A Mother's Day brunch is a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday, and Gale Gand, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef, Food Network star and Chicago restaurateur, has created the perfect book for those who want to go a little over the top for their mothers.

"Brunch is great all on its own, because it's so much easier to prepare than a dinner party, it's kid friendly, its less expensive and the food is really flexible," says Gand, the mother of three including 4-year-old twins. "You can serve a frittata or chicken apricot salad, create buffets, which are always great for a brunch and a lot of the food is do ahead."

Because of her love of brunches, Gand wrote "Brunch! 100 Fantastic Recipes for the Weekend's Best Meal" (Clarkson Potter 2009, $27.50), written with Christie Matheson. It's a luscious-looking book with mouth-watering photos and a gamut of recipes that run from super-easy to complex.

"If you're having a large group, do a lot of the do-ahead recipes I have in the book," says Gand who was at O'Hare International Airport on her way to Denver to shoot a Food Network segment on gingerbread houses (yes, we know that Christmas is a long way off, but that's how it works in the TV business).

"For example, bread for the Baked Cinnamon Apple French Toast can be soaked the day before. The Pineapple Noodle Kugel, the strattas and the Baked Eggs in Ham Cups can all be made ahead, too. The Quick Pear Streusel Coffee Cake benefits from being made the day before, as it tastes so much better."

Asked which of her recipes she'd like to have served to her on Mother's Day, Gand, who always sounds upbeat and energetic, gets even more so.

"Oh good, my family can read about this beforehand," she says, mentioning she would love to have the popovers, asparagus with poached eggs and the watermelon gazpacho.

Gand, who co-owns Tru, considered one of the best restaurants in Chicago, has written numerous cookbooks. A definite Type A, she also started her own root-beer company, called Rootie, after a terrier that she had who since has died. She says she started making root beer because she loved the flavors of real root beer and recently eliminated high fructose corn syrup from the ingredients, replacing it with cane sugar because of a friend's allergies and also because cane sugar is more healthful. It's this attention to detail that has made Gand an award-winning pastry chef.

She also brings this level of detail to how she serves drinks at her brunches and dinner parties.

"I like doing colors for my drinks like different colored lemonade," she says. "I love glassware and by doing fun drinks you get to use glassware that works best. My theory is that when serving a drink, I choose whichever glassware has the most dust on it, which means I haven't used it for a while and people haven't seen them, so I pull them out and wash them and use them. I buy glassware at garage sales and on eBay. It just makes things so festive and perfect for Mother's Day."

For information about Gand, visit galegand.com.

Watermelon Gazpacho

4 cups watermelon cubes, seeds removed as much as possible

Sugar, to taste

1/2 cup seeded and cubed (English) cucumber

1/2 orange or red bell pepper, diced

1 green apple, cored and diced

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup cubed fresh mozzarella

DIRECTIONS: Put the seeded watermelon cubes in a blender and pulse briefly to purée, leaving some texture to them. Transfer the watermelon to a container with a pour spout. Taste and sweeten with sugar if it's tart. Chop all the vegetables and fruit and keep chilled until ready to serve. To serve, pour the watermelon soup into clear bowls or glasses with handles (the kind cappuccino is served in). Garnish each bowl with a bit of cucumber, bell pepper, apple, pomegranate, and mozzarella, or set the bowls of soup on a buffet with the vegetables, fruit, and cheese in small serving bowls with spoons and let people garnish their own soup.

Quick Pear Streusel Coffee Cake

For the cake:

1-1/4 cups all purpose flour

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

2 ripe pears (I like Bartlett), unpeeled and chopped (1-1/2 cups chopped)

For the streusel topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons cold butter, cut up

1 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. To make the cake combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl beat the egg then mix in the milk and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients then add the pears and mix well. Pour into the buttered baking dish. To make the streusel, mix the sugar, flour, cold butter and cinnamon in a bowl by pinching them together. Sprinkle over the top of the batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden and dry on top. Cool in the pan and cut into squares. This cake keeps for up to 4 days, covered at room temperature.