Treat of the Week, Double Feature

This week's "Treat of the Week" is a double edition.  

PART I

We begin with a special dinner which any mother would love.  For Mother's Day, my father, as he usually does for the occasion, cooked a lovely meal for my mother.  He worked very hard on it, and, he did an excellent job.  

Look, he even made his own bread from scratch!

Rotisserie-made roast beef, seasoned and marinated to perfection was the centerpiece of the meal, served with a lovely potatoes au gratin (with leeks) and broccoli rabe.  Quite tasty!

For dessert, we feasted on a beautiful ice-box cake.  My father baked chocolate chip cookies from scratch and arranged them into this handsome ice-box cake, layered with delicious mocha cream.  I'd never had anything like it, and, it was especially yummy.

The following weekend, we enjoyed a scrumptious meat-less meal.  Bertie, I must confess, wasn't too thrilled with this vegetarian dinner, but, those of us with thumbs really loved it.

PART II

My mom's grilled portobello mushrooms served as the entree.  These fantastic mushroom caps were joined by an attractive side of spinach and bright tomatoes.

 A new side-dish was very happily received, and, eaten...

Farro--a grain which has been served for centuries--was new to us, and I have to say, after one bite, I was hooked!

Tender grains of wheat, the farro is a bit like rice, but with a naturally nutty flavor.  My mother's ingenious recipe incorporates nuts and sweet currants.  Curls of imported cheeses added a bit of a salty counterpoint to the sweetness of the currants.  It was a grand dish which I look forward to having again...and again!

This colorful meal was followed by an equally colorful dessert.  Two kinds of brownies were cut into even squares and piped with homemade icing.  Butterscotch brownies with nuts and chocolate chips were joined by a spicy new espresso brownie which was rich with the flavors of coffee and chocolate chips.  

It was truly a day of perfect flavors.

In fact, it was two weekends of great food!