As April became May, Kara asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day. I thought about it for a little while, then replied, “Why don’t’ y’all cook for Mama?”

I could already see the wheels spinning in her head.

On Mother’s Day morning, Steve and I flew back to Atlanta from an Urban Land Planning Institute meeting in New York. After we got unpacked and settled in, we sat down to a gorgeous table full of flowers brought by Quinn and her boyfriend, Lucas.

My family knows how much I love Asian food, so Garnie’s boyfriend Matt and his brother Paddy spent hours creating homemade spring rolls, dumplings, steamed buns and chicken and pork ramen in a delicious broth with egg, cilantro and scallions.

Kara and Micah brought dessert. Micah picked fresh mint from the Inn and made brownies with a cream cheese topping full of fresh mint and crushed Thin Mint cookies. He even arranged them into an M on the platter.

And Michael, Garnie’s best friend from college, brought a homemade card. Steve and I call him our bonus child.

At one point, I looked around the table at everyone talking, eating, sharing and loving each other. The meal was wonderful, but that’s the real gift right there. When all my babies are around me, every day is Mother’s Day.

In the weeks following Kara and Micah’s wedding in September, many guests reached out to say how touched they were by the beauty and tenderness they experienced over the weekend. We received calls, emails, hand-written notes and one very special promise.

David Sheppard, Kara’s godfather and one of Steve’s oldest friends, went so far as to say it was one of the most beautiful moments of his life. When he lived in Atlanta, David was an interior designer and theater producer who created one of the city’s original cabarets, the Manhattan Yellow Pages. He moved to New York City, spent years as the executive director of DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) and retired to Margaretville, New York. After the wedding, David called and said he wanted to host a dinner party for the family at Serenbe as a way of showing his gratitude.

I’ve never had anyone show up at my house from another state with a suitcase full of food, placemats, napkins, menu cards and vases, but David had that plus a vision and a plan. For weeks he’d been sending me photos of bowls and platters, asking me if I had them in a certain size. He arrived on a Wednesday, started prepping on Thursday and was in full-on meal mode on Friday.

In the hours before the dinner, David was feeling the hostess heat. I assured him all would be well and arranged for him to have help so he could enjoy what he’d worked so hard to create. He’d never had help before and it changed everything for the better. I doubt he’ll ever host another dinner party without it again.

He started with roasted pumpkin seeds for nibbling, then did an amuse bouche of crostini with blue cheese spread, a great relish with collard greens and a quail egg. I had no idea you could get hard-boiled quail eggs in a can. Next course was carrot and crystallized ginger soup, then duck tenderloin with roasted asparagus and parmesan and mashed celery root sweet potatoes. For dessert he made almond cakes baked in crème brulee cups and topped with fresh blueberries.

Having David here with us was a treat. Having him cook for us was nourishment on another level. Something special always happens when friendship and food cross paths.

Most people celebrate spring by changing out closets, putting a fresh wreath on their door or just standing in the sunshine and taking a moment to be grateful for all the new sights and smells.

Serenbe Foods chef-in-residence Matt Adolfi celebrates spring by breaking down a 300-pound pig from Double T Farms with his brother, Paddy, and throwing a pop-up dinner for 35.

The plan was to host it in my backyard, but as the date got closer, the weather got colder. So we did cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at my house and dinner at the Daisy.

Michael Taylor, Garnie’s best friend from college who lives out his dream of owning a restaurant by planning these dinners, asked what we could do to make the Daisy look like less of a sandwich shop. So I did a little pruning at the Inn’s gardens the morning of the event and filled up the back of the Gator with tall viburnum branches and some very petite roses. Back at the Daisy, I worked some flower and candle magic — even though it’s not my forte — while Matt and Paddy worked their food magic in the kitchen.

A few hours later, guests had pate and chorizo plus fried pork belly with tomato jam and pickled okra served in metal Japanese soup spoons, which was my favorite bite of the night. After we’d picked the big, beautiful wooden serving boards clean, we walked across the street to the Daisy, which felt transformed into a bistro. Matt’s menu combined the best of our local farmers and artisans:

• Cured North Georgia trout
• Beet root, buttermilk, rye 

• Braised Many Fold Farm lamb shoulder
• Brebis agnolotti, oyster mushrooms, English peas, fennel lamb consommé

• Double T Farm slow-roasted porchetta
• Potatoes boulangere, roasted asparagus with Serenbe Farm egg emulsion, thyme onion rolls

• Many Fold Farm Garrett’s Ferry
• Kumquat marmalade, funnel sultana crisp

• Crepe cake with Georgia strawberry preserves
• Chevre & pine nuts

As if that wasn’t enough, Matt always sends guests off with a takeaway and this time he did chocolate meringues — chewy chocolate cookies with chunks of chocolate inside, packaged beautifully in cellophane with a tiny pin and Serenbe Foods tag. Even if he’d shoved them in a Ziplock bag, they would’ve flown out the door. They are oh-my-God good.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

• Makes approximately 24 cookies
• 9 oz. egg whites (by weight) at room temperature
• Dash of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons dutch cocoa powder
• 18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• ¾ cup roughly chopped toasted walnuts

1. In a Kitchen-Aid mixing bowl, beat egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Be careful not to over whip — it should be glossy with soft peaks.

2. Slowly add granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, until add is incorporated.

3. Remove mixer from stand and fold by hand the cocoa, chocolate and walnuts into the meringue.

4. Using a 70# scoop, place scoops of meringue onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake at 275 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes, rotating once after half of baking time. Cookies are done when they lift off the paper. Cook completely uncovered and store in an airtight container.