Meredith's Menu: Mother's Day Brunch 2013

I was lucky to yet again, spend another Mother's Day with my very own. This time I made it a long weekend and headed back home to Lake Norman for the first time in months.

When my mother and I get together...we feast. I'm notorious for planning every meal and making sure we're treating ourselves to mouth-watering food all weekend. We kicked off the weekend with a tunatini at Eez Fushion and Sushi.

This appetizer is something I crave quite often. Sushi grade tuna and chunks of avocado, covered in an orange ginger dressing and, of course, served in a martini glass for diva flair (also, for the name - tuna mug didn't have the same ring to it). We followed that by splitting a few rolls of sushi, as always.

But, as a lover of holidays and any reason for a celebration, making Mother's Day brunch was my favorite of the weekend.

If you want to really win Mom over, meet her in bed with a mimosa like I did. We sipped on champagne and orange juice and chatted over the Today Show. We eventually rolled out of bed and brewed some fresh coffee (see below for picture of my rockstar Mom) before I began cooking.

Vintage 'Mother' mug and fake vintage Van Halen sweatshirt.

I found this Asparagus scrambled egg recipe on The Daily Meal and it was such a simple way to liven up boring scrambled eggs.

After washing the asparagus, cutting off the tough ends and snapping into one-inch pieces, heat some butter in the pan (around 2 tbsp, but there's no such thing as too much!) and start cooking the asparagus.  I opted to leave out the garlic this time, but added some salt/pepper as I stirred it with my spatula. When the pieces look tender, take them out of the pan and into a bowl off to the side. In the same pan, start cooking scrambled eggs as normal.

Before they 'set,' (meaning, they're not completely solid) fold in the asparagus. Continuing cooking and folding until the eggs have reached your desired consistency.

We served the eggs with fresh fruit, toast and fingerling potatoes. The potatoes were actually leftovers from a previous dinner, and can be bought in the frozen section. All you have to do is steam them in the bag and you have an impressive (and delish!) side dish.

Dinner is whole other story and menu. My brother and I made eggplant parmesan with homemade tomato sauce and hand-grated parmesan cheese, a strawberry/goat cheese salad and cheesecake with blackberry reduction.

We also snacked on a cheese plate as we cooked. (Plus, marinated artichokes, prosciutto-wrapped melons and olives.

Much love to my super-cheesy family. 

Why not repurpose this brunch for Father's Day? If Dad likes to eat, he'll love this meal just as much. Let me know what you think: @meredithalmond! 

Birthdays + The North Carolina Mountains Make Me Happy.

Last weekend I made a trip back to my home state of North Carolina in good great company.

Ready for a fun (& adventurous!) weekend, Zack, Bella and I made our way to Lake Lure on Friday to my grandparent's house. A Pennsylvania native and current Charleston resident, Zack had never been to the mountains in North Carolina and I was so excited to show him the beautiful region.

We started our weekend with a "hike." I say hike hesitantly because in reality, we really just climbed over a thousand stairs to the top of Chimney Rock. However, I honestly think this may have been more strenuous than hiking because my calves were burning. Just ask Zack if I enjoyed the climb. Regardless, the climbing was worth it when we got to the top and saw the beautiful view.

Then, we decided to go up the mountain to the highest point of the park - Exclamation Point (anyone else excited about some grammar puns?). This was more of a hiking trail which I was genuinely enjoying until I heard a slight rustle and hiss, saw the origin of the noise(clearly a snake) and almost knocked Zack on his face by jumping on his back and screaming. There is no doubt in my mind that thing was poisionous and out for my blood.  Needless to say, from this point on I couldn't wait to get to the bottom to enjoy some Peanut Butter Caramel ice cream.

The most important day and reason of the trip was Saturday - Zack's Birthday! Old man turned 20. Still not sure how I feel about dating an older man.

We woke up at the break of dawn, packed some snacks, made breakfast, and headed out to Barnardsville, NC for a ziplining excursion with Navitat. This alone was worth the trip. Barnardsville is just 20 minutes north of Asheville so if you're ever in the area, don't pass up this opportunity. I mean, look how much fun we had. Really looking forward to going back to do the night tour.

After flying through the trees, we drove to downtown Asheville - one of my favorite places. For his birthday lunch, I took Zack to Tupelo Honey Cafe (Is it okay that I took him to [one of] my favorite restaurants for his birthday?). We opted for splitting the Beef Stroganoff over goat cheese grits which was pretty delicious.

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through Woolworth's + The Grove Arcade, listening to street musicians, window shopping and enjoying coffee on a double decker bus. The story behind this bus was so much fun to listen to - make sure to stop by Double D's Coffee & Desserts and have the barista tell you the full story including how it made its way from a party bus in Atlanta to a cafe in Asheville.

For Zack's birthday dinner - I cooked. I found out that cooking is very timely, considering I began making my dish on Wednesday evening. I chose to make spaghetti and meatballs - from scratch. A homemade marinara with homemade turkey meatballs with whole grain pasta. For dessert, I made a no-bake cheesecake in a oreo crust with homemade strawberry drizzle. If I had the time & the money (and the metabolism), I'd cook like this every night.

But, what made me happiest was being able to spend Zack's birthday with him and making it a great day for both of us. I was also grateful that my family was able to wish him a happy birthday. Now, I need a new adventure on my calendar to look forward to...this one will be hard to top.