OK let’s get the confusion out of the way first before social media begins lighting up again like it did last Sunday. Today, the second Sunday of May is the official, Fiji Government gazetted Mother’s Day as it is in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
So Happy Mum’s Day to all!
As confirmed during the week by the Methodist Church’s Reverend James Bhagwan, the church had moved its Mother’s Day celebration to today, while churches in the Macuata Methodist Church circuit such as Naseakula Methodist Church, Nasea Methodist Church and numerous other Methodist churches on Vanua Levu celebrated Mother’s Day last Sunday.
It didn’t help when most retailers and media outlets jumped on the bandwagon and forgot to reset their clocks too.
Either way, some lucky mums enjoyed two weekends of pampering and not having to do the chores.
Cooking for mum today should be a given. She cooks 364 days of the year so on this one or two days, it’s her turn to slump in front of the television or go out and play while someone else does the cooking.
Breakfast in bed or not?
When I was a kid I first used to cook mum a feast before she woke up. Setting my alarm for 5am on Sunday, I cooked up a feast of her favourite pancakes, toast, jam and cream with a hot pot of tea.
Half asleep I’d usually burn the pancakes. One time nearly setting the kitchen on fire as I’d left the frypan on high. It took me hours trying to work out how to do everything at once. Mum always made cooking breakfast so easy!
Knocking on the door, my sisters and I would yell “Happy Mother’s Day” only to be confronted by a grumpy-looking, no make-up mum wondering why we’d woken her up so early on her one sleep-in day of the year.
“Oh how wonderful” she pretended to say, “but I’m not hungry yet”.
What? Didn’t she know how early I had to get up to put this feast together? The following year and subsequent years after that it was just a cup of tea in bed, while everything else was left in the kitchen!
I’ve since learned that in a recent American survey, only 4 per cent of mothers actually want breakfast in bed. Only 4 per cent!
What does mum really want today?
According to that Zagat survey, more than half of mums surveyed — 53 per cent, to be exact — want to be taken out by family for Mother’s Day celebrations, and they essentially loathe being served breakfast in bed.
What’s more, brunch is unsurprisingly the preferred meal, according to 39 per cent of mums surveyed. As for meal preferences, 43 per cent of American mums favour eggs benedict, 35 per cent favour omelettes and only 19 per cent want avocado on toast.
Many commented how difficult it is to eat food or drink a hot tea in bed, with many also agreeing that trying to eat or drink as you are waking up is the last thing on mum’s mind.
So now I know where I went wrong all those years ago. My guess is the same goes for many Fijian mums who just want to sleep in today and enjoy a home cooked meal with the family a little later in the morning, and then head out for a special day to let someone else cook for a change.
Surprise her with a home-baked treat
While it may be a challenge to beat mum’s home cooking, I’m sure the one thing she cannot resist is a home baked cake — cooked with love. Whether it’s the inherit sweetness or the smell of a cake in the oven at home, giving mum a cake you made with your own bare hands, stress and sometimes tears is the ultimate gift of love.
Take a look in the kitchen and you’ll probably find the basic ingredients to whip up your own cake, and if you have flour, eggs, baking powder and butter — all you need is some flavour elements.
Try fruits from the garden and trees, with a splash of fresh coconut milk. Keep it local but capture the delicacies from your own home. Just don’t do what one young chef did to a customer once — he got the sugar and salt mixed up and served a not so delicious salty chocolate cake!
Last minute treats
Ok so we all can’t bake a cake and some of us may be banned from mum’s kitchen after the last attempt to cook in her pristine kitchen, so heading down one of my favourite cafés such as Bulaccino (Suva and Namaka), Governors Fiji (Suva) or Taste Fiji (Martintar) may just be your only saving grace to impress mum today.
Handmade macarons, brownies, giant muffins, donuts or meringues await for some lucky mothers.
If you haven’t got one of these stores near you, it’s time to hit the kitchen!
Happy official Mother’s Day!
* Lance Seeto is the executive chef for Fiji’s first island beach club, Malamala Beach Club, opening in mid-2017.
