We all know the evolution of
Mother’s Day gift giving: When you’re 4 or 5, you make homemade coupons for “free” back rubs, or a week’s worth of dishwashing. Later, with a few bucks from your birthday (or from dad), you buy something random from the local drugstore: hot pink nail polish, a single tea candle or Skittles. A sweet gesture, but probably not what
Woodrow Wilson had in mind when he made
Mother’s Day an official holiday in 1914.
Fast forward 30 years and Mother’s Day might be off your radar. Another year where you Google
“when is Mother’s Day this year?” only to find that it has passed. Mom probably doesn’t care; she’s mom and the memory of 6-year-old you presenting her with a homemade card and a tiny picture frame (in it a stock photo of a smiling couple on a beach) still makes her smile. Chances are mom still has that frame – and the card.
So why not make this the year you
return to treating mom to a thoughtful gift? (And we’re not saying that everyone stopped celebrating Mother’s Day, in which case you’re a better kid than me – and keep up the good work!) Here at
Chef Tools, we’re having a
Mother’s Day sale to help you find the perfect gift for mom. We have three specially-priced gift sets (using a combo of items you asked about on
Twitter and
Facebook) plus a huge array of stylish
MU aprons, oven mitts, potholders and dishtowels.
I have to tout these MU products. These aprons are so cool you could wear them out of the house. Check out this
onyx long chef apron – it’s beautifully designed, plus durable with 100 percent pre-washed cotton herringbone, deep pockets and an adjustable neck. It would look great with this orange
MU handleslip pot handle sleeve. It’s thick – of course – so you can handle anything, and it’s lined with comfortable terrycloth. And, it’s orange, so no one will notice if a little marinara gets splattered on there, which brings me to my next topic …
My favorite gift set is the
no-scuff lasagna baking kit. This set includes an HIC Porcelain Lasagna Baking Dish – reviewed by
Cook’s Illustrated – a Bakeware Buddy serrated plastic knife and a CIA Master’s Collection Non-stick Slotted Turner. The Bakeware Buddy knife and the CIA (that’s
Culinary Institute of America) non-stick turner won’t scuff the baking dish like metal. Plus, acidic tomato sauce won’t corrode them. The HIC baking dish is 13” x 9” and 2-1/2” deep, big enough for lasagna to feed the whole family. You can also use the Bakeware Buddy knife on baked goods and vegetables. It would be pretty cool to show up at mom’s house with this gift set and make lasagna – of course, you’d have to leave it behind at the end of the night.
What about a
nice salad with that lasagna? We’ve put together two fine Jill Butler-designed items in one set. The
Parisian plate gift set is a set of four salad plates and four placemats. Both items are inspired by French bistros. The placemats are 100 percent cotton with alternating red and white stripes. The porcelain Chez Pastis plates are elegant enough for a brunch get-together and durable enough to take on a picnic.
Jill Butler inlayed the plates with the message “Bar rendez-vous des amis” – a place for friends to meet. The plates are white with either a red, black, green or blue design.
And don’t forget the wine. If mom is a
wine lover, she’ll love
this set. It’s a Luminarc Small Square Carafe and a Screwpull GS-200 table-top corkscrew. The Screwpull GS-200 comes with a foil cutter, and has Activ-ball technology, which guarantees no more jammed corks. Luminarc has been making glassware since 1825, and is famous for quality. Have a relaxing evening with mom over a couple of glasses of wine, reminiscing about those coupons you used to make. If she still has them, hopefully you were smart enough to include an expiration date.
Happy Mother’s Day and a big “thank you” to all the moms out there!
