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     With Mother's Day just a few days away, we thought some last minute gift faves may be in order. it isn't too late to do something really thoughtful and memorable for the special mothers in your life. 

     Last year, we posted about Budget Friendly Mother's Day Gifts.  Some of the items on there are still doable, so check out that post! One of the things mentioned on that post is...

Printables:

• I love the printable that I mentioned in the above link.  There are a lot of choices on Etsy. If you want to know how to use printables as a gift and frame them, check out this article.  (And don't forget to check out our shop here!)
• I have a lot of good memories of Mother's Day Breakfasts in Bed from my children.  The Dating Divas have a printable kit that help to make Breakfast in Bed for Mom even more memorable and beautiful! Find it here! 

Subscriptions:

     I sometimes consider signing up for some of those subscription boxes that are so popular now, but I usually chicken out, unable to commit! But, if someone were to give me one as a gift, I would be thrilled! There are different types of subscriptions to fit all budgets, styles and tastes. Here are a few that tempt me:

• Did you know that Target does Beauty Boxes? They aren't really a subscription, you have to order each one that you might want.  They put out different ones monthly for only $7.00.  They seem to go fast, so check for them quickly each month. These are perfect for any mom who would love a little pampering anytime of the year.
• Walmart does a Beauty Box subscription for only $5.00! It only comes quarterly, so you can give it as a gift for only $20! I think that I am even brave enough to sign up for that one! Go to that link and find out all about it.  The nice thing is that when you order it as a gift, you get to send a personalized message to your mom's email so she knows it will be coming to her from you. 
• A subscription to Audible would be an awesome gift for anyone who loves to read and/or listen to books while driving or exercising or who has trouble seeing fine print.  

• The gift of Amazon Prime is the perfect gift for anyone who doesn't already have it.  It is such a money saver and time saver! 

• One company that I have used is Panna! If you have a mom to buy a gift for who loves to cook, a subscription to Panna would be a great gift.  You can see a couple of my experiences with them here and here.

     
  The wonder of the Internet makes last minute gift shopping so easy! When time and confusion make gift shopping difficult, we now have the luxury of doing some online shopping and computer pizzazz to end up with a great gift.  
     My last gift suggestion is the gift of time.  Give the mothers in your life quality time with you and quality time for herself.  There is nothing I love more than to just sit and laugh and talk with my children and husband without any pressure to be anywhere else. 
     Have a wonderful Mother's Day everyone! I'll let you know all about mine next week! 
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This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.

Alicia here with another ancestry food post. This year my family is choosing a different country from our ancestry and making one meal a week at home from that country. We choose the countries based on our family trees, and also our DNA results. We had our DNA tested with Ancestry and got the results back. There were some things we expected but also some surprises! It's been really fun doing this experiment and getting to know our ancestors through food. If you'd like to do this same experiment, Ancestry has the kits on sale right now! It's so easy (though slightly gross), all it requires is spitting in a tube and mailing it back to the company.

This month's country is France. So far we have made Gratin Dauphinois, Piperade, & Flammekueche. This week we are making a classic dish that's been around since medieval times, Boeuf Bourguignon. 

First made by peasants, this beef stew is a dish I'm sure my ancestors have tried.

Traditionally made with Burgundy wine, has a much deeper flavor than your regular beef stew. I have made this before and my husband loved it, so when we decided to do France this month he requested it again. 

Last time I used cooking wine, but I couldn't find any in stores this time. I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of wine because I don't have many dishes I would use it in, so I substituted grape juice, red wine vinegar, and beef stock for my recipe. So if you are cooking for some one who has liver problems or is sensitive to alcohol, this would be a great recipe for you. If you do use wine, use one less cup of stock and omit the grape juice and red wine vinegar, using the wine to deglaze the pan.

I also used baby carrots because it's fast and easy. I also love the look they give to the stew and the fact that they get soft without being mushy.

I love this stew, the first time I made it, it was very labor intensive. But with the crockpot it was so easy. We are adding this to our menu meals. I would wager that my stew is much closer to what the peasants of medieval times made than the bourgeois that made it later. But it's still so delicious, it's no wonder this meal has been around so long! If you don't have a crockpot, what are you waiting for? It's my favorite thing in my kitchen. It makes me so happy to know dinner is slowly cooking away while I'm attending to other things. Especially because my kids are more fussy and needy in the evenings when I'm trying to make dinner. In the morning while they are happily playing I can get dinner started by just tossing everything in the slow cooker. I lovemine.

Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon

Let me know if you give it a try! It's pretty easy and so good. If you want to make more French meals check out Panna. They have a master class taught by Daniel Boulud. He is an award-winning, French chef who's received 4 star reviews by the New York Times at his restaurants. So this is a class you will want to check out! He teaches how to make coq au vin, ratatouille, and even his own personal family recipes. Yum! If French food isn't your thing, they have all different kinds of classes on Panna that will help up your game in the kitchen.

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Alicia here to continue my culinary adventure through France. 

This week I chose Flammekueche, which I have made before, and loved! Flammekueche is from the Alsace region on the Eastern Border of France by the Rhine river. The region has a long and storied history. Many wars have been fought over the region and it has been conquered or just annexed by France and Germany. Alsace even has it's own dialect (language) that is being promoted recently to be learned in schools. Alsace is part of France now, but the region still has German influences in its culture. 

And that's why Flammekueche sounds German, but is a French food. I figure this fusion food is perfect since we have both French and German ancestors (remember we did German food in January).

Flammekueche is a thin crust onion and bacon tarte with a cream base. But in France it's more refereed to as a pizza. And also it's really delicious!!! Full disclosure, I have made this before. Last year Adrian and I did a very similar experiment, and I made Falmmekueche. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I don't know why I didn't make it again until now. It's actually very fast and easy. It's one of the reasons I love it. I think there's a perception that French food is fussy and difficult, but not all of it is! And this is one of those recipes that can be a regular in your menu line-up!

Last time I think I used ricotta cheese to make the cream. But this time I saw some other recipes that lightened the recipe up by using greek yogurt for the cream base. If you were in France you would probably use something likebreakfast cream, but that is not very common here in America. I decided I would just get a single serving size of 2%  plain Greek yogurt, so I didn't have to have a whole carton of Greek yogurt. It was about 6oz of yogurt and 2 heaping TBS of natural sour cream. 

​This recipe calls for nutmeg and you do not want to skip it. It is so delicious! And it compliments the strong flavor of the onion so well. 

I also used store bought thin crust dough because we were having a really busy day, but usually I use our crust recipe (and I like ours better). But store bought works in a pinch. I accidentally over-baked it the first time around in the oven, but even though the crust was more brown than I would have liked, it still came out quite tasty!

Flammekueche ( Alsatian Pizza)

I hope you'll give this a try.

​And if you want to try out more French recipes, take a look at this awesome class put on by Panna! Panna is like Netflix for cooking videos by Michelin-starred Chefs, and they've just started a new class on French cooking! You can buy just the class (10 lessons) for $60 or sign up for the site for $5.99/month. There's also an option to join for life at $200. They have a free trial period, so you can sign up and if you don't like it, you can cancel your subscription. But I think you'll like it!