Mother's Day came, and it was wonderful. I have always worked on Mother's Day, and it is so good to see all the smiles and love. There are always a lot of happy conversations going on. Mothers love to go out to dinner. It's such a treat to be waited on.

Then of course we observed Memorial Day this past week on May 26, which is the “observed” day for it according for my calendar. On May 30, my calendar reads “Memorial Day traditional U.S.A.” I'm one of the people who grew up celebrating it on the “traditional.” Even though we have parades and celebrations on “observed,” the real day is when I go to the cemetery. Habits are so hard to break, aren't they? I know it's nice to have a long weekend. ... but, oh well, no sense on dwelling on something that's not going to change.

A couple of weeks ago was the Monsignor Gabbani Scholarship dinner dance given by the Italian American Club at Lakeview Country Club. It was great. They give scholarships to the high school seniors for the most excellence in scholastic achievement, athletic participation, high academic honors and involvement in the community. There were seven scholarships given this year. The winners were: Theresa Church, Melissa Colvin, Jana Mlodzianowski, Jamie Mullen, Andrew Pappert, Erin Sabino and Darci Tanner. A wonderful party was held and the Ted Mosley band played music you had to dance to it was so good.

Did you start packing your winter clothes away again? I did, so this time its for the summer because I certainly don't want to do it three times.

That means our weather is going to be what its supposed to be for this time of year right? Right.

It must be so because the pond at Springside was filled with ducks and some geese. They look so beautiful. Every year they show up and spend the summer walking and swimming around the pond that's in the center of Springside's lawn. When I worked there years ago customers used to love to come out after dinner and feed their pieces of bread to the birds. After a few weeks, the ducks would walk up from the pond and stand in the driveway in front of the doors and wait for their treats. It was so nice; we loved watching them.

Lots of events coming up: graduation, first the colleges and then the high schools, then the reunions, which always take place in the summer. I like having lots of fun events to attend, don't you? I'm hoping to fit in a small vacation.

A long all expenses paid one would be nice, wouldn't it? I can dream, can't I?

I was so pleased to read that the Boston Conservatory of Music awarded Thommie Walsh a one of a kind award degree - a posthumous Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award. Such an honor. He certainly deserved it; an amazingly talented man. I mentioned that I had seen him dance as a youngster at Springside and we all agreed how great he was even then. Luckily I got to see him perform in New York City. We should be very proud of this Auburn native.

I hope everyone is happy with our real spring and all is well with everyone.

My ethnic recipe this week is from Belgium. My other recipe is for dill potato salad.

Today's blooper:

My blooper today is about a refrigerator. All of us know refrigerators are good for preserving things, but maybe sometimes not. A friend of mine and her friend went on a trip to Hawaii. They were greeted at the airport by natives putting leis around their necks. Her friend thought they were too pretty to throw away, so at the end of the day, she put their leis in the refrigerator in their room After three days, she thought about them.

They had been so busy they forgot they were there. They went to get them to take them out and they were frozen solid and broke into many little pieces.

The flower that leis are made from must be used to warm weather. They must be good just to make leis.

Diana Sobus, of Auburn, specializes in making ethnic foods.

Onion and Raison Hot Pot

Makes 4 to 6 servings

16-20 small even-sized onions, peeled

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 cup tomato juice

1 cup seedless raisins

1 1/4 cup white wine

Dash of dried thyme

Salt and pepper

Dash of sugar

Cook onion in boiling salted water for five minutes and then drain. Add oil to pot. Heat oil and toss onions until a pale golden color. Add tomato juice, seedless raisins, wine, thyme, salt, pepper and sugar. Cover pan and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove cover and cook 10 more minutes. Sever either hot or cold.

Dill Potato Salad

Makes 6 to 8 servings

4 cups sliced cooked potatoes

1 can (1 pound) cut green beans, drained

1/3 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon instant, dried, minced onion flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dill

2 cups hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons (2 ounces) pimento, chopped

In bowl, combine vinegar, onion, salt, sugar and dill. Pour over potatoes and beans, toss to coat. Cover and chill. Add egg, sour cream and pimento. Toss lightly. Serve.