readily transported, and best of all, I know it can be made easily by the various members of my family. A picnic is a perfect way to celebrate Mother’s Day: delicious food, lovingly prepared, shared in a beautiful setting with family and friends.

If there is a bread machine in your family, the recipe for Oatmeal Dinner Rolls is a snap. I sometimes put all the ingredients in the machine in the morning and set the timer, so when I get home in the evening the dough is all ready to shape. These rolls stay fresh for two days, and freeze nicely. Don’t cook the oatmeal just to make rolls, enjoy it for breakfast and save the leftovers in the refrigerator for future bread making.

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

? cup cooked oatmeal

? cup milk at room temperature

1 tablespoon butter or margarine at room temperature

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup molasses

21/2 teaspoons yeast

3 cups flour

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a bread machine and set the machine on the dough cycle. (Or mix the dough with a dough hook in the bowl of a mixer and then cover and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour.)

After completion of the cycle, punch down the dough and divide into 15 pieces. Using the palm of your hand, roll each piece into a smooth ball, and place in a greased pan. Let the rolls rise again until double in bulk, about one hour. Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. (The tops will be nicely browned. When you remove the pan and tap it on the bottom, it should make a hollow sound, indicating the rolls are done.) Remove the rolls from the pan and let cool on a rack. Makes 15 2-ounce rolls, or one loaf of bread.

I like to use boneless thighs and chicken breasts for this recipe, although the bone variety will work just as well. Lemon-Lime Grilled Chicken can be brought to the picnic site and grilled, and is also delicious cold. No lemons or limes? Try orange and lemon, or orange and lime.

Lemon-Lime Grilled Chicken

Approximately 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken pieces (legs, thighs and-or breasts)

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons grated lime zest

3/4 cup fresh juice from the lemons and limes

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or chives or parsley)

In a small saucepan on top of the stove, whisk together the zests, citrus juice, sugar, garlic and cayenne pepper until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the oil and fresh herbs. Allow to cool slightly.

In a large shallow dish, arrange the chicken pieces and pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover the dish and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours, turning the chicken at least once. Grill the chicken pieces on a medium-hot grill, basting with the marinade and turning frequently. (Discard the marinade, do not reuse.) The chicken may be served hot off the grill, or refrigerated and served later at room temperature. Serves 6.

When I had my restaurant and shop, this was by far our most popular potato salad. I love to eat it while the potatoes are still warm, but the flavor of the grainy mustard mellows better if it sits overnight. How much mayonnaise and mustard you use is a matter of personal taste.

Red Potato and Egg Salad

1 pound red potatoes

3 eggs

mayonnaise

grainy mustard (like French Pommery)

salt and fresh pepper to taste

chopped fresh chives to garnish

Scrub potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Cook the potatoes until just fork-tender, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, boil the eggs until hard cooked. Peel the eggs, cut them into small pieces and add them to the potatoes. Season the hot potatoes to taste with salt and fresh pepper, then add equal parts of mayonnaise and grainy mustard, stirring gently. Start with 2 tablespoons of each, and add more until the salad has reached the consistency you like. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve on a lettuce-lined platter, garnished with chopped fresh chives. Serves 6.

My 13-year-old daughter usually makes the salads in our house, and currently this one is her favorite. Check out the specialty produce section of your supermarket for different mixes of salad greens, or better yet, visit your local farmers market for native baby greens.

Emily’s Baby Green Salad With Oriental Dressing

To prepare the dressing, whisk the following ingredients in a small bowl and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 cup canola or peanut oil

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 scant tablespoon sesame oil

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

For the salad:

2 pears, cored, and cut into bite-sized pieces

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 6-ounce bag fresh greens (baby spinach, oriental salad mix or mesclun mix)

2 ounces pecans (about ? cup) toasted for 5 minutes in a 350-degree oven

11/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

To prepare the salad: core the pears, cut into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with the fresh lemon juice. Place in plastic zip-lock bag or tight container. Wash the greens, spin dry and tear into small pieces. Store in plastic bag. Toast the nuts and crumble the blue cheese, storing both in separate plastic bags. When ready to assemble, toss all ingredients with 2 to 3 tablespoons of dressing and serve immediately. Serves 6.

My recipe for French Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes was adapted from a recipe printed in a 1986 Bon Appetit magazine. In researching possibilities for Mother’s Day desserts, I was interested to learn from Maida Hatter’s “Book of Great Chocolate Desserts” that the true origin of this dense, chocolate-lovers’ cake may have been from Countess Toulouse-Lautrec, the director of a cooking school for young ladies at Maxim’s restaurant in Paris. Her recipe for French Chocolate Cake was introduced to America in 1959 in an article in McCall’s Magazine. These cupcakes are perfect to pack in the picnic hamper, because you can make them several days ahead and freeze them, and they will have defrosted (and not melted) just in time for dessert. Timing, though, is critical. Do not overbake these cakes, or they won’t be quite as rich and dense. Eight minutes gives you a really gooey center, whereas 10 minutes yields a consistency more like fudge.

French Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

1/2 pound good quality chocolate (semi-sweet or bittersweet, I use chocolate chips)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

2 large eggs, separated

1/2 tablespoon flour

1/2 tablespoon sugar

Set the oven on 425 degrees. Grease six cups of a muffin tin.

Coarsely chop the chocolate, and place in the top of a double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Using a rubber scraper, stir the chocolate until it is almost melted. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and continue to stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the butter, a tablespoon at a time, until it is melted. Set the chocolate aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Beat in the flour. Using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft, add the sugar and beat until they hold their shape, but are not stiff or dry. Add the beaten egg yolks to the chocolate mixture. Then fold half of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate mixture, gently folding until it is well blended.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and set on the lower rack of the oven. Bake the mousse cakes for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. The middle will sink and the tops will just barely start to set up. This is just right. Remove the cakes from the oven and using a sharp knife, loosen the edges of the cakes. Let cool in the pan, and then refrigerate until chilled. The cakes come out easily from the pan when they are cold. Tap the cakes out of the pan and remove the parchment paper from the bottom. Wrap each cake in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

To serve: The cakes are delicious plain, or fill the dip in the center with fresh strawberries or raspberries, or whipped cream and top with shaved chocolate. Serves 6.