Mother's Day Prosecco

Although Prosecco has been around a long time, its popularity has grown in the last couple of years. It is viable alternative to more expensive champagnes and sparkling wines and is a "go to" item for holidays and special occasions. It is no wonder that Prosecco is a natural for Mothers' Day. You can toast mom or make Momosas for the Mother's Day brunch. Alternatively, you can also make delicious cocktails and punches as well. Here are a few examples.

Bellini

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 (16-ounce) bags frozen peaches, thawed
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
  • 4 to 6 (750-ml) bottles Prosecco or other sparkling wine, chilled
  • Orange peel twists, for garnish

Stir the sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely.

Puree the peaches and orange peel in a blender with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar syrup until smooth. Strain through a fine-meshed strainer and into a bowl. Transfer the puree into a pitcher or clear glass bowl.

For each serving, pour 2 to 4 tablespoons of the peach puree into a Champagne flute. Slowly pour enough Prosecco into the flute to fill. Gently stir to blend. Garnish each with an orange peel twist, and serve. The peach puree can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Blissini

  • 1 1/2 cups Prosecco, chilled
  • 1 1/2 cups orange juice, chilled
  • 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice, chilled
  • Mint leaves, for garnish

Combine the Prosecco, orange juice, and pomegranate juice and pour into 4 Champagne glasses. Garnish with mint leaves and serve. Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Cranberry Prosecco Fizz

  • 4 tablespoons orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
  • 4 tablespoons cranberry juice
  • 1 bottle cold Prosecco
  • 12 fresh cranberries
  • 4 small rosemary sprigs

Pour 1 tablespoon orange liqueur and 1 tablespoon cranberry juice into each of 4 champagne flutes. Add 3 cranberries to each flute and fill with Prosecco. Garnish with the rosemary sprigs and serve. Recipe courtesy of Tiffani Thiessen

There are several movies that revere mothers (I Remember Mama) or demonize them (Psycho) but the ones I like the most are usually complex and show several sides to the characters and perseverance.

Mom Films

1. The Grapes of Wrath (1940): Jane Darwell  played the matriarch of the Joad family whose courage and backbone helped her loved ones endure the hardships of the journey from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression.

2. Mildred Pierce (1945): Joan Crawford earned an Oscar for her role as the title character who sacrifices all for her children, particularly for the cold and calculating Veda, a nightmare of a daughter.

3. Night of the Hunter ( 1955): Not specifically about a mother ( except Shelly Winters who gets knocked off in the first thirty minutes or so) but a mother figure played by Lilian Gish, an elder woman who takes in orphans and lost children and protects them with determined fierceness against a psychotic Preacher played by Robert Mitchum in probably his creepiest role.

4. Places in the Heart ( 1984): Sally Fields plays a single mom with two kids trying to keep her small cotton farm afloat in the Depression Era South with the help of one field hand and a blind border. Not only does she have to fight banks and locusts, but she stands up to the KKK as well.

These may not be light comedies or feel good movies but they offer up some of the best qualities of mothers.  Happy Mothers' Day.