This Sunday, Mother’s Day, children young and old will honor their mothers with flowers, cards, meals, and other tokens of affection. For those of us who have lost our mothers, it is the day to remember all she was and all she did to shape our lives.

My mother, a homemaker, was always there for her husband and six children. I don’t know how she did it because she had so many jobs — housekeeper, seamstress, nurse, teacher, cook and the list goes on. She put her heart into all her daily tasks, though I’d say she was most passionate about cooking. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Mom was an avid collector of recipes. She got them from her mother, her mother-in-law, Betty Crocker, magazines and friends. She was a master at delicious big batch home-cooked meals on a budget.

She also liked to bake, creating wonderful treats for her sweet-toothed family. Pies, cakes and cookies were all from scratch and though not bakery fancy (no time for that) they were unforgettable, just like her. Often when I’m missing her, I’ll bake her easy mix-in-the-pan banana cake with cream cheese frosting, or her fudgy chocolate cake with fluffy meringue-like frosting sprinkled with coconut, reminiscing with each bite.

Here’s to the woman who taught me to keep my flour in the freezer to keep it fresh and bug free and who showed me how to wrap an unpeeled over-ripe banana in plastic wrap and foil for freezing till there were enough saved to make a cake or banana bread.

Mom’s Banana Cake

(This is the easiest and best little cake ever.)

Cake:

1 1/4 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup mashed over-ripe bananas

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 T. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Chopped walnuts for garnish

Directions: In 8-inch square baking pan stir together dry ingredients with a fork. Make a well in the middle. Place bananas, oil, egg, vinegar and vanilla in the well. Mix with fork till thoroughly blended. Bake in preheated 350-degree F. oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Serves 6 to 9.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 T. butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: In medium mixer bowl combine all ingredients. Beat well till smooth and fluffy.

Mom’s Peanut Butter

Fudge Sauce

(This was our special Sunday night treat over ice cream)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 T. cornstarch

2 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter, or to taste

Directions: In saucepan combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and milk. Over medium heat, cook and stir till thick. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and peanut butter. Serve warm or cold over ice cream, brownies, pound cake or right from the spoon.

One Egg Chocolate Cake

2 squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup sour milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

Directions: Place chocolate in mixing bowl; pour boiling water over and stir till chocolate is melted. Cool.

Meanwhile, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate along with the shortening. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer for 1 minute. Add sour milk, vanilla and egg. Beat 1 minute more. Pour batter into greased and floured 9-inch square baking pan. Bake in preheated 350-degree F. oven 35 to 40 minutes or till toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (For 13×9-inch cake, double all ingredients.) Cool and frost with your favorite frosting or my mom’s Beat and Eat Frosting (recipe follows.)

Beat and Eat Frosting

(Snowy white and fluffy, like meringue, this is delicious on orange, lemon, strawberry, white, or chocolate cake.)

1 egg white

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup boiling water

Coconut for sprinkling over top, if desired

Directions: In small deep bowl combine egg white, sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla. Add boiling water and beat with electric mixer till stiff peaks form. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Refrigerate any leftover cake, as frosting may wilt.