Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

As a child, I hated cold cereal–hated it.  On Saturdays I would beg to make breakfast, and my parents would usually oblige.  (We were very specialized in the breakfast department, however.  Muffins and waffles were Mom’s department.  Pancakes, coffee cake, hashbrowns, and poached eggs were my Dad’s.  All of it was from scratch; I helped with both.)  Which meant that on Saturday morning, when my oldest asked me (with a pleading look in her eyes) if we could make breakfast, and then volunteered to keep her brother happy, I caved.  I could see myself looking back at me, and how can you say no?  I hopped onto Pinterest and found this recipe for Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Nutella Syrup and thought–hey!  We’ve got strawberries!  Why not?

Here, of course, is where those of you who know my family well are saying–hey!  We’ll tell you why not!  Nutella will kill your oldest child!

Okay, that’s true.  Which is why I only decided on the recipe after something like this inner monologue:

Hmmm, I like pancakes, and I like strawberries.  Could I make this work with peanut butter?  Naw, that doesn’t really sound that appealing. BUT, on the other hand, that cupboard with the Nutella and the peanut butter–it’s got Biscoff in it, too!  (Okay, it’s Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter, but still.)  Would that be too sweet?  Nutella’s pretty sweet, though.  I bet it would work.  And it’s an easy recipe…  

And so, on Saturday morning, we had strawberry buttermilk pancakes with Cookie Butter syrup.  The kids were fans, let me tell you.  I thought the pancakes were forgettable, because cooked strawberries are never as good as you want them to be, but oh, the syrup.  The syrup!

I may or may not have contemplated–more than once–grabbing it and a spoon and going to town.

It really wasn’t too sweet, not for me, anyway, and the flavor was lovely.  You don’t need butter on the pancakes at all (which makes serving kids easier, which is always a happy thing).  I desperately wanted to bring some to my friend Andrea, who just had a baby (curse you, Celiac Disease!); since I can’t do that, you all should try it instead.

And wish me luck in the fight to resist eating it with a spoon.