Celebrating All Things Mom

Heaven gained another angel this week. One of my very best friends lost her mother to cancer on Wednesday. It’s been tough on all of us, but I can only imaging what Theia is going through. In Theia’s words Rene was bold, sassy and beautiful inside and out. She was loved by so many and she loved me like a daughter. She was there for all the milestones and was even the coordinator at my wedding.

Rene pinning the corsage on Mammaw Bumgarner at our wedding.

Rene always had a smile on her face and that’s the way we will always remember her. Smiling, tan, a yeti in her hand, wearing UNC Tarheels gear, a fabulous purse on her arm, and fresh tennis shoes on her feet. We love you Rene, and are drinking strawberry daiquiris with home-made taco salad bowls and thinking of you.

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Today for Mother’s Day we are celebrating all the memories of all the moms in our lives. Those with us today and the ones looking down on us. We’re sharing some our favorite memories and traditions plus a super simple recipe to show mom you love her.

What do you have planned for mom today? Breakfast in bed, brunch, “me-time” for some online shopping and quiet, crafts, a card, flowers? Or maybe just a FaceTime call and a sweet package sent by mail, some of us still may be quarantine after all.

We are celebrating Mother’s Day all weekend at our house. Yesterday we ordered some fabulous flowers from our dear friend Kahly with Thistle and Twig at her new store front in downtown Morganton. Picked up the best BBQ around (JD’s Smokehouse in Connelly Springs) on our way home and celebrated with my mom last night. We’re celebrating with Justin’s mom and grandmother for lunch.

More than just the celebrations and visits there’s also another tradition that happens Mother’s Day weekend for us: Garden planting! Most folks around our area plant their vegetable gardens or raised beds a little earlier, but according to Dad, Mother’s Day weekend is the weekend my Mammaw Lutz always planted hers. According to Blum’s Farmer’s Almanac, the best days to plant above ground crops were May 4th through 6th. I can’t wait to share more about our gardening process later.

But enough about us I want to leave you with a super simple, but fun recipe to share with mom today.

My grandmother used to always make fresh squeezed lemonade for family gatherings, which seemed to be almost every weekend. I couldn’t think of a better time to share this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of sugar

• 8 cups of water (give or take, depending on personal taste)

• 1 1/2 cups lemon juice (depending on size, 6 to 8 lemons)

• several lemon slices for garnish

Utensils Needed

• Lemon juicer (optional, Mammaw always used a vintage WearEver juicer. I got super lucky and found this one at an estate sale a few years ago!!!)

• Glass pitcher (any pitcher will work, but the glass pitcher shows off your hard work)

• Saucepan (pot to make the simple syrup in)

• Spoon

• Measuring cup

Directions

1. Combine 1 - 2 cups of water with the two cups of sugar in the saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved.

2. Juice your lemons. Strain as needed to remove seeds, we like to keep the pulp.

3. Pour simple syrup and lemon juice into the pitcher.

4. Add remaining water. Feel free to add more water to taste.

5. Serve up to mom in her favorite glass and enjoy!

As a side note this is lemonade is also great as a mixer. If you’re celebrating mom with a few adult beverages feel free to add in a bit of her favorite vodka. But regardless of how you like your lemonade, we hope you all have the most wonderful and relaxing Mother’s Day. Cheers to celebrating moms everywhere for the courageous, kind, generous, selfless, strong mamas they are!!!