Buckwheat Pancakes: As Good as it Gets
Buttermilk buckwheat pancakes with strawberries
If you were to look at my calendar, half the week is open, with meetings and appointments here and there. I’m an organizational development consultant with not much work right now and a GREAT childcare arrangement (Mary) which I’m not messing with, work or no work. The other half is marked KID DAYS in giant capital letters. Kid Days mean the following:
- 6:30: Wake or be woken by the kids (Yancey is already gone) and make breakfast, try to read a bit of the paper.
- 6:31: Check Google Analytics to see how many people visited my blog the day before.
- 8:30: Leave to pick up Milo (3) and Oscar (6).
- 8:45: Drop Oscar and Wyatt off at school.
- 9:00: Drive around with Milo and Loretta until a bright idea occurs (like meeting Naomi and Isaac at the park this morning–thanks, guys!).
- 11:30: Home for lunch (not that I really care much for occasions like meals).
- 12:00: Loretta takes a nap, sometimes Milo does. I clean house, blog, pay bills, write letters, make phone calls for work, fart around on Facebook, enjoy a brief respite from Milo and Loretta fighting like bitter enemies, sometimes pray or meditate.
- 2:30: Get Loretta up, get Milo and Loretta’s shoes on to go pick up the “big boys,” as we call them. How many times a day do I put shoes on?
- 3:00: Arrive at school, say hello to all the amazing teachers and staff at Van Asselt Elementary and think how tired they must be.
- 3:15: Go to the park with all 4 kids if it’s sunny, home if not. Whatever I do, I pack snacks. That’s the most necessary element of the hour after school. Remember after-school hunger?
- 4:30: Kids watch whatever is on PBS, I pick up toys.
- 5:00: Mary picks up kids, I start making dinner (which I have compulsively planned all day long).
Let it be said–shouted from the rooftops,even–that my life and Kid Days are an absolute cakewalk. A cakewalk compared to Angie with 3 kids under 3 or Naomi, who has two boys with lots of special needs. And definitely a cakewalk when I think about women all over the world who are carrying water, worrying about how to feed their children, or victims of violence, discrimination, or war. I am not in their number, but I try to remember them every day, lending my extra strength and privilege, if that’s possible.
So, after that giant disclaimer, Kid Days are often hard for me. I get bored, tired, impatient, restless. I’m not one of those women who disappears into Kidland for hours on end or likes to arrange a bunch of craft projects. I think God gave me such assertive, verbal children so I would have to pay attention to them. There’s no way they’re going to fade into the background or let me get lost in my own world for too long.
Today was one of those days when I woke up and the hours stretched in front of me like an eternity. One antidote for that is making pancakes. That’s one good thing about my day. (If you want the recipe for these buckwheat pancakes, go here. Just leave out the bananas and sub 1/2 cup buckwheat flour for the oat bran that’s called for.)
And there were lots of other good things about my day. Too many to list, really. One was that I got to do some workplace coaching over the phone. She called me back later and said the conversation with her boss went perfectly. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people experience reconciliation and honesty with each other.
And just a few of the other good things are recorded in these photos. As always, some of them have to do with food. For me, cooking (and eating!) is the beautiful, predictable backbone of even the hardest days. And now, writing about it is one of the others. Thank you for following along.
Oscar, Wyatt, and Abbas at the playground
Loretta and strawberries at Volunteer Park
Refrigerator pasta--zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, anchovies
it’s hard to remember all the time that we are blessed with a busy life of children…i have to remind myself of that often. but, when they don’t need us so much i’m sure we will miss that part too…so i’ve heard. anyhow, you make refrigerator pasta looks so effortless and easy. i will definitely be trying out those buckwheat pancakes…i am VERY fond of buckwheat things. thanks for reminding me of all those other women in the world…
You are killing me with your routine! Taking care of 4 kids is hard, no matter the circumstances (PBS available or not). But two questions.
1. Was there a recipe in this entry?
2. Your picture looks like it has “regular” parsley. I always buy flat leaf, but only because the Food Network people told me so. Does it matter? I think of regular parsley as that stuff old fuddy duddy diners put on bad food to make us think it’s something special. In your pasta dish though, it looks divine.
pds, there’s not really a recipe, but a link to my banana oat bran pancakes. The buckwheat pancakes are a version of those. Lots of pancakes in this house. And I LOVE curly parsley. Has way more flavor and texture than Italian. I grew to love it while doing home healthcare for an elderly Croatian woman 10 years ago. She was an incredible cook and looked askance at un-curly parsley.
right-o about the recipe. I suppose I could have actually read the blog with more detail in mind. Interesting about the parsley! Ya never can tell.
