Mother's Day dinner 2008

This is the first Mother's Day I did not feel sad about not being a mom myself. I was focused on serving others and it is way better then feeling sorry for yourself. We celebrated Mother's Day in St. George. We all enjoyed a 2 hour break from the stress and laughed lots. Scott's aunt Cheree was having open heart surgery and we wanted to lend support. Scott's mom and dad drove over from Phoenix with Carli the dog. Carli has not been the same dog since Cami passed away and can not be left alone. We took turns waiting outside the ICU with Carli. My mom is also down there so we stayed with her. She looked beautiful but I can tell she does not feel good. Then my moms brother Uncle Denny who had the recent heart attack and his sweet wife Aunt Susan who is fighting rectal cancer let us use their home on Mother's Day to make a special meal for all the family in town. I have never done a big holiday meal by myself and usually bring store bought food to family events so this was a big deal for me. I wanted everything to be extra nice as everyone was suffering so much. My mom invited her dear friend Shirley to join us who is one of the neatest people I know and her friend Jen. Scott's uncle Ash, Cheree hubby and their daughter Michele came too. How blessed we felt to have both moms in the same place with us for Mother's Day and that Aunt Susan, Michele, Shirley were with us too. Having CHeree out of ICU would have made things perfect. Aunt Susan's paper chain from Tom and Liz is getting shorter marking the treatments being over with faster-- yipee. I forgot to get photos of the people! I did get some of the meal:) I took notes and made a list of the order to prepare each item. It worked great. Scott had to come to my rescue as I left the sour cream and cheese at my moms house across town. He is a gem and never complains at my mishaps which can be frequent. I love him. Here are my notes to remember for next time...

Honey glazed ham, funeral potatoes (my own made up recipe), fresh steamed asparagus (with butter), green salad (romaine lettuce, dried cranberries, candied pecans, white balsamic vinaigrette and feta cheese), pear delight jello salad (with real whipped cream), rolls, apricot and raspberry jam, fresh strawberries with pound cake and a chocolate cake (from Shirley).

We had 11 people - 8.5 pound ham was too much, the jello was all gone, one Parisian salad was enough, the potatoes: I used 2 cans of cream of chicken healthy choice for Aunt Susan with a square of butter in pan cooked it till warm then added in a huge sour cream poured a little heavy whipped cream. Then I used 2 bags of 2 different types of potatoes square and the shredded kind then 1 pound of shredded sharp cheddar a little onion powder and a little all purpose seasoning salt free, and a little of Aunt Susan's garlic powder. I used big throw away pans and throw away plates, cups, utensils.