Dirty Risotto, Chicken Saltimbocca and roasted spring veggies for Mother's Day

Oh, my goodness! I really impressed myself tonight with the most amazing dinner I whipped up for my stepmom and sis-in-law for Mother's Day (and the rest of the family, too, but those were the moms!) I made a dirty risotto, a recipe I stole from Giada DeLaurentis from the Food Network. If you search "Dirty Risotto" on www.foodnetwork.com, you will find it. So delicious!!!!! But definitely NOT vegetarian. It has pork and lots of cheese in it. Main ingredients: Arborio rice, chicken broth, white wine, onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, pancetta, spicy Italian sausage, Parmesan and fresh parsley.

Next I roasted spring vegetables from the Farmer's Market downtown, miniature zucchini, squash, carrots and onions with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper drizzled and sprinkled accordingly.

Chicken Saltimbocca: I love this dish because the name makes me laugh! It literally means "jumps in your mouth" in Italian! Too cute. And dangerously delicious. Pound out thinly sliced chicken breasts with a tenderizer. Lay out a slice of ham and a slice of provolone, topped with a basil leaf on each one of the breasts, and then roll up and secure with a toothpick. Next roll in flour. Cook over stove in olive oil and butter until brown and chicken is cooked through. Then set chicken aside. With the drippings still in the pan, add flour to 1 tablespoon of butter to make a thickener. Next add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, white wine and lemon juice from one lemon. Allow to simmer over low heat until thickened. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with capers. To die for! I'm not even joking. It was that good.

For dessert: Strawberry & blueberry cobbler recipe I found in my best friend, "The Joy of Cooking." Do you want to know how good it was? Put it this way: I made an entire Pyrex casserole dish of this goodstuff, and it was gone in five minutes. There were only eight of us!!! We whipped up some fresh cream and plopped spoonfuls on our cobbler. We licked the cream bowl clean, too.

An amazing meal for an amazing woman: Rita!