Moms come in dozens of different shapes, from tall and thin to short and chunky, and everything in between.

Some are blonde, some brunette, some black-haired and red-headed; freckled or not, wrinkled and smooth. They also come in assorted colors; red, yellow, brown, black, tan and white. As of this writing,

I know of no other colors, but who knows what the future holds?

There are married moms, single moms, divorced moms, widowed moms, adoptive moms, and double moms; working moms and stay-at-home moms; worried moms and gold-star moms whose worry has ended but whose grief never will.

Moms also vary greatly in their degree of Momism, all the way from a few who don’t want the job at all when it comes to them unexpectedly, to moms who are elated and can’t wait to have more, and even some who are obsessed about being a mom to the point of having eight at once and adding them to others already in her brood. Now that’s taking mommyhood to new heights, to say the least.

Some moms seem to know, the moment their first baby arrives, how to be mom; others wish babies came with a manual of instructions.

There are moms with endless patience who enjoy nothing more than playing with their kids, and moms who dislike and abuse their kids and really have no right to be moms; moms with endless love for their offspring and some who simply tolerate them and wait for the day they leave.

We are issued a mom the day we’re born, with no say about which kind we want. Some babes never even see or know their birth-issued mom and grow up loved and cared for by another. Most of us, however, live and grow up with our one, standard-issue mom, for better or for worse. What’s amazing is how much we come to love each other and, at various stages of our lives, depend upon each other. Good, bad or indifferent, it’s a relationship, welcomed or not, that changes our lives and never ends.

Come Sunday, most of us will take time to honor our moms, one way or another, perhaps with flowers or candy, brunch or dinner, perhaps a long-distance phone call or e-mail and/or a tweet, depending on how young or hip your mom is. As for me, I’ll send my strict, demanding, difficult, often irritating but quite remarkable mom one loving mental message:

I miss you, Mom, every day.

RECIPES

And, there are moms who love chocolate, moms who love lemon and moms who crave strawberry. Here’s a sweet something for each of them.

LEMON BARS, QUICK & EASY

½ cup sliced almonds

1 cup flour, divided (see instructions)

1/3 cup powdered sugar

½ t. almond extract

¼ t. salt

6 T. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 t. finely grated lemon zest

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil. Toast almonds in a skillet over med. heat until lightly browned, 3-5 min. Set aside 3 T. to layer on the crust; chop the rest to mix into the crust.

Whisk together ¾ cup of the flour, powdered sugar, almond extract, salt and chopped almonds. Cut in butter with a fork until mixture is dry and crumbly. Press into the prepared pan; sprinkle with the reserved almonds Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 20-25 min., or until edges are golden.

Combine remaining ¼ cup flour and sugar; whisk in the eggs. Add lemon juice and zest. Pour over the warm crust and dust with powdered sugar. Return to oven and bake until filling no longer jiggles in the center, 18-20 min. Cool completely on a rack; remove from pan by lifting foil by the edges. Remove foil and cut into squares. Dust with more powdered sugar and, if desired, garnish with lemon slices and/or mint sprigs.

For the chocoholic mom, here’s something a bit different, chocolate in loaf form that is equally good as a dessert or an indulgence with morning coffee.

CHOCOLATE LOAF

5½ oz. semisweet chocolate (that’s what the recipe calls for; I use dark, 72 percent chocolate

6 T. butter

1 cup condensed milk (make it a scant cup)

2 t. cinnamon

1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped

2½ – 3 oz. amaretti cookies, broken

1/4 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped

Line a loaf pan with foil. Place the chocolate, butter, condensed milk and cinnamon in a saucepan. Heat gently for 3-4 min., stirring, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Stir almonds, cookies and apricots into the chocolate mixture until everything is thoroughly coated with chocolate. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hr. or until set. This loaf is very rich, so cut into thin slices.

Note: You can vary this recipe many ways; use dried cherries or other dried fruit of choice instead of apricots; use whatever other nut pleases you; vary the type of crumbled cookie.

And for our strawberry-loving moms, here’s a light as springtime tiramisu recipe I came across a few years ago, but don’t make this unless you have really fine strawberries, not the pithy, tasteless ones. One of the plus features of this delicious treat is that you can make it ahead of time; in fact, it’s better if you do.

STRAWBERRY TIRAMISU

1¼ cups strawberry preserves

1/3 cup plus 4 T. Cointreau or other orange liqueur, divided (see instructions)

1/3 cup orange juice

1 lb. mascarpone cheese, at room temp.

1¼ cups chilled whipping cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1½ lbs. fresh strawberries, divided

50-52 or so crisp ladyfingers

Whisk preserves, 1/3 cup Cointreau and orange juice in a 2 cup measuring cup.

Place mascarpone cheese and 2 T. of the Cointreau in a large bowl; fold just to blend. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla and remaining 2 T. Cointreau to soft peaks. Stir ¼ of the whipped cream mixture into the mascarpone mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream.

Hull and slice half the strawberries. Spread ½ cup of the preserve mixture over the bottom of a 3-qt. oblong serving dish or a 13-by-9-by-2 glass baking dish. Arrange enough ladyfingers over the preserves to cover the bottom of the dish, then spoon 3/4 cup of the preserve mixture over the ladyfingers. Spread 2½ cups of mascarpone mixture over and arrange sliced strawberries over the mascarpone. Repeat layering with remaining ladyfingers, preserve mixture and mascarpone mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hrs. or overnight.

Slice remaining strawberries, arrange over tiramisu and serve. Serves 8.