When I first started reading food blogs, most of what I read were healthy living blogs. Oatmeal is all the rage in that particular sector of the blogosphere. People stir things into it, pour things over it, serve it hot and cold, in bowls and in empty nut butter jars. I like oatmeal, and for a while, I was on the healthy oat bandwagon – but I can’t let go of the oats of my youth. Back in the mid eighties, oats were served on cold Illinois mornings with a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar and a splash of cold milk. That particular combination may not be as filling as oats packed with peanut butter and fresh fruit, but it sure is comforting and delicious.

When I was pregnant, I actually lost my taste for oatmeal. Eggs were my breakfast of choice, and I continue to choose protein-heavy dishes over carby ones like oats or cereal. But not too long ago, my friend Tim blogged about a delicious baked oatmeal from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day. Warm blueberries, bananas, brown sugar, a bit of butter, cinnamon….sounds to me like this is my childhood oatmeal and then some. It’s reminiscent of a fruit crisp, and if I’d been fortunate enough to have whipped cream in my fridge, I’d have covered this dish with a dollop or two.

Head on over to Tim’s blog, Lottie +Doof, for this recipe and countless others that will make you drool into your keyboard. His photography is stunning and his blog is something I aspire to.

*****

And speaking of stunning photography, allow me a proud mom moment as I share a few pics from a recent family photo shoot. The photographer captured our family so perfectly!

Like most who are with child, I go through phases where I obsess over particular foods/food combinations, eating them again and again until they no longer appeal to me. For the past two weeks, I’ve been focused on a breakfast inspired by Cafe Gouda, a favorite restaurant from my days in the small town of Hickory, NC. Cafe Gouda opened its doors less than a mile from our first apartment together, and when I discovered a creation called The Rapp I stopped there many a morning for a perfectly satisfying breakfast treat. The components are simple: whole wheat tortilla, peanut butter, vanilla yogurt, sliced banana, granola and a generous drizzle of honey.

All (w)rapped up in a perfect breakfast package.

I don’t think this obsession will fade anytime soon.

I hate everything about summer….except for the produce. Berries, stone fruit, tomatoes, okra, string beans…it’s like Christmas in June, July AND August. I can’t get enough of my favorite summer fruits and veggies, and I’m always looking for new recipes to highlight the bounty. When my friend Melissa hosted a potluck brunch at her apartment and asked guests to bring seasonally-inspired dishes to share, I knew I wanted to contribute something sweet. But what would be the best vehicle for showcasing some of my favorite summer fruits? And more importantly, which summer fruits would I pick to star in my dish?  Raspberries and blueberries looked best at the farmer’s market, so I brought them home and searched for a winning recipe.

And now, I can add these muffins to the (short) list of things I love about summer.

The only way to improve a delicious blueberry muffin is to throw some raspberries in the mix. They retain a bit of tartness and take on a jammy texture that is absolutely divine. It’s difficult to add them to the batter without many of them bursting/falling apart, but even the fragmented berries gave a nice swirl of flavor to each muffin. You’ll find the recipe here. My only modification was to use brown sugar for the streusel topping, because really, isn’t that how streusel is supposed to be?

Breakfast has always been my culinary Achilles’ heel. Ironically, I love to eat it, but my ability to cook it is completely subpar. I do okay with eggs, but sweet breakfasts are a source of heartache and shame. I’m a good baker. Shouldn’t French toast, waffles and pancakes come naturally to me?

Pancakes are particularly difficult because I never know when it’s time to flip them, and flipping itself yields a slew of creative curse words. As a result, my pancakes don’t always look pretty, but they taste good, thanks to an adapted version of this recipe. They’re lightly sweet and golden brown thanks to banana and brown sugar. They have a nice texture thanks to dried oats and a combination of white and whole wheat flour. I’m hardly a pancake expert, but I’m starting to hone my technique and hope to one day be known among my children’s friends as the awesome mom who makes killer pancakes. (Either that, or the awesome mom who makes killer pasta carbonara. Maybe my kids will hang with an advanced culinary crowd.)

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

adapted from Food Network

makes 6 medium-sized pancakes

1/2 c old fashioned oats

1/4 c all purpose flour

1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 c packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 c Greek yogurt

1/3 c milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large banana, mashed

2 tbsp butter, melted

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, combine the yogurt, egg, milk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined. Fold in the mashed banana and melted butter. Allow the mix to rest as you preheat a skillet or griddle to medium heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray and add the batter, 1/3 cup at a time. Cook for three to four minutes or until bubbles form on the surface of each cake, then flip and cook for an additional three to four minutes.

Most of my meals include vegetables. Most of my meals are made at home. Most of my meals are somewhat healthy. But every so often, I go to a restaurant and order something completely unhealthy and completely delicious. I’m especially vulnerable at restaurants that offer Southern cuisine, which is equal parts nostalgic (since I lived most of my adult life in the South) and novel (since I no longer live there and find myself subjected to Bay Area interpretations of classic Southern fare). My most recent moment of weakness occurred at Pican, an Oakland restaurant known for its Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict.

Yup – boneless fried chicken served with the usual poached egg and hollandaise sauce, along with Pican’s amazing house-made hot sauce. There was a lot going on here, and all of it was delicious. It was certainly rich and over the top, but ironically, it was much lighter than I expected it to be. The hollandaise was smooth and not at all greasy. The fried chicken was crispy and tender. The egg was a bit of a disappointment as it was over-poached (= no runny center), but I had no problem pushing it aside in favor of the other goodies on the plate.

Corey was equally curious about this dish, so we swapped plates and I enjoyed a few bites of his Pimento Cheese Burger.

I was kind of surprised to see Corey pick a burger over Pican’s barbecue plate, but it proved to be a winning decision. Tender beef, spicy pimento cheese, bacon and bread & butter pickles served up on the softest bun you can imagine. It was an excellent choice.

I’m so glad our friends Michael and Jess told us about Pican. I’d love to go back for dinner – not only for a dinner-sized portion of their chicken (served with gouda mac & cheese?!?), but also for their impressive cocktail and bourbon selection. After all, you can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl…