Mother’s Day: Three Easy Ideas for Treating Mom Right

Let’s get this straight: moms do an insane amount of work. Long days, which turn into long weeks, which turn into 18+ years of care, nurture, feeding, cleaning, and bandaging up your knee that time you fell off your bike.

We all owe it to mothers to treat them like the heroes they are, and that means (depending on where you are in your life) your mom, grandma, wife, and/or daughter. If they’ve done the heavy work of child-rearing, they deserve to be celebrated. Yes, every day, but on this day in particular.

The Grill Life

How about doing the cooking, and taking advantage of the spring weather to help mama enjoy the great outdoors with the kids? And don’t forget refreshing beverages. (Moms often love wine.) We recommend the following steps for creating a perfect medium-rare steak:

1. Remove steaks from refrigerator 20 minutes prior to grilling and let them sit, covered, at room temperature.
2. Heat grill to high, measuring with your grilling thermometer. Brush both sides of the steak with oil, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Grill until golden brown and slightly charred; 4–5 minutes should do the trick. (A kitchen timer is very useful at this point.)
4. Turn steaks and continue to grill 3–5 minutes for medium rare (internal temperature of 135° F, which you can measure with a meat thermometer), 5–7 minutes for medium (140° F), or 8–10 minutes for medium-well (150° F).
5. Transfer steaks to board or platter, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes before slicing.

If you’re not confident about how to measure the internal temperature, why not check out our handy guide, How to Use a Meat Thermometer. And if you want to get into the relaxed vibe of the day, you can even use our meat thermometer with wireless pager, which is incredibly chic for dad-values of gadget cool.

Mom’s Springtime Sangria

We also recommend serving some sort of special drink for Mother’s Day. One option, which will give the day a bit of kick and flavor, is sangria. It’s fruity and tasty, and contains just enough alcohol to relax a hard-working matriarch.

1. Add diced apples, oranges, and lemon juice to a large pitcher. Stir that up.
2. Add red wine, brandy, and orange juice. Stir some more.
3. Refrigerate the sangria mix for 3–4 hours before serving.
4. Serve over ice. (You can also top it off with sparkling water, if you need even more fanciness.)

Making the Whole Day Special

At AcuRite, we want you to treat the mom(s) in your life to a special day, and that means thinking it through ahead of time. Plan to get up before her, and perform any household duties before she can get to them. Does she walk the dog? Feed the turtle? Make breakfast? Today’s your day to show your appreciation by doing these things for her. Everybody wants to feel appreciated, and you can show her that you “get it” by taking on as many of her daily tasks as you can manage.

Carry this thought through to the whole day. A perfect steak and a cold glass of sangria should be the heart of your celebration, not the whole package. From dawn to dusk, look for ways you can demonstrate love and appreciation by taking on her jobs.

The Fine Art of Comfy

The main thing on Mother’s Day is keeping mom comfortable, whatever that may mean to her. If Yoga is her happy place, make sure she’s got time for it. If she’s got a favorite chair, ensure that it’s free for her. Use your home monitoring system to keep check on your home environment, always bearing mom’s comfort in mind.

There’s an old Southern American saying: “If mama’s unhappy ain’t nobody happy.” We don’t want that! We want a happy, comfortable, and un-stressed mama, sipping her sangria, nibbling on her perfect steak, and watching her kids frolic on the lawn. Good luck! And happy Mother’s Day!