First and foremost, happy mother’s day to all the women out there, whether you are an actual mom, an amazing aunt, a great older sister, or the mommy of a cute little canine/feline/etc. creature.
Unfortunately, I cannot be home with my mom today but if I were I would be cooking up a storm for her. I was trying to think of what her favorite dish is on my walk to Trader Joe’s yesterday and I was hard put to come up with anything. For my dad, it’s easy – Osso Buco (and yes, I plan on attempting to make this for his birthday in July – so stay tuned). But my mom, not so much. I think she just spends so much time catering to everyone else’s preferences that she never really gets to eat what she wants and so I just can’t place what that would be. Actually, now that I think about it some more I bet she would really like a simply flavored caprese pasta salad with some stuffed artichokes on the side. She’s a veggie lover like me and the fresh flavors in this with the tomatoes and the basil would probably make her very happy. And a nice ricotta cheesecake for dessert probably wouldn’t hurt. Well, at least now I know what to make for her birthday in about a month!
So if you remember, my roomie and I went to our first (but hopefully not last) Red Sox game last week! We felt like we couldn’t go through four years living in Boston without ever seeing the inside of Fenway Park or our beloved Sox, so we sucked it up and bought some tickets off of StubHub. Now, I know what you’re thinking – Joanne, you’re a New Yorker, don’t you have any Yankee pride!?!?!? The thing is, my family has always been Mets fans (even though my dad grew up in the Bronx – go figure) so I’m actually a default Red Sox fan by birth.
And don’t tell my dad this, but I’m pretty sure I actually like the Sox better than the Mets. They just seem to be a much more down-to-earth fun-loving group of guys. How can you not love a team where the closing pitcher is renowned for doing Irish jigs around the field after a win (love you Papelbon).
Fenway is actually a really small stadium, which turned out to be good for us since it was raining/misting throughout the whole game and our seats were under an overhang. I would have much rather been in our cheap seats than in one of the boxes! Another thing I love about the Red Sox is the atmosphere that they create. Bostonians just have so much pride for their team, calling themselves the Red Sox Nation (of which I can now say I am a card-carrying member). They have certain songs that they play during every game (i.e. Sweet Caroline and anything by the Dropkick Murphys) and everyone knows all the words and sings along. All in all it was a great experience.
And because we know that no baseball game is complete without a beer:
Okay, so for the food. For mother’s day, I got my mom a copy of my favorite cookbook. That is right – Bon Appetit’s Fast/Easy/Fresh. The recipes in here really do take no time at all and I thought they might inspire her to get creative in the kitchen. It was only fitting, then, that I make something from the book to provoke her to do the same. Green beans were on sale this week at the supermarket so I headed straight for the index and the first recipe I saw was one for roasted halibut with green beans and Asian cilantro sauce. Perfect! The store didn’t have any halibut so I used haddock instead (also on sale). The cilantro sauce reminded me of chimichurri with a sesame oil kick. All in all, a good, filling meal that I will be submitting to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted by Chris of Mele Cotte.
Roasted Haddock with Green Beans and Asian Cilantro Sauce
looks awesome! i’m going to my first sox game tonight 🙂
As a die-hard Yankee fan we might have to rumble…I’ll meet you in the parking lot at midnight!
Just kidding, haha. I love it when the Yankees play the Red Sox-it’s always so intense!
Seriously that Cilantro sauce looks so delicious-kind of like a kiced up pesto, too.
The entire dinner looks so yummy!
I hope she likes our favorite cookbook!!
wow…that looks reallly delicious! I’m sure your mom loved it!
Joanne, I loved this thoughtful – and interesting post. Your mom is lucky to have a sweet daughter like you and how cool that you’ve already figured out a menu for her b-day. (My dad’s favorite dish was osso buco also) I’m loving that fish + green beans + cilantro sauce combination.
Nancy
Okay, this went right in my a+recipe+to+try file bookmark folder! Sounds great.
I love all the dishes that you are cooking from this book! I am ashamed to say that I don’t think I have made any from it yet.
This dish looks particularly appetizing.
Good thing you are not a Yankees fan because I would have to unsubscribe from your blog. 🙂 I am a cubbie fan but also a Sox fan. Would love to make it out to that stadium one day.
I had to chuckle too because my mom is identical in that I have no flipping clue what to make her. She seems to be appreciative of everything I make but never has a must make dish. My dad has his must make dish which is pulled pork.
Great dish too!
ttfn – Yay! I hope you have a great time. Go Sox!
Reeni – I’ve never been to one of those games but my family always used to go to Subway Series Games. They were SUPER intense…talk about a lot of drunken men fighting every chance they get!
Pam – Me too! It makes choosing what to cook so easy (and yet hard since I want to make everything at once).
burpandslurp – I just hope she actually uses the cookbook and that it doesn’t sit on her shelf! She really liked the idea of it, and of course the card that I put in.
Nancy – Thanks so much :). I hope you had a great mother’s day!
Kalyn – Thanks for stopping by and be sure to let me know how it turns out if you make it!
Natashya – That’s okay, I have about five cookbooks that I’ve never cooked from. Ever. I will cook through those as soon as I finish cooking through this. In about two decades.
Jeff – Haha, our moms are apparently very similar! I don’t think she has ever told me she didn’t like something (unless it had tofu, in which case she picked it out and didn’t comment).
Going to Fenway is definitely a cool experience, Sox fans are like none that I’ve ever met before. They are passionate to the extent of murder. I can’t say I’m that intense (yet) but we’ll see…
just in the middle of cooking the haddock and cilantro sauce recipe- so far, so good! mmm
Delicious! Thanks for the recipe – a hit!