For Mother's Day I got a PowerPoint presentation (actually, it was Keynote). Complete with sound! Children and husband singing "Happy Mother's Day", and also a plaintive wail, "I want a bunnyyyyy".

I also got a teacher-led essay that featured such sentiments as, "...even if she is yelling at me I know she still loves me" and "...she makes me laugh when we are in the car and my mom makes a really sharp turn and she screeches like a car" and, describing our mountain hikes, "She always thinks she sees a bear because she would die to see on out in the wilderness but it is usually just a stump".

(That last one? That pretty much sums me up right there.)

I also got a homemade dinner after eating out a few meals this weekend, and working all morning. With china and crystal and sparkly water and fruit, this was a very special Mother's Day dinner indeed.

From Joy of Cooking:

Tomato and Goat Cheese Quiche

Prepare homemade dough, or if you are a husband racing to have a meal on the table for your working wife as we were, use a prepared pie crust!

Preheat oven to 400ºF

Prepare and set aside:

I lb plum tomatoes (about 6), cored, quartered lengthwise and seeded

Crumble into a bowl:

4 oz fresh goat cheese

Slowly mash in wieth the back of a wooden spoon until smooth:

3/4 C half & half or heavy cream
1/2 C milk
*we used half & half and skim milk

Add and whisk until smooth:

3 large eggs
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or savory, or 3 tbsp fresh basil
* we used thyme, but won't the basil be good later this summer!
1/4 tsp kosher salt
plenty of ground black pepper

Arrange the tomatoes quarters in the shell like the spokes of a wheel, with the pointed end (blossom end) toward the center of the quiche. Fill in the center with more quarters. Pour the cheese mixture over the tomatoes and bake until the pastry and top are golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the quiche rest for 10 minutes to settle, then cut into wedges and serve.