My favourite childhood memories are of my mom making us breakfast; fermented corn-dough porridge (koko), thick creamy oatmeal, fried egg sandwiches with hot cocoa and crepe-like pancakes on special occasions.

Food has always been an integral part of our family; from when we struggled to grow enough to when we ate in abundance – we’ve always come together around food and my mom is continually the tie that binds us.

So it’s no surprise that our Mother’s Day usually involves food…

My mom doesn’t cook much anymore, we still share curious conversations around food; rare plants and spices from her childhood and new-to-her fruits, vegetables, pastries etc. she wants to try

We love surprising mom with brunch on Mother’s Day; sometimes we manage catch her for a quick breakfast before she sets off to church, then there was the fabulous frittata and gari, she still talks about it to this day.

We made her matcha waffles today, the smell of matcha, she says reminds her of a farm under the hot sun after the rain.

This was last year’s spread; we cheated a little, with scones from a local bakery and those Italian shortbread cookies she loves, with coffee and fruit – modest and easy to put together yet she loved it just as if we’d spent the morning baking the scones and cookies ourselves.

Mother’s Day is low-key around here, as it should be, filled with love and thoughtful gestures, with a slight hopefulness that everyday would be like this.

Hope your Mother’s Day was special too.