To me, Mother’s Day is one of the most challenging celebrations to plan on the calendar. Since I live six hours from my mother, planning something in person like a brunch reservation or other event is rarely possible. Yet, sending something like flowers or an edible arrangement always seem to dim in comparison to being there. Deep down I think we all want to make it special.

This becomes truer the older we get and the more we lose. This Mother’s Day marks the first one without Tom’s Mom. No matter how she was feeling in these last few years, she never ceased to think of me and send a Mother’s Day or Birthday card. Always with a loving note signed with her signature “Bea” at the end. She loved going out on Mother’s Day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. It didn’t matter. Just getting out was a treat.

Of course this year, no one is going anywhere. No reservations for breakfast, lunch, brunch or dinner. For some, if their mom is in a nursing home, they are most likely forbidden from visiting even if they live five minutes away. This leaves many of us wondering how we can create something special?

I would like to say the idea was all mine, but it was not. Tom always comes up with the best ideas. We were discussing the topic on one of our two daily walks around the neighborhood when he said, “why don’t you send her some cookies and have a video brunch?” Yes!

Cookies

You might be thinking, “what’s so special about cookies”. Well for the last six months or so I have subscribed to Cookie University. A subscription box service from a professionally trained pastry chef where each month Ben and I receive supplies to decorate cookies: pastry bags, tips, cookie cutters, decorations, and more. It’s something different each month and always with a new technique to learn. Along with each box is access to video tutorials that go along with the box for learning those techniques.

When we started with Cookie University I had no idea we were going to learn so much. I love baking and like to think I’m pretty good at it. But this took it to another level. This includes a mind blowing trick for making and rolling the cookie dough right from the very first box. I felt like I knew nothing about making cookies at that moment. Now, when we see the box in the mailbox, we are so excited to open it and see what’s next. Ben absolutely loves it.

So back to Mother’s Day. The April Cookie University box contained a Mother’s Day theme. The cookies in the tutorial were beautiful. Making them can compete with some of the best restaurants around. There was just one problem for me. Calling the event a Mother’s Day Brunch.

Cookies didn’t seem to fit the mold entirely. Sure you can have them as part of a brunch, but a brunch to me also includes some key essentials: eggs, bacon, fruit, some kind of carved meat and don’t forget the mimosas! I couldn’t possibly deliver an entire brunch. So I officially renamed our event a Mother’s Day Tea. I imagined tea poured in fancy cups alongside beautifully decorated cookies. Hats, jewelry, feather boas also welcome.

Setting Up a Tea

I’d like to say making the cookies for this tea was easy, but it was not. It’s fun, but also a LOT of work. There was a point in time when I had six bags of icing all in different colors loaded and ready to go for making the flowers on the cookies and when I started applying it onto a cookie, I realized I hadn’t made it thick enough. The flowers were not holding their shape. They turned into blobs of icing on the cookie right before my eyes.

I was ready to throw in the towel on the event. Instead, I did what any person would do in a similar situation. I sat on the couch, taking deep breaths and contemplated what my next steps might be while eating the ruined cookie. They really do taste great too.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you perseverance doesn’t pay off. It does. I squeezed all the icing out of each bag. Thickened each one with more confectioners sugar and re-bagged each and every one. And with that, these little beauties were formed.

But how to send them to my Mom and sister for our Tea without them arriving crushed and in pieces? Well, I just happened to have some small leftover pizza boxes from Ben’s 6th birthday pizza cake party. I put enough cookies in each box to make a single layer. Each cookie wrapped in a sandwich bag and laid atop a layer of bubble wrap. Then another layer of bubble wrap was lovingly placed on top of the cookies. I sealed every corner, seam, or other area where air might seep into the box with packing tape. The cookies weren’t going anywhere in the box. Then I said a Hail Mary and sent them on their way hoping the US Postal Service would deliver them fully intact.

With that I set up a Zoom invitation and the Tea was on. I challenged my mother and sister to have tea ready in fancy cups and to feel free to add any embellishments they deemed necessary.

For myself, I donned a fancy scarf, tiara and the flashiest jewelry I could find. One piece being a very special to me piece of costume jewelry that belonged to my grandmother. A necklace that has turquoise and fake pearls on one side and a wind up watch on the other. Some pearls have fallen out and the wind up watch no longer works, but it’s still one of my favorite pieces. Even Tom and Ben we’re into the event wearing their best shirts and ties.

For the table, we pulled out all the stops. Candles, special tea pots for Tom and I, fancy cups and saucers that belonged to my grandmother and flowers. I made tea sandwiches: egg salad and cucumber which turned out delicious.

Cue the Music

Thanks to my Sirius XM radio app We were able to put some classical music on while we waited for everyone to join the call. The scene was set for a fancy event.

I’d have to say we were not disappointed. Everyone had their tea made and dressed the part. From fancy tea cups once belonging to grandma to the hats, tiaras and feather boas. The tables looked great. And the best news of all? The cookies all arrived ahead of the tea and intact!

We spent an hour talking, laughing, eating, and drinking tea. We played a round of Mad Libs titled, “The Three Little Pigs”. We were treated to a tour of my niece’s fort in the living room complete with a note from the fairies living in her fairy house. Our event concluded with a reading of Ben’s latest story titled, “Outer Space Scaredy Cats”. It was a delightful hour.

In the end it doesn’t matter if you have the reservation at the best restaurant in town or the best gift money can buy. What does matter is that you celebrate in a style that’s unique for you and your family and do it together. As the owner of Cookie University always says when she ends her tutorials, “Be creative and have fun!”. This is true for everything.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Carving routes