Instead of going out to a restaurant on mother's day, dads and their children can host a festive Mother's Day Brunch at home.

These recipes are easy enough that most dads should be able to prepare them for their wives. Enlist the help of older children, they can help set the table and even help with the meal preparation. For the more ambitious cook, lemon infused French toast and vegetable latkes could be added to Mother’s Day Brunch menu.

Serve these delightful dishes along with a pot of hot coffee and a pitcher full of cold orange juice. A fruit salad, or pink grapefruit halves also make a terrific accompaniment to a Mother’s Day brunch celebration.

Lovage Infused Tomato Juice

This recipe makes 6 servings. Lovage looks and tastes similar to celery. Fresh celery leaves can be used in place of the lovage if desired.

Ingredients for the Tomato Juice

• One (46 ounce) container tomato juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 tablespoons lovage leaves - minced
• 6 lovage stems - optional

Directions for the Tomato Juice

1. Add the tomato juice, lemon juice, black pepper, hot pepper sauce and lovage leaves to a large pitcher.

2. Stir together.

3. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

4. To serve, pour into individual glasses and use a lovage stem to garnish each glass of tomato juice if desired. Lovage stems are hollow and the larger ones can be used like a straw.

Cinnamon Almond Biscotti

This recipe makes approximately 32 biscotti. The biscotti are like a dry, biscuit type cookie which is perfect to dunk into tea or coffee. Children will enjoy dunking them into milk or hot chocolate.

Ingredients for the Biscotti

• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup brown sugar - packed
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ cup sliced almonds

Directions for the Biscotti

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add the eggs, sugar, oil and almond extract to a large bowl and stir together.

3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

4. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

5. Add the almonds and mix well.

6. Spread the dough evenly onto the bottom of a greased 15 inch by 10 inch by 1 inch deep jellyroll pan.

7. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes until dark golden brown.

8. Cut the biscotti into approximately 32 rectangular shape pieces as soon as they are removed from the oven.

9. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

Finger Sandwiches with Edible Flowers

This recipe makes 32 finger sandwiches. Make these sandwiches assembly line style, to ensure the filling ingredients are evenly distributed onto all sandwiches.

Ingredients for the Finger Sandwiches

• 1 large cucumber - peeled, seeded and sliced thin
• One (8 ounce) package cream cheese - room temperature
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill - snipped with scissors
• 16 slices Pepperidge Farm very thin white or wheat bread
• One (4 1/2 ounce) can tiny shrimp - drained

Directions for the Finger Sandwiches

1. In a small bowl mix together the cream cheese and dill until well blended.

2. Spread each slice of bread with approximately 3/4 of a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture.

3. Top 8 of the slices of bread with some of the cucumber slices and a few shrimp.

4. Top each sandwich half with another slice of bread.

5. Cut the crusts of each sandwich.

6. Cut each sandwich into 4 pieces.

7. Chill the sandwiches in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Happy Mother's Day

Another nice way to treat wive's and mother's on Mother’s Day, is to clean up the kitchen, and wash all the dishes after the brunch has ended.