.happy dogfather's day.

sure, it's father's day. there are so many men out there who are either wonderful fathers to us or to our children or who serve in such a capacity to be worthy of the well wishes on this day. while i am hundreds of miles away from my own loving father, it makes it a little difficult to celebrate him today in person. because we are not parents, i can't really wish my own husband a happy father's day, but our fur babies sure can.

and what better way to wish a great guy a great dogfather's day than with a yummy breakfast! because our little guys can't exactly cook or even 'help mommy stir,' i was stuck doing it all by myself. below you'll find a homemade pancake recipe that will make for a happy morning any ol' time.

ingredients
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a dash of salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter
optional flavorings such as fruit, chocolate, nuts

directions
this recipe yields 8 pancakes. in a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. using a whisk, mix in the buttermilk, vanilla and egg until well combined and smooth. stir in the melted butter.
heat non-stick skillet or griddle over medium to medium high heat. using a 1/4 measuring cup, pour pancake batter onto hot griddle. if you are adding any extra flavors, place it in the batter after it is on the griddle. when pancake is golden brown, flip with a spatula to cook other side.

when my husband and i first started dating, i was doing my very best to train a little dog who had a mind all his own and a couple extra personalities too. my mochaccino was the light of my life and to most people, a mean little shitzu who they'd rather avoid (probably wisely). however, my new boyfriend saw that in order to win my heart he had to win the little furry guy's. he was great about taking him on walks, working with him on tricks that even the paid professionals couldn't get him to do and earning his trust.

it was somewhere during this time of watching the two of them bonding that i felt myself falling in love. fast-forward a couple of years and an engagement later and we ended up with our really hyper, so sweet second dog, poptart. watching my guy take care of him was like falling in love all over again. although we don't have children of our own right now, we do have our pets to love and to really make us feel like a family.

so, this is why i wanted to celebrate dogfather's day with something as sweet as him. when deciding on what yummies to add to the p'cakes, i came across blueberries in our fridge and milk chocolate chips in our pantry. since variety is known as the spice of life, i decided to use both of these flavors, just not combined.

being that i could only fit a few pancakes on the griddle at a time, i wished to avoid letting the first batches turn cool. so, i turned on our countertop convection oven to 250 degrees for the pancakes to hang out in until all were made and ready to eat. you could easily do this in your regular oven as well. when it was time to serve the dogfather, he had a plate stacked with scrumptious blueberry scattered pancakes and decadent chocolate ones too. best yet, they were all so warm that butter melted easily on top.

i assume that being told they were better than ihops is quite a compliment. who needs the international house when i've got the domestic house of pancakes?

happy father's day all!