A Lazy Sunday Afternoon on the Deck: A Low-Stress, Minimal Cooking Mother's Day Brunch at Home

Happy day after Mother's Day for all of the mothers out there or those who have or know a mother in their life!

We had a simple and frugal Mother's Day at home. I grocery shopped for it at WinCo (known as a low-cost grocery store) on Saturday. My daughters and husband cooked, prepared, and served everything. And my son and daughter-in-law came over, bringing a pastry, some blueberry juice, and some sparkling mineral water. 

As we were enjoying our meal, we had a friend join us. Can you guess who or what that friend might be? Up the steps of the deck came a young female duck that has befriended us this spring. I think she heard us talking and came for a hand-out. Oh, she was quite funny, begging and poking her bill wherever she thought there might be food. At one point she found my daughter's jar of water and dipped her bill in for a drink. She looked around in my flats of garden vegetable seedlings, and basically entertained us all. When we thought she ought to go back to the pond, we walked her back there. And she followed us every step.

Fun afternoon. We enjoyed ourselves on the deck until it grew too chilly outdoors.

So what did we actually eat? We had an egg, bell pepper, and cheese casserole, ham roll-ups, fresh strawberries, fresh watermelon, sautéed mushrooms with thyme, grape tomatoes (less expensive than cherry tomatoes this week), hash brown potatoes, butter croissants, fruit-filled mini pastries, an apricot poundcake, juice, coffee, tea, mineral water. The menu was comprised of simple foods which didn't require a lot of cooking time or make a big of a mess. 

I spent $38.87 on special foods for the brunch. We had leftovers to send home with my son and daughter-in-law and leftovers enough to make a complete dinner the day after, with some remaining foods to last for several days. 

I combined my Mother's Day shopping with my regular bi-weekly WinCo stock-up shopping. I had hoped to get to WinCo on Friday, but wasn't feeling well, so I waited a day. I wish I could have gone any day other than the day before Mother's Day. The store was a zoo on Saturday. Crowds in the aisles and long, long check-out lines. But I got it done and could work in the garden in the afternoon to destress.

Our brunch was lovely, and having it a home -- I wouldn't do it any other way. You know I like to analyze the whys of making the choices that I do. So I thought through why having a Mother's Day home-brunch is my preferred way to do Mother's Day. Here are my top reasons to choose celebrating at home.

• I don't have to deal with crowds or harried servers in a restaurant. Mother's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants. Reservations are difficult to get last minute. Even if you do snag a ressie, there are no guarantees that your table will be ready for you when you arrive. And there's no pressure to vacate your table for the next party when you dine at home. Dining at home is peaceful, and we can carry on conversations without needing to raise our voices to be heard over a crowd.
• I can "order up" exactly what I like and how I prefer foods be prepared, including using my "safe" substitutes so I don't feel ill later. I get to add in some of my favorite foods, such as sautéed mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, and butter croissants.
• Celebrating at home is easy-going. There's no need to rush to make a reservation, and I don't have to dress in any particular way to meet dining out expectations.
• And of course, it's cost-effective. Even with spending about $39 on the foods, that figure covers the meal for 6 adults. Aside from eating fast food, I don't think we could find a restaurant where $39 would completely cover the meal for 6. And because I knew the final cost would be relatively low, I could throw in the fresh brown mushrooms, a bottle of sparkling mineral water, a pound of fresh strawberries, a whole watermelon, uncured Black Forest ham (uncured ham is about double the cost of cured ham), and a large box of all-butter croissants. Yes, we could have done brunch for a lot less, but having the foods special to me, and in the premium category for our low grocery budget, made the me feel like a splurge. 
• I still had a crew to do the cooking, serving, and cleaning up afterward. So I did get a day off.

For me, celebrating Mother's Day (or many of the other holidays) isn't so much about a perfect meal or being pampered (although I enjoy that, too). But for me, it's about having time with all of my family, making new memories and revisiting old ones, and the love and laughter shared amongst our family. We do that best in the quiet atmosphere of our own home.