Breakfast in Bed for Mother's Day, Adirondack-Style
Mother's Day is May 10. There's still time.
The best Mother's Day mornings I can remember had three things in common: nobody was rushing anywhere, somebody else was making the coffee, and there was something on the plate that smelled like maple. We grew up in the Adirondacks, where the woods around our house tap their own kind of magic in early spring, and to this day the smell of maple on a stove tells my brain to slow down.
So when people come into the shop in early May asking what to send Mom — or what to set out on her tray Sunday morning — I always start in the same place. Pancakes. Real maple syrup. Something to spread. A little crunch. Something warm. That's it. That's the whole formula.
| "Breakfast in bed isn't about the food. It's about somebody else doing the dishes." |
The easy answer (if you're short on time)
If you've got six days and a long list, here's the call I'd make: the Bella Cucina Breakfast in Bed Gift Box. It's a beautiful curated wood box from the Atlanta artisan brand Bella Cucina — and it was featured on Oprah's Favorite Things 2025, which tells you everything you need to know about whether it'll land. Pancake mix, syrup, and a thoughtful little extra, packed and ready to gift. One click, done, and it ships in time for May 10.
Shop the Bella Cucina Box · $85 →
Only 6 left as of this morning. If you want it, don't wait.
Or build your own (it's not hard, I promise)
If you'd rather pull together your own little stack of treats — maybe because you know exactly what she likes, or because you want it to feel personal — here's how I'd do it.
① The pancakes
You want something that doesn't require thinking. Maple Craft Buttermilk Pancake Mix — just add water — makes 16 pancakes per package. If the kids are involved (or just the kids at heart), The Maple Brothers Chocolate Chip & Maple Pancake Mix is made with real maple sugar and organic chocolate chips, and every bag funds kids' outdoor adventures.
② The syrup
This is the part people overthink. The truth is the four grades — Golden, Amber, Dark, Very Dark — are all delicious, they just lean into different parts of the maple flavor. For a Mother's Day pour I'd reach for Amber. It's our most-loved bottle, balanced enough to drizzle on fruit but rich enough to taste like real maple. Pour it from one of the glass leaf bottles and the table looks like a magazine.
If you want something different, there's the Hockey Player Maple Syrup — pure Grade A Amber in a glass hockey-player bottle that's a Lake Placid icon. Mom keeps the bottle on the windowsill long after the syrup's gone.
③ Something to spread
This is where the gift goes from "nice" to "remembered." Nanna's Special Sauce is pure maple syrup with real butter and marshmallow — silky, just a little sweet, doubles as an ice cream topping later in the week. And Pure Adirondack Maple Cream is 100% pure maple slowly whipped to a silky, spreadable consistency — the original maple spread, and a sleeper hit on hot toast.
④ A little crunch
Maple Pecan Granola with Sea Salt for the yogurt-and-fruit crowd. Bender Hill Maple Crumbles if you want something to sprinkle on pancakes (we love these on vanilla yogurt). And the Coconut Maple Clusterbucks are toasted sprouted buckwheat with maple and coconut — odd-sounding, completely addictive.
⑤ Something warm in her hands
Coffee or hot chocolate. Blue Hound Maple Coffee is a small-batch maple-infused brew at $5 — the kind of thing that turns a regular morning into a little something. Rocket Cacao Maple Sugar is a grown-up hot cocoa with real cacao and natural caffeine, for moms who like their cozy with a little zing.
⑥ The savory little extra
Because no breakfast in bed is complete without something a little salty. Maple Candied Bacon Jerky (Sweet & Smokey or Bourbon & Hot Honey — both incredible) sits beside the syrup like a question that has only one answer. Or a small bag of Popinsanity Maple Roasted Pecans, which we've watched people sprinkle on pancakes and also eat by the handful straight from the bag.
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See everything in one place. We pulled all of this onto a single shop-able page so you can pick one, two, or the whole spread. |
A note on timing
Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10. To arrive in time, orders need to be in by Friday, May 8. We pack everything by hand at the shop on Main Street in Lake Placid — we're a small team, so the earlier the better. Free shipping on orders over $65, and a small note on the packing slip if you want one (just leave a note in the cart at checkout).
Whatever you choose, what makes the morning is the time, not the things. Let her sleep in. Make the coffee. Don't worry about the dishes until later.
— Marcy & Lily
The Maple Shop · Lake Placid, NY