Sunday, May 9, 2010 • 1:00-7:00 PM
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. ~Jewish Proverb
In the United States, Mother’s Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it “Mother’s Work Day.”
Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.
In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother’s day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers.”
Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna’s mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother’s favorite flower, the white carnation.
Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother’s Day. In 1914 Anna’s hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday.
Purée of English pea soup topped with a roasted red pepper coulis and Montrachet goat cheese.
French onion soup a toasted crouton and Gruyère cheese.
Rich lobster bisque flavored with brandy and tarragon topped with a fleuron.
Assorted fresh fruit salad of melon and seasonal berries topped with a honey yogurt dressing.
Erie county spring spinach salad tossed with a champagne vinaigrette dressing with applewood smoked bacon, Bermuda red onions, hard-boiled eggs and a seasonal tomato.
Char-grilled Kona Kampachi filet served over a hazelnut sweet potato mousseline, sauced with a mango and papaya chutney topped with an herb butter sauce.
A roasted French breast of chicken, with Peekytoe crab, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a basil infused herb butter sauce over Bhutanese red rice.
Roasted loin of lamb served over a white bean and roasted tomato timbale with a Pancetta bacon lamb glace de viande.
Grilled filet of aged beef served over an herb risotto topped with a seasonal wild mushroom sauce with spring vegetables, garnished with a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese crisp.
White chocolate mousse dome filled with carmel brûlé served with an almond tuile basket filled with spring berries with a raspberry coulis.
A fruit tart filled with kiwi, strawberries, raspberries glazed with apricot pastry cream, served with a raspberry ice creme.
Mother's Day