Every year for my mom’s birthday, my brother and I try to do something special for her. In recent years, we’ve taken her to dinner and to the theater. She never gets to go otherwise, so it’s a pretty perfect gift for her. This year, we got tickets to see My Fair Lady at the Arena Stage. The show was fabulous. It’s always so cool to see a performance in that format, and they did an excellent job.

Dinner and the theater can be pretty pricey, but I co-opted my brother into helping me discount our evening. He got the tickets on Goldstar. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a great service that allows you to get discounts on area shows and events.

Instead of going out to a pricey restaurant, I hosted dinner for us at my house. My mom loves a pretty table, so I took extra time to make a lovely setting for her. I polished the silver (not my strong suit!), got out the nice linens, and bought flowers for a centerpiece.

Our menu was the following:

Hors d’oeuvre: Bucheron Sevre Belle (Goat Cheese), Onion Jam, and Crackers

Main Course: Jeffrey’s Roast Chicken from the Barefoot Contessa – Highly recommend this. It’s easy, delicious, and inexpensive.
Cauliflower Puree
Green Salad with goat cheese, dried cranberries and sherry shallot vinaigrette

Dessert: Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream

Wine: Silver Oak (Note: I purchased this during my non-discountess days and was looking for a special occasion to drink it. At $75/bottle, it’s not a go-to discount wine, but it is delicious. It’s like wine-butter. Mmmmm.)

Total bill to serve mom a special dinner at home: $64.86 (split with my brother, it became $32.43 a piece).

Compared with a $100+ bill from a nice restaurant, I think that’s not too shabby! Plus, I think my mom enjoyed eating at home more. She gets a kick out of seeing us entertain. And because of her, we were able to learn from a master!