Mother's Day is quickly approaching. This will be my fourth. It's my second favourite day of the year after my birthday (cause that's all about MEEEE, I don't have to share it!) and I'm sure any mother will tell you we look forward to it all year. Mother's Day at my house usually goes a little something like this:
One of the kids wakes up, usually crying, and my husband jumps out of bed like the sheets are on fire. He runs to silence the screaming child and collects the others and heads downstairs. I hear him say "Shhh, it's Mother's Day, we're going to let mommy sleep in today, so let's be quiet." but I'm awake because none of them know the meaning of the word quiet, and I'm a bit of control freak. I have to know what's going on. I listen as he gets them juice and mutters about not being able to find stuff. And then the cooking begins. It's either french toast or pancakes, and if I've remembered to buy any, bacon. There's a lot of banging and shushing and more muttering about where I hide things (I am supposed to be sleeping in right?).
Then they all come up and climb on the bed and give me a card and say Happy Mother's Day (and I melt) and I'm told breakfast is ready... it's usually 9 a.m., so much for sleeping in. I have a yummy breakfast with my family cause my husband can rock the french toast like nobody's business and then my husband will wash most of the dishes but usually forgets the frying pans, counter tops and table (sigh). And that pretty much concludes my Mother's Day. I'm back on active duty as soon as the last bite of breakfast is coaxed into the most stubborn child. With three kids under 5 that's the best I can hope for right now, they don't get the concept of Mommy's Special Day and just won't let their dad do some things for them (argh!). But when they're teenagers, watch out! I'm collecting big time, Paris here I come!
I love cooking and baking, but I really love when my husband gets into the kitchen and makes a meal (I keep a lot of Band Aids and aloe in the house). I don't expect anything fancy or gourmet by any means, I've been happy with boxed macaroni and cheese, and sadly, that's really about where his interest in cooking ends. But it's not about the food being spectacular, it's about the time I get to myself to do other things while he's cooking and the appreciation my husband and kidlets get from seeing how much works goes into getting food onto the table (Cooking with three little ones underfoot makes Hell's Kitchen look like Heaven's Kitchen... ba dum bum).
This year I'm hoping to bring a little bit of Paris into my house since I can't actually go there. I'm going to show my husband how to make a ridiculously easy Pain au Chocolat (and how to use the coffee maker) so I can pretend I'm having breakfast in bed (hint hint dear husband) in a hotel room overlooking the Eiffel tower or the Champs-Éllyses. I fully expect to be interrupted by children asking me to get them chocolate milk, watch them spin or need a diaper change while daddy is busy doing something else, and I'm okay with it cause I'm their mom, that's my job. Oh, and of course I love the little monkeys.
If you want to join me in my Paris at home adventure send this link to your significant other or leave this page open on your desktop with a post-it note stuck to the screen that says READ THIS, I promise you even the most inexperienced cook can make these!
Mother's Day Pain au Chocolat ~ 4 Ways
What you'll need:
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (you'll get 4 crescents out of each tube)
Chocolate or Fudge Chips
Peanut Butter Chips
Dulce de Leche Sauce, or Wrapped Soft Caramels, or Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Raspberry Jam (or her favourite flavour of jam)
White Chocolate Chips
We used reduced fat crescent rolls just because we had them, they are as delicious and flaky as their full-fat counterpart. (If you choose to go low-fat for the love of Pete, hide the tubes! You don't want your wife/mom to see them and think it's some sort of commentary on their appearance!) Remove the dough from the tube, unroll and separate along the perforations. Take two triangles and turn them so that their long straight edges are side-by-side. Overlap them slightly and then press to seal them together.
Place chips (or whatever you're filling them with) along the bottom edge. We made Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Caramel and White Chocolate Raspberry. Starting at the bottom, fold the edge up over the filling and roll up.
Seal any openings by pinching the dough so that your fillings don't leak out when baking.
Bake for 11-13 minutes or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a plate or rack to cool.
Once they're cooled, decorate with chocolate (I like to decorate the tops with what's inside so you can tell what's inside) and powdered sugar, and serve with some fruit, coffee or tea and juice.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!
Amanda, a.k.a. Family Foodie