Pamela's Pecan Pancakes

Pamela asked to make pancakes today, so I decided to make it an RDI lifestyle activity. I scaffolded by assembling all the ingredients and tools at the table (tools on one side of the bowl and ingredients on the other). Because I do not have a written recipe for pancakes and eye-ball the amount of water, productive uncertainty was built into the process. The last time we cooked together was a month ago, and Pamela is much better at referencing my face for information and following my eye gaze. She has room for improvement in sharing emotions during a task that requires concentration and communicating her intentions to seek my approval. She tends to focus on the objects and not my face when I give her instructions.

Pamela is not the only one who is working on new habits! Even though I am flying solo as a novice at all this, watching myself on digital recordings helps me improve how I communicate and interact with Pamela. I am finding declarative language much easier and found myself explaining, rather than directing. I need to work on hesitating at exciting moments to build up anticipation, which can lead to an emotional exchange. I tend to be a "get on with it" kind of person, so going slowly and hesitating is not in my nature.


Scrumptious! Here is the final recipe, but I still recommend the eye-ball method for how much water to add. I always add molasses and maple syrup to the mix for taste and color. Pancakes just do not brown properly without these ingredients:

Pamela's Pecan Pancakes:
3 cups of pancake mix
2 eggs
1 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
~ 1 cup of water
1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Pour the mix into a large bowl. Add the eggs, coconut milk, molasses, and syrup. Stir until the mix is wet. Add half a cup of water and stir. Keep adding water until you have a thick, but not doughy batter. Fold in the pecans. Fry and flip until your heart's content. Makes about eight servings, depending upon the appetite of the diner.

I like to be amused and am easily amused. While I was eating, I read something on the carton of Silk that amused me:

Back in 1995, when we started the GF/CF diet, having such explicit labels on food products were impossible to find unless you shopped at a health food store. Parents had to call food manufacturers and question them like a prosecutor, just to find out if a food really was free of gluten and casein. A decade later, I am finding more and more products, even at Wal-Mart and the local grocery store, with "Gluten-Free" stamped on the label. I guess the manufacturers got tired of fielding our questions!