"Is it the weekend yet?" In the last half-year or so, Jules has been trying to wrap his head around the days of the week, what they mean.* It's taken a while for him to grasp the idea that, on Friday, the answer about whether it's the weekend or not is half-yes. And half-no.
((Tangentially related side note: When I ask Kai, "when did you become such a big boy?" he answers without hesitation, "Tuesdays." Not Tuesday. Tuesdays. Plural. Every time. And every time, it cracks me up.))
But the answer to Julian's "weekend?" question becomes a solid yes at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. And more often than not, "weekend" Jonic-style kicks off in the kitchen, where we make pancakes while Vivaldi, or Miles Davis or Vampire Weekend plays on the under-the-cabinet Sony CD player that I pretty much consider one of my best purchases ever (you can plug an iPod into it too).
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| Jules does much of the pancake making now - which goes well until Kai attempts to act as the sous sous chef. |
The specific sort of pancakes we make varies depending on whether Jon or I is executive-cheffing (today it was me ... Jon had a bonfire/movie night/sleepover with a bunch of this friends). When I'm in charge, I use this recipe, which is my (healthified) variation of one in the 1975 edition Joy of Cooking, a 36th birthday gift from Kate.
Here it is:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of buttermilk (I usually end up making it by mixing 2 TBSP lemon juice into 2 cups of 1% milk because I always forget to buy buttermilk. This should be your first step as you need to let it sit for 10 minutes or so.)
1 egg
2 TBSP canola oil
2 TBSP honey (I always measure the oil first. It lubes the measuring spoon so the honey slips right off)
I mix the dry ingredients. Beat together the wet ingredients. Combine, then cook them up on the griddle. I serve them with Vermont maple syrup and fruit. Today, it was strawberries and cantaloupe.
Note: This batter is thin - not great for holding the Mickey Mouse shapes that Julian always requests - but no one seems to mind. Today, Jules declared these pancakes his favorite in the whole world. Win.
