Bringing Acqualina To You – Mother’s Day Edition

In Celebration of Mother’s Day, we are happy to share some ideas on how to show gratitude to the special women in your lives. You’ll find delicious recipes for a delightful Breakfast in Bed and we’ve selected our favorite ESPA gift sets to help your mom unwind and refresh. Author Jo Giese reminds us in her lovely book, Never Sit If  You Can Dance, to savor and be thankful for the experiences we have with our moms. We are pleased to extend a complimentary copy of her book. You are also invited to a live cooking demonstration with Star Chef Michelle Bernstein of Miami’s Café La Trova.

Please enjoy this 6th Edition of our “Bringing Acqualina To You” virtual series offering some love, appreciation and extra attention for mom.

Give the Gift of Breakfast in Bed

Treat the special women in your life with breakfast in bed this Mother’s Day. Executive Chef Michele Mazza of Il Mulino New York shares recipes for Ricotta Buttermilk Pancakes and Caprese-style Eggs Benedict. It’s the perfect way to show your appreciation to your mom. It’s a day of celebration so add a little sparkle with a Mimosa or a Bellini. Cheers!

Ricotta Buttermilk Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

 For the pancakes:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 1 ¼ tsp. salt
  • 2 ½ cups buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • Vegetable, canola or coconut oil for the pan

For the ricotta:

  • 6 oz. ricotta cheese
  • Zest from 1/2 orange
  • Zest from 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

PREPARATION:

For the ricotta:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together.

For the pancakes:

  1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk in the buttermilk and eggs until large lumps disappear.
  3. Let pancake batter rest for 10 minutes.
  4. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat or 375 degrees F.
  5. Apply cooking spray or brush with butter or oil in the griddle/skillet.
  6. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
  7. Flip the pancakes over when small bubbles appear on the surface and continue cooking on the opposite side until golden brown.
  8. Top the pancake with the ricotta mix and garnish with mint leaves, powdered sugar. Add mix berries –if desired.
  9. Add Maple syrup to taste.

Caprese Eggs Benedict

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

For The Hollandaise:

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter

To Assemble:

  • 2 toasted English muffins
  • 4 thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
  • 1 large tomato, sliced
  • 4 eggs, salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped, plus extra for garnish

PREPARATION:

For The Hollandaise:

  1. Add egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt to the blender.
  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan until it reaches 200 degrees F.
  3. Blend the egg mixture until egg yolks have whitened in color.
  4. Add the hot butter gradually into the egg mixture while you continue to mix with the blender, letting the hot butter cook the eggs and continue to blend until the hollandaise is light, fluffy and all the butter has been incorporated.

To Assemble:

  1. Poach each egg in hot water until egg whites have cooked through, about 4 minutes.
  2. While eggs are poaching, toast the English muffins – you can use a toaster.
  3. Place a slice of buffalo mozzarella cheese and a slice of tomato on the top of each muffin.
  4. When eggs are cooked, remove them and place one egg on top of each muffin—already stacked with the tomato and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Pour the hollandaise over the eggs and garnish with basil leaves.
  6. You can serve with sautéed asparagus and roasted potato if desired.

Online Cooking Demonstration with Chef Michelle Bernstein

A ballerina turned chef, Michelle Bernstein is one of Miami’s most celebrated chefs.
The James Beard award-winning chef, restaurateur and mom attributes her culinary talent and drive to her late mother.

“She taught me how to cook; she taught me how to love,” Chef Bernstein shared in a recent interview. Food and family are important to her. She enjoys cooking at home for her 8 year old son Zachary and husband and business partner David Martinez. “Home is everything to me,” she said.

We are delighted to invite you to a live cooking demonstration with Chef Bernstein on Wednesday, May 13 at 11am.

She’ll share her favorite at-home dishes and recipes will be provided. Register HERE.

Never Sit If You Can Dance

As part of our popular Bedside Reading® program, we are delighted to present this charming book that will ring true with mothers, daughters, and their families. Award-winning journalist and author Jo Giese offers uplifting lessons in her memoir, Never Sit If You Can Dance: Lessons from My Mother. The lessons are wisdom from a mother of the 20th century for a daughter in the 21st century. Click HERE to download the complimentary book.

With Mother’s Day just a few days away, it’s time to consider how to say thank you to the most special and deserving women in our lives. Whether it’s a shoulder to cry on or a hand to hold, there’s nothing like the love and support from a mother.
We’ve curated our favorite ESPA gift sets that you can choose from and gift your mother on this Mother’s Day!

The Active Mom

Whether it’s juggling virtual school, family and work, we all know and love an active mom.

The Fitness Collection which includes the Fitness Bath Oil, Fitness Body Oil and Invigorating Body Reviver are the perfect Mother’s Day gifts for the mom who never stops moving. Luxurious and instantly effective, this body care trio has been specially selected to be everything your mom needs for tense and tired muscles.

The Expectant Mom

Pregnancy is an incredibly exciting and overwhelming time, with plenty of physical and emotional changes happening daily. Bestow a little calm and luxury to moms to be with ESPA’s Pregnancy Indulgence Duo – the Sweet Almond infused Nourishing Shower Cream and Nourishing Body Oil are the perfect panacea for hormonal skin and a busy mind.

 The New Mom

Becoming a new mom is incredible yet undeniably exhausting. Help her reclaim a little me-time with ESPA’s Self Care at Home gift set.

The Self-Care gift set contains a hand-picked edit of ESPA’s hero products that can bring beautiful skin and a sense of inner calm during this time. Massage the Pink Hair and Scalp Mud into damp hair and over scalp for a rich, nourishing hair treat, then smooth Overnight Hydration Therapy onto skin as a sleep-in face mask to combat the effects of those sleepless nights on skin. The perfect me-time for a new mom to enjoy and feel loved.

The Skincare Loving Mom

And of course – we can’t forget to mention the skincare loving mom. This is for the mom that loves to pamper herself with new skincare products and enjoys her me-time.

The Anti-Aging Skincare gift set, will allow your mom to achieve a youthful complexion with this trio of products, specifically chosen for those with mature skin. These advanced age-defying formulas target visible signs of aging, for visibly smoother, radiant skin.

Unsure what to gift your Mother?
Don’t worry – you can still wish her a Happy Mother’s Day by gifting an Acqualina Gift Card. We are sure she will appreciate your sweet gesture and feel loved.

Please click HERE to purchase your gift card.