Happy Mother's Day and More

Today was one of the best mother's days EVER. The kids made me a big poster and even traced Monkey's foot so she could be part of the gift. I love to cook so I made the mommy's day meal BUT the kids did the dishes and clean up so I thought it was a GREAT trade. Then dinner was at Chili's where we had some of the best service ever. I got sang to, I got gifts, I got a nap, and I got smiles from all 3 kids. I could NOT have asked for more!



Okay, now on to the "more" part. I have such awesome sisters and my older sister loves blogging and is good at it (unlike someone else in this family). Well, she has a 101 in 1001 where she completes 101 things in 1001 days (2 years, 9 months, and 1 day I believe). One of those items is to make a new recipe from every cookbook she owns. NOW, I have sat there and realized I have a few cookbooks .. I don't have many as I wrote many of my recipes that I liked into a book and then purged the extra. I don't have much room in my apartment but I have a few treasured cookbooks and I haven't used them much or not for a very long time. So the next two weeks, almost all of my recipes will come from 2 of my favorite cookbooks and one of my new ones. I am not a big fan of cookbooks as I like using food blogs, recipe sites (allrecipes.com, recipezaar.com, and food network to name a few), and my family recipe sheets. I would like to thank my sister as even though I have a very strict budget for my family, I am able to make it work! So, here is the menu for the next two weeks (and the recipe from today!)
~ Company Pork Chops
~ Manicotti
~ Tater Topped Casserole
~ Noodles Divan
~ Curly Roni Casserole
~ Casserole Italiano
~ Mexican Casserole
~ Chicken Cordon Bleu
~ Crab Stuffed Chicken Breasts
~ Pot Roast w/Gravy
~ Orange Chicken w/Sweet Potatoes
~ Garlic Lime Tilapia
~ Broiled Sweet & Tangy Tilapia

Then today I made Strawberry Mascarpone Crepes served with sausage (purchased on sale) and fresh cantaloupe.

Filling:
1 c Mascarpone cheese (normally I use reg. cream cheese but YUMMY)
2 TBS powdered sugar
3-4 tsp fresh basil (I didn't have fresh and it was yummy!)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 c sliced fresh strawberries
Batter:
3 eggs
3/4 c plus 2 TBS milk
3/4 c flour
5 tsp melted butter
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
2 c sliced strawberries
1/2 c sugar
2 TBS orange juice
1 tsp strawberry or vanilla extract (I used vanilla)
dash of salt

Filling: In a small bowl, combine the cheese, sugar, basil, and juice. Gently fold in the berries. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Batter: In a blender, combine batter ingredients and cover. Process until smooth. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Topping: In a small bowl, combine the berries, sugar, orange juice, extract and salt. Let stand for 30 minutes (see a trend?)

Melt a little butter into center of skillet. Pour about 1/4 c batter into the center of skillet; lift and turn pan to cover bottom. Cook until lightly browned; flip and brown the other side. Remove to a wire rack (which I do not own ...). Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter as needed to prevent sticking. When cool, stack the crepes with waxed paper or paper towels in between.

When ready - spoon the filling over the crepes and roll up. Serve topped with strawberry mixture.