You've called around and every brunch place within a 20 miles radius is booked up solid for Mother's Day. How can you salvage the holiday and make your mom feel special without a reservation?

• Take her to a local Farmers' Market on Sunday morning. You can buy her a cup of coffee or tea and the two of you can wander around, fondle the fresh produce and taste jams and honeys. If you get there early enough, you may be able to grab a dozen local, free range eggs (those babies sell out fast). Poached and served on top of a bed of tender baby greens and you won't (even for a minute) miss the hassle of the restaurant.
  
• Pack a picnic and head for a local park. Who says a celebratory meal has to be eaten in a restaurant? Gather up an assortment of sliced meats, a couple of good cheese, bread or some good crackers and quickly blanch a pound of asparagus. Strawberries or grapes can take care of dessert.
  
• If your mom is a chocolate lover, put together a chocolate tasting for her. Hit the candy aisle at your favorite natural or gourmet foods store (I've found that they have the best assortment of chocolate) and buy four or five good varieties. The two of you can munch on chocolate to your heart's content and when she figures out which one she likes the best, promise her that you'll get her a few more bars of it next time you go to the store.
  
• Even an outing to a local bakery or coffee shop can be a good way to celebrate your mom. Often, the thing she wants most is time alone with her children. This doesn't even have to happen on Mother's Day, if you can't sneak away, schedule a time to get together over coffee and a scone or muffin for some quality mother/child time.

Do you go to coffee shops with any regularity? Are you there every day, or do you make it a weekend thing? Whenever you go, have you ever wondered about the people who make your coffee?

As we should all remember they are people too (not just automatons, created to serve our caffeine whims), and they have just as many pet peeves about you as you have about them. The RedEye blog interviewed baristas extensively and put together a list of everything (well, ok, 10 things) that they really want you to know. Next time you order your favorite beverage from your favorite coffee shop, keep in mind these tips while you're leaving yours.

Ask the barista how much milk they go through in one day then next time you go into Starbucks for a latte. At some stores, the baristas probably far to busy to take note of the number of gallons used, but it is safe to say that it is a lot. And with over 5,500 stores in the US, Starbucks must be one of the largest consumers in the country, so the dairy industry will feel the effects of Starbucks decision to drop all dairy containing the artificial growth hormone RBGH. So far, the coffeehouse has hormone free milk at stores on the west coast (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, New Mexico and Northern California) and in New England, or roughly 37% of all of their dairy products. The company is still developing their plan to phase out the milk from the rest of their stores and it is safe to say that it will be a gradual process when it begins.

Representatives from the dairy industry who support the use of the hormone say that it is only a matter of time before Starbucks passes increased costs onto consumers, but supporters of the switch say that more dairy farmers will stop using the hormone as consumers and businesses look for dairy produced without it, keeping prices under control. Starbucks has not said how this change has affected their operating costs, but will say that they are not planning to raise drink prices as a result of the switch.

Though the South Beach, Florida store in question was closed for renovations this past Sunday, some mothers gathered at a Starbucks and held a "nurse-in" to protest the expulsion of a woman named Nicole Coombs from the store. Coombs claims that she was asked to leave for breast-feeding her 4-month old son. The Starbucks manager, however, maintains that Coombs was asked to leave for changing her baby's diaper on one of the tables in the cafe.

Coombs states that the store manager asked her to leave while she was breastfeeding. She said she would leave as soon as she was done, because she was so outraged that she did not want to remain in the store. Then, according to Coombs, she proceeded to change her baby's diaper. She does not deny that she changed the baby on the table where people ordinarily eat. Now, the store manager says that he did not say anything to Coombs about breast feeding, which is perfectly acceptable in the store. He contends that he approached her as she changed her baby on the table and asked her to stop. When she refused, she was asked to leave.

It's the latest thing, dontcha know? As follower of coffee shop culture and aficionado of the cupcake craze, I come to you, the leading expert in the field (says me), to announce: mini-cupcakes in coffee shops are the latest things. Bagels? Yes, they're a staple of at-the-desk breakfasters everywhere, but they're so over. Cinnamon rolls are on the way out. Oatmeal cookies - hey, everyone loves oatmeal cookies - but how can you choose cookies over itsy bites of creamy buttery frosting and soft spongy bits of cake?

I found these delicacies at Sydney's, 1800 NW 16th, the hippest thing in Portland, Ore.'s coffee destinations. The ones at Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon St., during my trip to Princeton, NJ were even better. As I hit my favorite coffeeshops from one coast to another, I keep seeing the ubiquitous mini-cupcake and I'm here to tell you: this trend rocks. And now it's how you'll know your coffeeshop is truly with it.

[Photos Sarah Gilbert]

I'm the sort of woman who falls in love easily. Never fear, my husband's honor isn't in any danger. No, I fall in love with proprietors of cafes, coffee shops, and bakeries. I flit from one to the next, never falling out of love exactly, but giving my heart - and my dollar - far more fully to whoever's the newest sweet-o-my-heart.

This week, my one true love is Li Doyle, whose name I only know from Googling her. Her establishment is Patisserie Cafe Lili (which should, if I do my French right, be Cafe Patisserie Lili, but - oh well), and it's in the tony antique-shopping neighborhood of Sellwood here in Portland. It's a few miles from my house, and would normally be way out of my way - except for when I make a pilgrimage to "The Bins," the Goodwill outlet (Portland's ultimate thrift experience - oh how I love it).

During my last pilgrimage, I needed coffee, and saw this friendly-seeming cafe only a few blocks away. I parked and ran to the front door only to realize it was still in a pre-grand-opening mess. I walked back to my car, disappointed. I'd opened my door when the owner ran out. "Let me make you a drink!" she said eagerly.

How could I refuse? She chatted eagerly, showing me her almost-completed kitchen and proudly telling of her accomplishment in opening this retail outlet (she's been baking wholesale for years). She fixed me a latte despite her unprepared state. She refused money, making me take my dollars back, and asked me just to come back once the cafe was opened.

It's open now, and you can bet I'll be visiting frequently, far though it is from my daily grind. I'm in love with Li, and while it lasts, she'll be getting all my attention and - most importantly - a good deal of my money.

I like to call the Red and Black Cafe in Portland, Ore. the Socialist coffee shop. It's a subversive place full of ratty couches, angry radicals and server-owners who are forever forgetting what you've ordered. But the food, well, it's worth all the trouble. Like this homemade organic granola, served with its own pitcher of milk. It's crunchy, nutty, with plump raisins, and just the teeniest bit sweet (never with refined white sugar), the very epitome of health. And delicious to boot. Get it with a pot of one of the house blend herbal teas... even though that will take an extra 10 minutes and you'll have to remind your server at least twice. You'll still thank me for turning you on to the Red and Black.

[Photo Sarah Gilbert]

I'm typing from my favorite coffee shop, the one I typically escape to when my babysitter shows up. I work, I write, I sip delicious coffee and enjoy not having children hanging from my arm. Usually, the coffee here is of the highest order: freshly brewed, just-roasted, and the lattes are some of the best in miles.

But today, the coffee is disappointing, watery and lukewarm, and the service non-stellar. I had to search for my own utensil for the apple crisp (on "special!"), and it's not like he was busy - he was just wrapped up in chatting with his musician buddy and not paying attention. So, what should I do:

1. tip generously as usual (because after all, free wifi) and ignore it;
2. let go with my chintzy 50-cent tip (that was my change, which I left on the counter), letting that speak volumes; or
3. bring it up with the owners when I see them next, gently (I've made a point of complimenting the really good baristas in the past)

WWSD (What Would Slashfoodies Do)?