monday . . .

buckwheat blueberry pancakes (recipe below)

i have been fighting the stomach flu for two days now. it started in sunday and today i still am not feeling bed. in fact i haven't even gotten out of bed today. here in bed with my laptop. mr. roll is so good to me when he came in this morning to tell me goodbye, as he was leaving for work, he brought my laptop in for me. he even plugged it in and set it on the bed, within my reach, so that when i felt up to it i could keep myself entertained.

harley is here beside me. laptop is here. i spent most of the day watching all 8 episodes of season three of the tudors. a favorite show of mine on showtime. it could also be called the life and times of henry the 8th. i was disappointed to see that episode 8 came with the demise of thomas cromwell, not because i love thomas cromwell but i love the actor that portrays sir cromwell, james fairn. all good things must come to an end.

tomorrow i am planning to take bear, another of our dogs, with me over to seattle and hang out with zak. he has the day off so we're going to do coffee at peet's, then take the dogs for a walk around greenlake, which is by his house. at some point we'll go to the snappy dragon for food. the snappy dragon is the best chinese food ever--they make their own noodles and their pot stickers are the best i have ever tasted.

when i was in the hospital, with the septic shock, i was eventually moved from icu to a regular room and i remember waking up one afternoon and zak was there and i could smell the most delicious pot stickers. i hadn't been eating much and zak thought i might do better if i had something i really liked so he brought me pot stickers from the snappy dragon and he fed me. as a result of septic shock i lost my motor skills and had to relearn things like walking and feeding myself. my 25 year old son brought me and fed me one of my favorite foods. remembering this makes me cry.

speaking of parents and children . . . i have met an incredible family online. bill and victoria strong and their almost 2 year old daughter gwendolyn. gwendolyn has sma and their blog is about their family and about their fight to educate the public about sma and to fight for a cure. they are truely amazing and i have come to love them, through their blog. they never ask for anything, so don't think my sending you to get to know them about them needing stuff, it's not. i encourage you to go read their story and get to know them. you too will fall in love with them. gwendolyn is precious and her smiles will make your worst day better. http://www.gwendolynstrong.com/

mr. roll just came home from work and came to check on me. he asked me what i felt like having for dinner tonight and i told him buckwheat blueberry pancakes. the look on his face was priceless. you see mr. roll doesn't really cook. he does all things bbg related, but if it involves the stove or the oven he doesn't do it. he asked me to pull out my pancake recipe for him, but i decided to let hm off the hook and let him go to the market and buy a box of buckwheat pancake mix to use. how bad can it be? it won't be bad at all and these pancakes will be made with love, this i know for a fact. i have bags of frozen blueberries in the freezer he can use too. and we have really good pure maple syrup we brought back from alaska.

but because i love to cook, and i am loyal to cooking from scratch i will share my recipe with you. i wish i could remember where i first found it, but i've been using it since my children were little. these pancakes are good.

buckwheat blueberry pancakes
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup nonfat milk
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups blueberries, divided
1/2 cup real maple syrup
directions
in a large bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat together the buttermilk, non-fat milk, honey, eggs, and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to combine them. Stir in 1 cup of berries.

preheat a large nonstick griddle or skillet over a medium flame. Ladle the batter onto the skillet with a 1/4-cup measure. Flip the pancake when it is golden brown on the bottom and bubbles are forming on top, about 1 1/2 minutes. Cook the other side until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.

serve topped with more blueberries and the maple syrup.