Honoring my mother, Lorraine

My mom, Lorraine Rubie Mullen, left this world on the 29th of April.  This past Saturday I had an open house in honor of her and I invited those who had known her well over the last few years in Denver.

My mom loved peonies and she was crazy about the baskets in Mexico.  So I made an arrangement of over 50 peonies in a basket I had recently bought in Oaxaca.

I made over 30 tent cards with photos of her on each side and I wrote the date of the photo and where it had been taken under each photo.  Everyone loved them, especially my dad.  I made my spicy pecans, a Spanish Coco (a flat bread with caramelized onions, piquillo peppers and Manchego cheese) and a spinach and artichoke dip with seasoned pita chips.   My mom was always so proud of me, I could just hear her saying, "That Robin!".

The weather was really strange that day.  It started out cold and gloomy.  Then around 12:30, big snow flakes started to come down and then it turned into rain.  But at 1:15, the sun came out!  My mom wasn't going to have bad weather ruin her celebration.  I also hired a couple who I have used for large parties before to come in and bar tend and serve.  She would have loved that.

The dining table on the back patio with more flowers and photo tent cards.

The kitchen counter had a big arrangement of Sunflowers and Irises.  I bought that gorgeous copper pot on one our adventures together over in Santa Clara de Cobre in the state of Michoacan in Mexico.  She and my dad loved that area and searching out the different artisans in the mountain villages.   The three of us explored that area often, especially when I was on my buying trips for my import sales.

Here are just some of the photos I put on the tent cards.  This was taken in front of the San Francisco church in San Miguel de Allende, 2009.  This is when her cousin, Marje, and Marje's daughter, Jill, from Minneapolis came to visit us at our casa in San Miguel. 

At the Denver Botanic Gardens, touring the Chihuly exhibition, 2014.

An exceptional day north of Colima, Mexico at the Hacienda de San Antonio.  What an exquisite property.  2004.

 Having a picnic up at Barr Lake, just north-east of Denver.  Fall - 2016.

 One of my mom's favorite restaurants in Denver, The Capital Grill.  On their anniversary, June 19, 2013.   

Another anniversary dinner at The Capital Grill, 2015.  This coming June would have been their 71st anniversary!

A typical scene, my parents sitting in the jardin (main square) in front of the Parroquia (the parish church) in San Miguel de Allende.

 At Carter's 60th birthday party - Scottsdale - spring 2010.

Hamming it up.  A friend of mine gave her these "royal slippers" so I had her model them for me while reading Majesty magazine.  She just loved reading about the Royals.

When Carter and my dad would go on their annual Dove and Duck hunting trips down in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, my mom would come up from Scottsdale for the week and we always had the best time.  One of the highlights was having crab legs (and a lot of butter) for dinner along with a bottle of Spanish Cava.

 We moved to Arizona in 1962 from Minnesota.  The Phoenix Airport back when...

 More Arizona.  I loved that sweater that my mom had on.

Up on a rooftop restaurant that overlooks the Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende - 2012.

My mom was always up for an adventure, upbeat,  always beautifully dressed,  just a real lady.   My parents traveled through out Europe, especially Ireland, and Mexico.  They had custom-built homes that my mom decorated beautifully.  She was so talented and really embraced life.  

She was the best mom, wife, mother-in-law and friend.  

She is sincerely missed. 

Love you Mom!! 

PS:  

A special thanks to those who contributed to making Saturday such a special day.  Patsy and Tom W., The Green Girls (Holly, Jill, Shelley and Leslie) and Debbi W.

My Mom's 90th Birthday Weekend

This weekend, the 29th, my Mom, Lorraine turned 90. I made an invitation with the cover having the above photo of her as little girl on it.  She looked great then and looks great now!  Every Friday afternoon a bunch of special ladies that live in the same apartment building that my parents live in meet in the party room.  Someone is always bring something to eat.

A few weeks ago I hung the invitation in a decorated envelope on all the ladies front door.  The invitation said to save the date and that I was going to host this last Friday's ladies 
get-together and requested they show up a little early so we could all surprise Lorraine! (Of course I had to make an envelope for Lorraine so she could see what I had done.)

I arrived early so I could decorate the table, get the Cava open and the hors d'oeuvres ready.  My good friend Suzy heard what I was up to earlier in the week and said, "I want to crash Lorraine's party!"  Of course I said "YES", but she had to bring an hors d'oeuvre. 

I served Shrimp Cakes with a Mayo Sriracha Sauce and Suzy made her yummy Mushroom Croustades.  By the way, I am back to working on my appetizer cookbook and this Shrimp Cake recipe will be in the book. 

