Mother's Day - a Lovely Surprise + Caramelized Corn

My children gave me a wonderful surprise for Mother's Day. They set a lovely morning buffet in the back yard. It has green and so of lush now that spring seems to suddenly appeared after so much so of late. This gift is beyond the breakfast; it is the idea that they know how much I love a well set table. We ended up inviting Grandma Gay over for breakfast, too.

Ethan made waffles, Ellie prepared the fruit and the handmade gifts. My favorite mug, the one I use every day to have my morning tea, was a gift from Ellie many years ago. This new one fits my hands nicely and I love the polka dot accents.


Ethan had the day off so he came home from Glenwood Springs last night. It is a 3 hour drive one way, so it will not happen very often. He said it was nice to be home, see his family, be part of the everyday actions, smells, goings on of home. I think he is a bit homesick since he lives in a hotel and works really long hours. I wanted to send a care package back with him so I made chocolate chip cookies, a giant pail of bubble gum, 18 hard boiled eggs (sometimes it is hard for him to find time to get reasonable food and eat at work so I thought that the eggs might be quick, easy protein)and caramelized corn. Ellie left a bag of her caramel corn popcorn with a note in Ethan's vehicle.

I also made a nice lunch for all of us and Grandpa Don. I grilled t-bone steaks, made roasted broccoli and caramelized corn. That made Ethan very happy. We had a relaxed afternoon. The men chatted while Ellie and I played the Draw Something II game on her Ipad. We were playing the game with Kohlton. It involved drawing a picture and the other person guesses the word. The three of us make a great team. I feel lucky that we can enjoy eachother's company in such ways. It is a lot of fun.

Here are a few of the images we drew - Hamburger, Patriot, Candle.


My caramelized corn is popular and easy to make:

2# Corn, Frozen
1/2 cup Butter, Salted (1 stick)

Heat a heavy bottom saute pan on medium high. Add in a few tablespoons of butter into the pan, allowing it to melt. Add the corn and stir. Continue use to cook the corn in this way for about 10 more minutes. Add in the remaining butter, stirring the corn around once the butter is melted. Continue to cook the corn, stirring it from time to time. Some kernals will become browned. That is the goal. Cook until much of it is this way. With my pan this takes about 30 minutes. Add salt, if you like.