May 13. Mother's Day Brunch. Salmon Salad. Roast Potatoes. Marley. Nanbankan

With a refrigerator stuffed with left-overs from Ivan's party--poached salmon in a mustardy, lemon sauce, caprese salad, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and a box of desserts--we had the beginnings of a Mother's Day brunch.  The tomatoes from the caprese were too dreary, we sauteed them with some onions and garlic before heading to the Ocean Park Farmer's Market for a little shopping. In the many months of my absence this Sunday market has become much less of a cook's market and even more a place to meet friends for brunch,  bring the kids for pony rides,  etc.  We made enough purchases--green onions, kumquats, strawberries, lettuce, dill, parsley, potatoes, etc. to ward off starvation, but we had to make a stop at One Life to get the onions we might need.  Andrew had found the missing Mother's Day flowers from Sam and Sarah on the back stairs of the back house when he was throwing out garbage and Benno and Ivan each brought a splendid bouquet as well, so the house was filled with flowers as Jackie and I turned the left over salmon into a salad with finely chopped celery, green onions, capers, dill, lime and the mustard sauce with a bit more mayonnaise.

We also, roasted potatoes, and

roasted asparagus with parmesan and lemon

Graduation cake with strawberries and kumquats for dessert.

We'd gotten such a late start it was well after 3 when we finished.  Jackie's tradition is to have her family accompany her on a cultural outing of her choice on Mother's Day--the destinationtoday was Marley: The Movie, playing at the Santa Monica Laemmle.  We zoomed, getting there just after the trailers had begun.   The two moms thought it was really good, the rest of the party might not have been as enthusiastic but liked it well enough.
After a sight-seeing stroll through downtown Santa Monica to Ivan's apartment, we dropped Andre off for a visit with cousin Johnny and Jackie, Ivan, Benno and I headed off for a late dinner at  Nanbankan, a Japanese restaurant that Lisa recommended when I mentioned we were thinking of going to Sakura House, my regular go-to for yakitori.  A fine time was had by all.