Happy Mother’s Day.

Here in Kaaawa, it means we’ve got to get to work early to prepare for a site visit by my mother and sister. Usually they come out for a late lunch, but today we’re trying something different. Brunch. It makes the morning schedule even tighter.

We’re just sitting down with some coffee and the Sunday newspapers. Ms. Harriet is perched demurely on the kitchen counter, politely signaling that she wouldn’t mind a good lick of margarine. Kili is pacing around the kitchen, hoping that movement in the area could mean more food in her dish. Ms. Wally is standing next to my chair, reaching up to claw my leg. She wants to be picked up and placed in my lap. She wins.

In a few minutes, we’ll start picking up the last remnants of last night’s festivities with friends who were over for dinner. Newspapers go out for recycling. Stacked up mail gets hidden in another room. Then comes preparation for cooking. I’m going to try a frittata (mostly egg whites with a couple of token yolks) with corn muffins on the side. Orange juice. Another pot of coffee, probably decaf.

The battle plan isn’t ready. I’ve got to think through the cooking schedule. There’s a bit of a conflict over the oven. Muffins will have to cook first, then make way for the frittata, which most recipes call for finishing off with a few minutes under the broiler. I don’t have exactly the right pan for the frittata, but I’m sure we’ll all survive. Oh, I’m looking at a filling with some ham, onion, potato, spinach, and cheese. Probably Swiss. I paid too much for a few small locally grown potatoes that I saw at Foodland.

That sounds rather good, doesn’t it?

In any case, let the cleaning begin!