The pancakes filled them with all the things they loved. The freshly laid eggs came from the hens who scratched and tilled the orchard floor. Butter melting in the small orange pan just smelled right. Lei'ohu pinched enough of the sweet-smelling cinnamon to sprinkle over the whole wheat flour and old-fashioned oats. Sophie nodded when she thought there was enough. "Mommy uses a spoon to measure things like cinnamon when we bake." Sophie had her granddaughter wrapped in a patch-worked apron and encouraged her to use it to wipe her fingers and hands as needed. "There are many ways to measure what you need in a good recipe, Sweetie Pie. Some cooks will tell you spoons and measuring cups are must have's. Other cooks have an eye for what's right, and a feel for how much flour should go with that much (she pointed to the mountain of oats) oatmeal. I am one of the Lucy Goosey Cooks. Sometimes I measure, but not always. Other times, I just picture how things go together ... and most of the time I'm right."
"Mostly is good enough ha, Tutu."
"I say mostly good is good enough. It's not a good thing to waste food, so I always cook with a big bunch of love ... just to be sure the Kitchen Goddesses are happy with my efforts." Spirits, gods and goddesses and the family of Others was something Sophie Lei Maku'e was generous with sharing. But that had not always been the case. She considered the changes that made her world open as she watched the little girl cracking the soft brown shelled eggs now. She'd watched her grandmother do it lots of times, and was trying to do it without leaving a lot of shell. Her small hands were still covered with the powder of the spice, leaving her fingerprints like the red dirt. Sophie Lei did not direct or correct the girl, but watched as Lei'ohu tap,tap, tapped the shell as she had seen her grandmother do with the first egg. These were fresh eggs, laid by roaring hens, the shells were thick. It took a little effort. On the second trio of taps the deep nearly orange yolk as bright as noon sun slid into the buttermilk. A chunk of shell followed. Sophie clapped, "Nice work. Now pull the shell out or The Old Man will complain about too much crunch in his pancake." Lei'ohu smirked. She knew her grampa would never complain about food. He loved everything her Tutu cooked for him.
There was no rush to the creation of these pancakes, and once all the ingredients were blended and stirred together the batter sat in the humming red refrigerator for half an hour so the oats soaked up the wet. While that was happening Sophie had milk and bitter sweet chocolate melting into some hot cocoa for the girls. That would help take the edge off the long fast. A sprinkle of cinnamon topped the drink, and a teaspoon of blackberry honey sweetened.
"Let's go find The Old Man and your sister. They can only be up to some sort of grand mischief." Sophie refilled her Blue Willow tea cup with coffee, and poured the hot cocoa into a second lidded mug for Kikepa. Sophie stopped before they left the house, set the drinks down and undid the big bow holding the patches of many favorite shirts and a paisley dress she'd long forgotten was once hers. "You might need this when we start baking those pancakes. Inside apron, honey." Lei'ohu understood as she slid her socks into her boots tucked just outside the kitchen door.
The Anna was smiling a smile as big as bowls. She was taken by the patience grandmothers had with little girls who weren't their daughters. She noticed how Sophie was filling her memory with events that adapted her life to the present moment. There would be other things the little girls could not predict, there was danger in living and sometimes all the measuring in the world wouldn't keep every cake from falling. The tiny bird used her powerful wings to form the figure-eight hovering about the steam of chocolate and dark coffee.
And then? click
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