So far today I’ve been offered free prosecco for my mum, a lovingly crafted Mother’s Day lunch menu for £12.50, free cake with afternoon tea and a whole host of presents I am never going to buy my Mum. There has to be a better way to celebrate ‘Motherhood’ than with a commercialised re-run of Valentines day…
This might just be me, but I can’t imagine anything worse than a set piece lunch out on Mother’s day, particularly with set dining times, set menus and a front of house and kitchen team who are stressed to the eyeballs by the set up and everyone trying their best to not make a fuss as it’s a special occasion.
I remember a particularly horrid Mother’s Day lunch in a lovely, country pub I worked in, which involved carrying a table over the heads of most of the guests
Of course, this may all be a throwback to my waitressing days when any kind of ‘day’ seemed to turn everyone (customers and colleagues) into stressed out monsters who were impossible to please. I remember a particularly horrid Mother’s Day lunch in a lovely, country pub I worked in, which involved carrying a table over the heads of most of the guests whilst a group who had been waiting for half an hour for the previous table to leave watched on and we tried desperately not to knock any babies out of their high chairs with a table leg. Needless to say no-one enjoyed it very much, apart from the owners, who did very well (in a cash sense) by squeezing way too many people in to the book to meet demand.
By contrast, my favourite Mother’s day by far, and I’m saying this as organiser so I can’t vouch for my mum, is the day that a pretty simple lunch was followed by some revision. I was in the process of studying for my fortified and sweet wine exam and had bought some bottles to practice blind tasting with. I thought it would be fun for everyone to have a taste and for me to have someone to mix the bottles up so I couldn’t cheat. It was a huge success. Suddenly we were having a pretty full on discussion about the benefits of oloroso vs tawny port, madeira vs marsala and the sheer joy of sherry.
Suddenly we saw how the years of my watching and then helping ‘do the veg’ on Christmas day with a glass of Croft Original had led to a passion for food and wine and a career in wine that I loved, and my Mum could be part of. In doing so it brought my Mum into my world and created a new, slightly boozy, layer to our relationship.
Obviously that’s a very personal experience but I can safely say that sharing wine is a pretty nice way to hang out and can spark conversations, stories and hilarity.
So tomorrow I’ll be posting a guide to how to host a mini wine tasting to go with your Mother’s Day lunch, brunch or any meal – I promise, it’ll knock the socks off of that free glass of prosecco!
Would you go wine tasting with your mum? Share your wine stories in the comments.