Mother-of-my-Children Day

The old saw of "You're not my mother" was wearing a little thin, so I thought I'd try something new and make Saturday Mother-of-my-Children Day. This year's celebration included my attempt at a gourmet meal. I keep reading the excellent food section in the SFChronicle and thinking, "I could do that!" So I put it to the test with an appetizer of olives, cheese, and baguette; a main course of Pork Chops with Ginger, Sauternes & Coarse Mustard; followed up with Griddled Meyer Lemon-Ricotta Pound Cake with Seasonal Compote for dessert. The ingredients were gathered with a trip to only two stores, and an emergency trip to the local market. I am sure Alice Waters would not have had this much trouble. As it turned out, the pork chops were terrific, but the pound cake was a little strange. I discovered what was strange about it when I went to make the whipped cream with mascarpone, only to find the ricotta sitting in the refrigerator. A little garbage can forensics established that I had made a Meyer Lemon-Mascarpone pound cake. I (wisely, I think) decided not to compound the confusion by folding the ricotta in with the whipping cream.

All in all a success. Maybe a new tradition has been born.