Teething with Blueberry Pancakes

I rue the day that I idly declared that 'this teething malarkey' was woefully inefficient and it would be better for a whole load to pop through during one short and sharp nightmarish week, rather than dragging on for months in dribs and drabs.  Turns out the gods, or my daughter, were listening and Liv seems to cutting six all at once, which unsurprisingly has culminated in a nightmarish few weeks.  Especially when combined with the delights of a tricky first trimester.  The poor little monkey has been suffering terribly and I've thrown everything I can at the problem - buying every form of medication / gel / swab / herbal remedy / teething ring going (even the hocus pocus teething necklace I promised myself never to stoop to) and have been freezing all sorts of strange things in an attempt to give her some relief.  

Apart from dealing with her sobbing little face, the hardest thing has been finding ways to get her to eat.  Her previous greediness has completely vanished as a mouth full of pain has put her off most food, other than milk, fruit and the odd hunk of frozen bagel.  I wouldn't ordinarily be too worried, as she has plenty of reserves to fall back on but rather selfishly, I'm less than impressed with the way she's been waking up several times a night, hungry and needing milk.  She hasn't done this since she was a newborn and I'm in no hurry to go back to those days, especially as we'll be doing it all over again in a matter of months with No. 2.  She's always been a bit of a berry fiend and thanks for the amazing accessibility and affordability of fruit from New York's fruit stalls (a fraction of the price of fruit in London), we've been showering her with berries in an attempt to get some food into her. While staring at yet another box of blueberries in the fridge, it occurred to me that I might be able to sneak some extra calories in her with blueberries pancakes - soft enough for her sore gums, with a touch of sweetness as an incentive and her favourite blueberries to seal the deal.  Plus, a comfort brunch was definitely needed for us poor parents who had been up all night.

I promise you that these are super easy to make, as I managed to blearily put them together in a matter of minutes after just a few hours sleep.  

Basic recipe:

- 200g (1 1/2 U.S. cups) self-raising flour

(or if you've run out as I had, 200g plain/all purpose flour and 2 tsp baking powder)

- 1 egg

- 300ml milk (1 1/4 U.S. cups) 

(or buttermilk if you have it - I didn't so added 1 tbsp lemon/lime juice to the milk and let it sit for 5 mins to make buttermilk)

- 1 knob of melted butter

- 1 pack of blueberries (save a handful for garnishing)

Optional extras:

- 1 tsp baking powder for added oomph

- 3 tsp sugar 

- A pinch of salt

- A pinch of cinnamon 

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Crack an egg in the centre and stir in, before adding the milk and melted butter.  Mix together and add the blueberries before a final stir.

Heat your pan to medium.  Melt a knob of butter and add three small spoonfuls/ladles of batter to the pan.  Cook for 2/3 minutes until small bubbles appear on the surface, then flip and cook the other side for another 2/3 minutes.  Serve hot.  

I like to serve three as an adult portion, with a sprinkling of caster sugar, maple/golden syrup, a scattering of fresh blueberries and a dollop of sour cream/thick yoghurt on the side.  My daughter gets them plain and in strips.

The good news is that Liv happily snaffled these and we managed to squeeze a few more hours’ sleep out of her.  Fingers crossed this tricky patch will be over soon and we can enjoy her toothy grin instead!