Mother's Day Recipes

Mother's Day Recipes is dedicated to our most precious gift, our moms. The glue of our family.

My mom has been my best friend, my inspiration and my confidant throughout my life. She's the most brilliant and giving woman I know.

Before she married, my mom graduated school with honors, volunteered in the Israeli army, came back to work for King Hassan II of Morocco, was fluent in 7 languages, and helped take care of her 4 siblings. She married my dad at the age of 22. A year later, I was born and shortly thereafter, my dad's job transferred us to Washington DC.

My dad worked as a military defense contractor. His position required that we move often. We lived in Honduras for 2 years where mom gave birth to my middle brother. Then we moved to Panama for 2 more years, before heading to the Philippines where my youngest brother was born. We called the Philippines home for 7 years. My dad traveled extensively around the world for work during that time, having to leave us for months at a time.

Often, my mom had to raise us three boys without dad's help. We weren't easy. Between school, sports, Hebrew school, Cub Scouts, a slew of activities and even a civil war, she managed.

We left the Philippines and moved to Kansas City in the mid-70s. The closest extended family we had was 8 hours away. Once again, Mom adapted and guided us. We started anew.

Growing Up

During those first months, we learned to appreciate the Midwestern culture and ethics, made new friends and learned a whole new way of life. When dad left his job to launch his new company, Mom was there to support and encourage him. Mom went to work with him and handled all the accounting and finance functions.

After a full day at the office, she would come home and prepare dinner for the family, help us with our homework and make sure we were bathed before going to bed. She was always there with an encouraging word. In fact, there was nothing we felt we couldn't accomplish.

We graduated high school, went off to college and found our way back to join the family business. Though it was mom and dad's dream to have us take over the family business, they never kept us from spreading our wings into other ventures or interests.

When I approached my mom about leaving the family business to launch a new startup, she drilled me with question after question, testing to see if I was truly ready and had done my homework. After satisfying her rounds of questioning, she opened her checkbook and became my first investor. She did this in following years for both my brothers as well.

A few years later, after making good on her investment, I was delivering the commencement speech to a graduating class at a technology university. I shared with the graduates the mandatory Top-10 lessons I've learned. However, they were caught off-guard when I shared with them my #1 piece of advice. I continued, "The most important advice I can give you today is this: 'When you get stuck and feel like the world is against you, do what every successful CEO does: Call your mom!'"

Mother's Day Recipes

Today, mom and dad are still going strong, though they now take turns cooking for each other. Except for the grandkids attending college, most of us live within minutes of each other and we're lucky to spend a lot of time together.

This Mother's Day, we honor the Woman of Valor; the hand to hold; the one who picks us up when we fall; the one who is always a phone call away; the glue of our family. My Mom. Happy Mother's Day!

One last note, though this post is titled Mother's Day Recipes, make sure mom doesn't lift a finger on her special day. I've selected some easy-to-make recipes that mom will enjoy. And she'll love you for it, because you made them.