Of dogs and children.

Weekend to me used to mean sleeping late. The Fabulous Man and I, in our pre-Little Girl days, used to wake up around 9, have a cup of tea, a bit of a chat, and then what we called our morning sleep, until about noon. Those were what people fondly call "the good old days". When we got our puppies, we even trained them to sleep late on weekends, and I was very much impressed with our efforts. One of my friends had a theory that if you can raise a dog, you can raise a child, and I looked forward to having a baby who will sleep until 10 on weekends. Of course, said friend is childless still today, and I'm looking forward to one day discussing this theory with her in detail.

As you know, I have a Little Girl, one who does not sleep until 10 on weekends. Occasionally she sleeps until 9, but only if she refuses to go to sleep until 10 the previous night, and I don't necessarily call that a success. So, out of necessity, these days weekend to me mean breakfast. And if I'm going to be up early, it might as well be a nice breakfast. Our repertoire includes bacon and eggs, french toast, omelettes, eggs a la flamenca. Occasionally we make some sort of crumpet or pancake, and it's under this category which my blueberry cornmeal pancakes fall. I originally found them on the Martha Stewart web while I looked for a recipe to use up some leftover maple syrup I had. The reason I fell in love with it is it inclusion of polenta. A staple in South Africa is what we call pap, or porridge, made with white maize meal, and it's eaten with milk and sugar, sometimes butter, for breakfast, or as a side with your meal, usually the South African farmer's sausage. This nod to my homeland appealed to my nostalgic side, and I whipped some up the other morning.

Of course they were fabulous, and with a good shot of anti-oxidants with the inclusion of the blueberries. Initially I thought they're perfect for the Little Girl, as she got into the habit of eating blueberries straight from the freezer. Except she picked them meticulously from the pancake and threw them on the floor, as you do, before eating the rest of the pancake. Now, if she was a puppy, such naughty behaviour would earn her a squirt from the water bottle, except I have a feeling that's not the done thing with children.

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes
Serves 4
Recipe from Martha Stewart

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup whole milk
50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for the pan
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cups blueberries (I used frozen, which was fine)

maple syrup for serving
Whisk together flour, cornmeal, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, milk, butter, and egg. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).

 Heat a large pan over medium heat. Melt some butter to cover the bottom of your frying pan. Spoon about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan at a time. Sprinkle with blueberries, about 2 tablespoons per pancake. Sprinkle the blueberries with a little bit of sugar if you want. I didn't follow this step, and I thought the pancakes were sweet enough without it. Cook until edges are set, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining batter and blueberries, adding more butter to the pan and keeping prepared pancakes warm. Serve with the maple syrup, or your condiment of choice.