Hi Sarah,
I continue to enjoy your food blog. I’m wondering if the strawberries are organic. Conventionally grown strawberries are loaded with pesticides. They are on the top ten list of foods to buy organic. Just thought you and your readers should know this, especially those who have young children. Let me know if you don’t have “the dirty dozen” list, and I’ll get the info to you.
Hi Zip! I’m so happy you’re reading. Sadly, my strawberries were not organic. They were from my friend Costco. But I washed them really well–does that count?! I think In Praise of Leftovers readers would love to know the dirty dozen list if you posted it…
i’m glad you posted this sarah. people who follow your blog ask me all the time,”how does she do it all”? now they know.with the time i’ll save by not having to repeat this, i’ll make more pancakes, pecans, and pizza.
I made apple cake last night and while I missed the Leo-wanting-something-sweet window (I got a late start), it was good with my morning coffee. No nuts and still good but probably more fun with a crunch. Next time I’ll start baking earlier and I’ll make sure I have nuts on hand. Thanks SMK!
This post so resonated with me, Sarah. I stay at home full time (with a few hours of babysitting) and manage to do my client cooking while my kids nap. I feel lucky to have this time with my children, but the days do seem endless at times. I look forward to a park date with you soon so we can commiserate!
omg! your pics are amazing! especially the one with the pancakes + strawberries! i haven’t even read the post yet, but wanted to comment before ezra wakes up and i have to go in and get him. oh…i hear him now. got to run. will catch up on my reading and commenting later…
you have to enter the pancakes on foodgawker!!!!!
Sarah - you would have laughed at me this morning. First off…so happy your mom told me about your site. It has been fun to see what you are up to and what you are cooking. Secondly, there is a great “calming” in cooking - or maybe the routine of cooking? I love to do it and when I am dealing with stuff I do it even more…hence there have been a lot of cookies, nice dinners and snacks in the house the last few weeks. Tired or not. OK - so I made Peg’s cookies last night. They were great and are going to a meeting with me tonight. I think I need to cook them a smidge longer…they aren’t quite crunchy enough for us - but that is just the difference from oven to oven. This morning I decided - an hour before I was supposed to be in the office - to make the morning glory muffins. I got out my bowls, chopped up the goods and was dumping things in the bowls and realized that the bowls were way to small. I got out my next bowl size up - dumped everything in and still wasn’t big enough. OK - got my largest bowl out and that was the ticket. So, meanwhile, there are piles of bowls all over the kitchen, stuff left over from cookies the night before and I still had to get ready to go to work. Good thing I am not a total neat freak…got a batch of muffins in and made it to the office with 10 minutes to spare. Dish duty at lunch though…and another batch of muffins. They were a hit - really good. Thanks!
Beth, I am really laughing reading your story. Yes, I should have warned my readers that the muffins do require a GIGANTIC bowl. Sounds like you found that out the hard way! Thank you so much for sharing. And here’s to being comforted by baked goods
This is about to be heavy… but hopefully heavy like a great alfredo sauce and not like bad greasy pizza.
You touch on something here, something I’m trying to figure out for myself, something I’m trying to figure out how to write about.
Your days with the kids are NOT a cakewalk. You believe they SHOULD feel fun and easy. But they don’t. And so this feels… bad. Maybe you and I are the only ones who feel this way sometimes. Or maybe not!
“Let it be said–shouted from the rooftops,even–that my life and Kid Days are an absolute cakewalk.”
“Kid Days are often hard for me. I get bored, tired, impatient, restless.”
… I thought we were smarter than this.
I think there must be millions of us out there who do this to ourselves. We love our kids, but we NEED more. Need it like air. Without figuring out how to fill that need, some days it may just feel like we’re drowning.
I’m just figuring this out myself… but while it seems like a good idea to focus on what’s good in our lives and remember that “we have it easier than most others” — it just. doesn’t. work. These are good things to do, sure, but not if it’s in an effort to block out the woman inside the mommy that is scrambling for air. We’ve got to figure out how to better listen to her!
At least you are letting yours do the cooking.
Nazz, I am up at 5 making scones for the fire station, and your comment made me cry! In a good way–an alfredo, non-greasy pizza way. You are so RIGHT. Thank you. Please–when’s your blog making its debut?