When my mom entered the party room and saw all of us sitting around the decorated table, she said she almost fainted from surprise.

Katie and Bianca and

Betty and Maddie.  Just some of the ladies in the group.
The celebration continued on Sunday, her actual birthday, where we went to Suzy's backyard barbecue at noon.  It was a beautiful day and Suzy and Fred put out a fabulous spread.

 

On to Capital Grill in downtown Denver on Larimer Square that evening for dinner.  
She looks magnificent at 90! 

Capital Grill is one of my favorite places to dine.  The table was decorated little mylar balloons and along with a birthday card for Lorraine.  The service was outstanding (thank you Sarah) and we received a few special perks.  Complimentary champagne and a little amuse bouche to start with and then at the end of our meal, this delicious dessert plate with the decedent flourless chocolate cake on the left and a scrumptious creamy cheesecake on the right.

It was a gorgeous evening and a beautiful ending to the birthday weekend.  Lorraine received numerous phone calls, birthday wishes on my Facebook page, cards, flowers and some great gifts.  Thank you everyone for making my Mom's 90th birthday a special one! 

A Little Dinner Party For My Mom's 89th Birthday

 Last weekend I had a little dinner party for my mom's, Lorraine, 89th birthday.  When my parents decided to move up to Denver two years ago to be closer to me and Len, I was fortunate to get many of my mom's gorgeous tablecloths since they were downsizing and had sold their huge dining room table.  I just adore this batik tablecloth that they had bought over 35 or 40 years ago in the small fishing village, Yelapa.  back then the best way to get there was by boat from Puerto Vallarta.

I made another horsetail grid armature to set nine roses on it, the stems cut two inches from the bottom of the square vase.

A wonderful photo of my pretty mom!

And my dad, Bob, handsome at 93!

More roses in one of my copper pots from Santa Clara de Cobre in the state of Michocan in Mexico.

This was the menu for the evening.  The spiced nuts and chicken liver pate will be in my upcoming appetizer cookbook.  I need to get cracking on that again but spending time outside in the summer seems to get the best of me.  Especially since I have a new bike!!  More about that later.

Appetizers and drinks in the living room.

Marinated lamb about to be put on the grill.

I finally made these Eggplant Parmesan Stacks.  What is great about this, they can be prepped ahead of time and then put in the oven for 15 minutes before platting them.

EGGPLANT PARMESAN STACKS - Serves six


3 medium eggplants, 3" - 4" diameter
   salt
  olive oil
simple tomato sauce (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
6 ounces fresh whole milk mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Paremesan 

Cut the eggplant into 18 slices, about 1/4" thick - sprinkle with salt
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute slices in batches until soft and pale golden.
Drain on paper towels.

I like to make the Basic Tomato Sauce from Mario Batali's cookbook, Molto Italiano.
I make a big batch of it and freeze 2 cup servings in zip-locs.  Sure makes life easier.
Add the oregano and basil to the sauce.

Line a baking dish or sheet pan with parchment paper.  Place six eggplant on the sheet.  Top with a tablespoon of the tomato sauce, a few pieces of mozzarella, topped with a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan.  Repeat layering twice.

Bake in 425 oven for 15 minutes or until the cheeses are bubbling.  Garnish with a few oregano leaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made more of a casserole of this recipe and sent if home with my parents so they could have it the next night for dinner.  Actually two night in a row!

It was a great evening of delicious food, good wine, great friends and some very nice gifts.
Next year will be a big celebration, Lorraine's 90th.

 


 

Happy Mother's Day

My Mom in front of Mama Mia

in San Miguel de Allende. 

Happy 

Mother's 

Day!

With Love,

Robin

My Mom's Birthday Today

Today is my Mom's (Lorraine) BIRTHDAY!  She looks marvelous for 86, she dresses young, has a great hair cut, wears hip jewelry and enjoys life.  My mom rocks!  This photo was taken at one of our favorite restaurants in San Miguel de Allende, La Chamonix.

My Mom LOVES pigs, especially the hand carved pigs we find in San Miguel de Allende.  So what could be better then a pig sending her Happy Birthday Greetings!

Some of her favorite flowers are Lilies of the Valley.

And Peonies!  These are the last of the peonies from my bushes this year. I made a pave of them in this silver plated copper pot that I had bought in Santa Clara de Cobre in the state of Michoacan, Mexico.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Love, 

Robin

Happy Mother's Day

I shot this photo of my Mom one morning as we were in front of the San Francisco church in San Miguel de Allende on the way to the market to buy flowers for the house.

We always have such a great time together. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

And Happy Mother's Day to all of my followers.