Mother's Day Dinner

Mom, do you have any requests for dinner? Will I make strawberry shortcake?  Yeees (ish).  And a salad?  I can work with that.  And that horchata I used to make?  Sounds like a plan:

Build Your Own Taco Salad
a head each of romaine & butter lettuces, torn into bite-sized pieces, from JR Organics and Solidarity Farm
1 cup dried tiger eye beans cooked from scratch, from Suzie's Farm
a bag of tortilla chips
a pint of sour cream
2-3 avocados, cubed, from Solidarity Farm
8 oz jack cheese, shredded
a pint of heirloom cherry tomatoes, cut in half
a chopped and sauteed nopale, from a friend
a few radishes, sliced thin, from Suzie's Farm
roasted tomatillo salsa
chipotle hot sauce

Top Your Own Corn Soup
(let me suggest adding roasted poblano chile, avocado & tomato)

Orange Limeade
1 cup fresh juice of limes from Schaner Farm
zest & juice of 2 oranges from Solidarity Farm
1 cup evaporated cane sugar or agave, to taste
spring water

Make simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in 2 cups of water in a pot on medium heat, stirring.  Allow to cool.  Add all ingredients into a 1/2 gallon container and fill with spring water.

Strawberry Horchata 2
1 cup brown rice
1 cup oats
1-inch stick of canela mexicana (ceylon cinnamon), special ordered from OB People's
about 6 cups spring water
3/4 cup agave, maple syrup, or evaporated cane sugar dissolved into a simple syrup, to taste
1 Tblsp vanilla extract
1 pint strawberries from JR Organics Farm

Put the rice and oats and cinnamon in a 1/2 gallon container, fill the pitcher with water and refrigerate overnight.  Blend the mixture for several minutes until it has a gritty, oatmeal texture.  Stain through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids to remove the liquid.  Return the liquid to the pitcher and compost the solids.  Add the agave, vanilla, and enough strawberries to mostly fill up the pitcher.  Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Slightly Simplified Strawberry Tres Leches Cake
1+1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
2 backyard eggs
1/2 tsp homemade vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
about a cup cajeta made runny - stop cooking when it reaches the consistency of thick cream (30-45 minutes)
1 cup heavy cream 
3 Tblsp powdered sugar
1/2 inch of vanilla bean
1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered, from JR Organics Farm

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the sides of a 9"-round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper and flour the sides.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Place the softened butter and the sugar in a mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each until just combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk in 3 stages. Mix until each addition is incorporated, taking care not to overbeat. Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown, the sides pull away from the pan and chop stick poked in the center comes out clean. Poke holes all over the surface of the cake. Slowly pour on the cajeta, allowing it to be absorbed.  Allow cake to cool completely.

In a separate bowl, whip cream to soft peaks, add the powdered sugar, scrap in the vanilla seeds and whip to combine.
 
To serve, top each slice of cake with a pile of strawberries and a heavy dollop of whipped cream.

Serves 8-12

Adapted from Rick Bayless.