The most important day of the year is just around the corner. No, not my birthday. Mother’s Day. Think about it: Where would you be, if not for your mother? Dude, you wouldn’t exist. Doesn’t your mom deserve something as cool, as individual, as drop-dead fabulous as you are?

Some of my favorite people in the world are offering nifty Mother’s Day gifts, so I thought I’d share them with you:

First up, Sweet Interruptions, a limited-edition chocolate line created by Monica Bhide (the real-life Mistress of Spices). Scented with unexpected flavors like jasmine, sesame, and cherry blossom, and lavishly decorated and boxed, these beauties will make any mother smile. Seriously, if Stephen and Harry don’t send me some, they’re in trouble. And if my own mom weren’t diabetic, my Mother’s Day gift to her would be all wrapped up. The assortment is available from now until May 6. Monica’s Valentine’s Day collection sold out in just 36 hours, so you won’t want to dither about this—just go buy them.

Next is a gigantic freebie: The Great Mother’s Day Giveaway. Ten of my blogging friends put together a cross-blog promotion, with each donating one item for the prize package. One person is going to win ten things for mom, including a King Arthur Flour gift certificate, a jewelry kit, DVDs, and a shelf-full of books. They’re accepting entries right up until Mother’s Day, and you may enter on each participating blog (yup, up to ten entries). Good luck!

Kim Foster has bigger balls than any mom I know. Why? Because she voluntarily visited her daughter’s Spanish Harlem pre-K classroom throughout the school year, just so she could teach a bunch of four-year-olds to cook. Really cook, as in scraping potatoes (and hands) on box graters and deep frying on a hotplate. Frankly, I think she might be insane. But her ebook, Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil: My Year of Dangerous Cooking with Four-Year-Olds, which costs a whopping $1.99, is so relentlessly entertaining that you don’t need an excuse like Mother’s Day to buy it. I devoured it on a recent flight from New York to San Francisco, smiling, chuckling, and occasionally wiping away a tear. I landed sorry I wouldn’t be anywhere hear a stove (or my kid) for the next five days. Get it for yourself, and laugh your butt off. Then cook some of the included recipes, and marvel at the thought of kids barely big enough to dress themselves doing the same.

Oh, and then there’s me. My book, that is. It’s hard for me to say this without sounding like a jerk, but Parents Need to Eat Too is kinda the perfect gift for the new moms in your life. Last year I offered free signed bookplates—and if you email me proof of purchase, I’ll gladly send you one this year, too.

And this year, if you’re local, you can get a signed copy in person this weekend: On Sunday, May 5, I’ll be appearing at a “Cinco de Mama” party hosted by Minijake, the awesomely good baby & kids’ gear shop in Williamsburg. And I’m bringing food! Still deciding between Mini-Taco Empanadas or Aztec Brownies, two of my favorite recipes from the book—which would you rather sample?

brooklyn chocolate giveaway holidays my cookbook