The summer, which seemed to be crawling along, has sped up its pace now that I realized school is starting in a week. So I better post those berry recipes and children’s cooking activities I promised you!

I found out from our resident gardener (my husband) that we have some raspberry and blackberry bushes that ripen early in the summer, and other  bushes that ripen later on. No wonder we seem to have pints and pints of berries all summer long. Lucky us!

A couple of weekends ago, daddy was golfing, so I had Nathan and Lucie out picking berries in the morning when it was still cool. I love my children, but they can be very lazy. They kept telling me that they were tired, hot and hungry and couldn’t find any more berries to pick. (The trick is that you have to lift the branches to get to the berries in the back.)

I figured out a solution. I wore a garden glove on my left hand to push up the branches. (Berry bushes have thorns.) Then I picked berries with my right hand and dropped them into a collender that Nathan was holding. Lucie was in charge of swatting away all the mosquitos that were trying to bite me through my clothes, and running around the yard screaming, “Oh my god, mommy, a wasp!”

Using this sure fire method, “we” picked enough berries to make berry cobbler to a friend’s home for dinner with enough left over (and then some) for berry pancakes.

Berry Pancakes

1. Make pancakes according to your favorite recipe. I use Krusteaz pancake mix that I buy in the large bag at Costco – it’s delicious and convenient. I like to make the batter using equal parts mix and milk – it’s more runny that way. However, Krusteaz mix does contain eggs, but it’s the last ingredient on the package. Lucie’s egg allergy hasn’t been that bad lately and she doesn’t seem to have problems eating baked goods with small amounts of eggs.
2. We have a non-stick double burner griddle always on the stove, so making pancakes is super easy. I turn on the burners to medium. When it’s hot enough, I melt a little butter on the griddle then spoon the pancake batter on to the griddle.
3. After letting the pancakes cook for 30 seconds (the batter must be gooey on stop) I sprinkle the berries over the pancakes. I’ve found that if you mix the berries into the batter, the batter turns pink or purple and your berries turn into mush.
4. I let the pancakes cook another 30 seconds or so. Then I spoon a thin layer of batter on top. That way when you cook the pancakes, the juicy, warm berries are in the middle. If you don’t, when you flip the pancake, the berries are cooking directly on the griddle, bubbling away and getting messy.
5. When the batter on top sets, I flip the pancakes and cook until they’re golden brown.
6. We like to serve pancakes with a smidgen of butter and real maple syrup.

KITCHEN TIP: Cut pancakes with large pizza wheel cutter. It’s so much easier than sawing away with a butter knife. You get cleaner edges, and the kids find it amusing that you’re cutting pancakes with a pizza tool. That funny mommy!

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Have you had a chance to see Kung Fu Panda yet? We did the first week the movie was out, and I was very impressed. Not only did my children enjoy it, but I loved the characters, the story and the animation. It’s the best thing DreamWorks has done in years.

All the noodle and bun eating made me hungry and gave me a great idea for a Kung Fu Panda inspired meal – dim sum!

Eat In, Take Out, or Make It At Home

We like to drive into Denver on the weekends for dim sum at the Empress Seafood Restaurant. We were going to stop by on Father’s Day, but we woke up too late and my husband wanted to watch the US  Open on TV. So we headed over to our nearest Asian Market to pick up lobster for dinner, and noticed they had dim sum take out. We got sticky rice in lotus leaves, shrimp balls, and sesame seed dumplings with sweet bean paste.

We also picked up half a roasted duck since Lucie wanted to try it. Delicious, but greasy as to be expected. (Lucie is eating a sesame seed dumpling in the picture, and has pieces of duck on her plate.)

When we got home we also steamed up some Chinese beef buns that we had in the freezer. What a feast!

If you don’t have an Asian grocery with take out dim sum, try making your own at home. It isn’t as hard as you think thanks to Sunset magazine.

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I recently did a Recipe Roundup: Fun Breakfast Ideas for Kids for the FoodieView blog. Not only does it feature recipes that kids will love to cook up and eat, but they’ll appeal to all those adults who are big kids at heart. And who’s the biggest kid of them all but dad?

This Father’s Day, I hope your family will be getting together in the kitchen to cook up a breakfast made for a king. (We’re going out for dim sum, which will probably involve going to the Asian market afterwards to buy a lobster for dinner. More on this next week.)

Make Dad Some Fancy Pancakes

One great idea I missed for the Recipe Roundup was sent to me by Kendra of the My Insanity blog. She and her kids made a special School’s Out for Summer Breakfast where they put pancake batter in squeeze bottles to make pancake.Basically you use the squeeze bottle to make pancake shape outlines, let them cook for a little bit, then fill in the shapes. Here’s a picture of Kendra’s son, Trenton, and his spaceship pancakes.

You can have fun making pancakes like these for dad. If he’s a sports fan make pancakes the shapes of footballs, hockey sticks, or baseball bats. If he likes to fish, make him some fish- shaped pancakes, fishing poles, and a few hooks and worms. If I was making these for my husband, I’d make a motorcycle-shaped one!

(Kendra’s post also contains a recipe for an Orange Julius, too. Yum!)

Spend Father’s Day with Little Bear, His Dad and some good books

One of the most endearing father-son pairs in children’s books is Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear and his dad, Father Bear. Why not get a few Little Bear books for dad to read to the kids before nap or bed time? Two good choices are Father Bear’s Special Day and Father Bear Comes Home. Both are terrific books for toddlers up to children age 8.

Don’t you think Little Bear would like some honey on his pancakes? I bet your family’s “papa bear” would like some, too!

For more Father’s Day book ideas check out:

• Pig Pile Elvis Style, Lemon Bars, and Father’s Day
• Father’s Day books celebrate dads of all kinds
• Father’s Day books from Daddy Dialectic

I’m posting another Recipe Roundup for the FoodieView blog. (Click here to see my Swiss Family Recipes and Cinco de Mayo healthy recipe roundups.)

My assignment from my FoodieView Blog editor is fun breakfast ideas with kids. I have a few dishes in mind, but would also love to get some recipes and pictures from my fellow food and parent bloggers.

If you have a post you’d like me to consider, email me at readablefeast at gmail dot com or leave a comment below with your name, email, your blog’s name URL, and the URL of the post.

Remember, the recipe should either be kid friendly (i.e., something that they could make with a little supervision) or a special breakfast treat that would appeal to kids. It doesn’t need to be healthy (though that’s a plus) just lots of fun!

Of course, I will link back to your blog and give you full credit for the recipe and/or picture.

Recently I posted a product review of Horizon Organic’s new DHA Omega-3 milk. Docosahexaenoic Acid, or DHA, is a type of Omega-3 fatty acid that has been studied for its role in heart, brain and eye health. In kids, DHA helps support development of the brain, nervous system and the retina of the eye.

As part of Brain Awareness Week/Month I’m giving away 3 Horizon Organic coupons good for any ONE FREE Horizon’s product up to $4.99 (excluding gallon milk and 16 oz. butter) in value.

To Enter:

1. Leave your name, email address, and blog address (if you have one) in the comments below.
2. You must be willing to send me your full name and address so I can mail you the coupon. I will not share your personal info with the public. However, if you do have a blog, I will link back to it when I announce the winners.
3. You have until midnight MT on March 27, 2008 to enter.
4. This contest is limited to the continental U.S.
5. I’m also offering having this contest at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet. Feel free to enter there as well. One entry on each of my blogs is allowed.
6. The coupon cannot be used in CO, MA, MO or ND, so don’t enter if you live in those states.
7. I will announce the winners on March 28, 2008 and mail out the coupons via USPS by the following week.

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