Last minute Mother's Day gifts

OK, so you didn't start making glacé fruits last month, to be tenderly rolled in sugar and wrapped in handmade paper for Mother's Day. And you didn't pre-order the fancy chocolates from the local chocolatier, the coconut truffles that say "I love you mom" in pink-dyed white chocolate. You didn't even remember to go the grocery store to get more butter to make her a batch of oatmeal cookies. Now it's Sunday morning. What to do? Here are a few ideas.

1) Buy her a subscription to Bon Appétit, Gourmet, or Cook's Illustrated Just order online and go to the bookstore to pick up this month's copy and roll it up with a ribbon and a flower. If she's far away, just forward her the confirmation email and an e-card.

2) Take her to the movies and smuggle in several bags of her favorite childhood candy (my mother's partial to Charleston Chews and those jaw-killing Jujubes). Have an illicit movie theater candy picnic.

3) Create an electronic recipe box for her on Epicurious.com - you can compile your favorite recipes and make comments about them. Email her the password.

4) Show up with a shopping bag full of ingredients and suggest you bake a cake together. Eat half the batter raw. Eat the rest while watching cheesy movies on TV.

5) Send her some virtual chocolates at virtualchocolate.com. One caveat: you must follow it up in a few days with some real chocolates. I'm partial to Moonstruck Chocolates these days - check out the friggin cute chocolate ladybugs.