Sweet stuff

I think all four of us, Rufus included, were snoring by 9:30 last night. Monkey Man went to bed at 8:30 and when I went up at 7:30 AM to wake him up, he was still fast asleep. I knew it was bad when I picked him up at school yesterday and the moment I saw him he immediately burst into a wave of sobs. The explanation was unintelligible. So we did a quick TKD class, a fast food dinner, and home.

This morning, I woke up HONGRY. Which is hungry times a bazillion. So I whipped up a batch of these fabulous pancakes that I'd gotten off a private bulletin board several years ago. It had been a long time since I'd made these, and we gobbled them all up.

Way back in the dark ages when I used to post on Baby Center's boards, I met a great group of women on the Recipe Swap board. We eventually split off into our own private group and grew extremely close until a little squabble between two of the members made the whole damn thing implode. Eventually, I lost touch with everyone but I still have a huge blue binder full of recipes. That's my go-to book - if I'm looking for something amazing to fix, that's where I head. Those ladies all had amazing talent in the kitchen and every recipe was guaranteed to be a show stopper.

We came from all parts of the U.S. and Canada, each with different stories and life situations. I really miss all of them - we not only shared a love of food, but of our kids and husbands and of each other as well.

So anyhow, this recipe came from one of our members named Dusanka - she was a Serbian immigrant living in Canada who is honestly one of the most unique people I have ever met in my life. During the time we had the board active, she had a daughter, she got divorced, quit her job, and lived her lifelong dream of opening a small cafe. I think about her a lot and wonder if she still has that cafe. One funny story she told was that apparently the cafe was located in a very multicultural area of her city - and for some odd reason, a bunch of old Russian dudes started hanging out at the little tables outside her shop and would drink her espresso all day long. And apparently, they put a little hurt on the cafe because they were, oh, like the equivalent of having the characters in The Sopranos hanging out at Satriales so the neighborhood people were totally frightened of these people. Finally, in desperation, Dusanka ended up bargaining some kind of deal with them that they would leave by a certain time every morning in exchange for coffee cake and some sandwiches to go. She was pretty funny.

Anyhow, these are amazing pancakes. You can make them with or without blueberries. I think the key to their success is the combination of ingredients, sifting the dry ingredients, and how you mix the batter - you only want to mix it up only until there is no loose flour - it is super lumpy. This keeps the air in there and you have delicious, light pancakes that are not overly sweet. Mmmmm. And don't skip the sifting part - you can buy a sifter at most grocery stores for a few bucks, and you will use it over and over in all kinds of recipes.

So Dusanka, wherever you are, I hope you're well. Your pancakes live on!

Dusanka's Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed
Unsalted butter to grease the skillet (don't use cooking spray, it makes the pancakes taste funky from my past trial and error)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter.
Using a spatula, combine the dry and wet ingredients to make a thick, lumpy batter, taking care not to over mix. That is the secret. (I only mixed until I had no loose flour on the bottom of my bowl.)
In a non-stick skillet or griddle, melt some butter over medium-high heat. Ladle 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot skillet and sprinkle with blueberries. Take care not to overcrowd the skillet, since the pancakes will puff up as they cook.
When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes and the edges begin to brown, flip the pancakes and cook the other side. It should take about 2 to 3 minutes per side. If you're making these faster than you are eating them, keep the pancakes warm in a 250-degree oven.
Smother with maple syrup and dollop with whipped cream if desired.