Velouté is one of the five so-called mother sauces of the culinary arts, and while it can be made with veal stock or fish stock, it's usually made with chicken stock.

The velouté itself is not traditionally served as-is, but rather, it's the starting point for other sauces. Chicken velouté, for example, is the basis for the traditional Suprême sauce, as well as the classic Mushroom sauce, the Aurora sauce and many others.

Still, there's no reason you couldn't simply season a chicken velouté with salt and pepper and serve it much as you would a basic gravy — which, after all, is nothing but a velouté sauce made with the pan drippings from a roasted bird.

Here's the chicken velouté recipe. And here are a few related items:

• Suprême Sauce Recipe
• Mushroom Sauce Recipe
• Aurora Sauce Recipe
• How to Make Roux
• Veal Stock Recipe
• Fish Stock Recipe

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Did you know that Mother's Day is the single busiest day of the year for restaurants? It's a fact. When you count brunch and dinner, more of us go out to eat on Mother's Day than on any other day.

That means two things: big crowds and big bucks. If you think restaurants don't raise their prices for those special Mother's Day menus, think again.

So if you'd like to save some money and avoid the jostling crowds, why not treat the mom in your life to a homemade Mother's Day brunch? With these Mother's Day brunch menu recipes, you'll find several egg and omelet recipes, two kinds of waffles, two kinds of French toast, plus your choice of hash browns or home fries, fresh blueberry muffins or homemade scones. Not to mention a recipe for perfect crispy bacon.

You'll also find some cocktail recipes — with some non-alcoholic choices to go with the more "festive" variety. And here are some more great breakfast recipes:

• Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe
• Basic Omelet Recipe
• Perfect Scrambled Eggs
• Corned Beef Hash Recipe
• How to Make Perfect Bacon
• Easy Waffles Recipe
• How to Make French Toast

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Graham crackers have been an American staple since a certain Sylvester Graham developed them nearly 200 years ago. Graham believed additive-free, whole-wheat flour was more nutritious than refined white flour. In this, he was correct. He also advocated vegetarianism as a cure for sexual urges. The jury's still out on that one.

Still, Graham's cracker remains ever popular — both as a snack and as a pie crust. This graham cracker pie crust is perfect for all kinds of unbaked pies like cream or chiffon pies, and it's really simple to make. For a variation, you can substitute chocolate graham cracker crumbs, vanilla wafer crumbs or gingersnap crumbs. Though I make no claims about what curative properties, if any, gingersnaps or vanilla wafers may possess. Here's some more about pies and pie crusts:

• Flaky Pie Crust
• What is Blind Baking?
• How to Cut In Shortening
• Pastry Dough Recipe
• What is Egg Wash?
• How to Make Pastry Cream

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A batch of fresh muffins hot from the oven is one of life's great simple pleasures. Whether it's blueberry muffins for brunch or double chocolate muffins for a decadent treat, the simple fact is that muffins make people happy.

And here's another reason to get happy: Because muffins are a member of the quick bread family, they're easy to make and you can bake up a batch of them in about half an hour. Here are Five Easy Muffin Recipes for you to try out. And here are a few more resources to do with baking:

• Baking Soda Vs. Baking Powder
• Make Your Own Baking Powder
• Make Your Own Brown Sugar
• How to Cut In Shortening
• What is All-Purpose Flour?
• What is Gluten?

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