Final answer:
The sentence 'My mother is making chicken parmesan for dinner.' is capitalized correctly since 'mother' is used here as a common noun and 'chicken parmesan' is not a proper noun.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sentence 'My mother is making chicken parmesan for dinner.' is capitalized correctly. In English, proper nouns, such as 'Mother' when used as a name or title, should be capitalized. However, since 'mother' in this context is not being used as a proper noun or title but rather as a common noun, it does not need to be capitalized. Additionally, 'chicken parmesan' is not a proper noun and thus also does not require capitalization.
The capitalization of dishes can be confusing. Proper nouns, specific names of people, places, and sometimes things, always require capitalization. However, the names of foods do not typically require capitalization unless they include a proper noun. For instance, 'french fries' do not get capitalized, but 'French' in 'French toast' does because it refers to the country France. As 'parmesan' is a cheese named after an area in Italy, when used alone, it might be capitalized, but in the term 'chicken parmesan', it refers to the type of cheese rather than the specific origin, so it is not capitalized.