”And when he was tired he would sleep in her shade”.

Go to Norwegian version

For his 3 years birthday my son Loukas received a wonderful book called The Giving Tree. One of the classics in children’s literature, it tells the story about a boy and a tree. At first the two are closely entertwined but as the boy grows his relationship to the tree fades. As a grown up he returns to the tree several times, only to dismiss his happiness. The tree in an attempt to amend gives away her apples so he can sell them, then her branches so he can build a house and lastly her trunk so he can make a boat and sail away. In the end there is only a stump left, but even then the tree manages to give of itself to the boy who is now an old man.

Loukas is mostly puzzled by the boy and finds it hard to comprehend the boy and the man is one and the same. I on the other hand think about the man, how his blindness is also part of me. How I let myself fall into stress and perceives troubles when there is none. Photographing for the blog is one of my most stressful arenas. I need some quiet time to concentrate, but it does not come easy to me with two cats and a little one.

We have two cats, Albert, a Persian from Germany, and Alfonso, a domestic short hair, both stubborn and curious the way only cats are. They try to jump up to the table for the food so I have to push out all the chairs to delay at least Albert, the chubbiest one, from reaching the target. Then there is Loukas who runs off with my reflector and transforms it into a dance and play floor. With his cute but sticky hands he tries to fiddle with my camera, and he copies me by standing on the chair in front of me in order to ”graph”. The only problem is his blonde hair in front of the dish.

It is when I am finished photographing I can start to unwind. It is then I see what really is in front of me.

-What is that? Loukas asks.
-It is confectionary sugar to dust the pancakes, I answer.

And finally we meet as a team. Loukas is enthusiastically dusting the pancakes with confectionary sugar. And I get the pictures I did not know I wanted.

Pancakes with chocolate and bananas (makes 6 pancakes)

Here I make pancakes with bananas, chocolate and desiccated coconut. It is quick, easy and tasty and just as suitable for Sunday breakfast as dessert. Norwegian pancakes resemble French pancakes, but the French contain more flour than the Norwegian ones. Less flour and more eggs make the Norwegian pancakes richer in flavour. I also add oats to make them healthier.

The most important thing to remember when making the pancakes is to fill them while frying. This is particularly important for the bananas – you want them soft and sweet. Also, notice that the recipe is free from sugar, the sweetness comes from the bananas and a little dusting of confectionary sugar.

100 ml water
75 ml oats
3 organic eggs
60 g flour (or gluten-free)
200 ml full-fat milk
pinch of salt
3 bananas
50 g dark chocolate (70 %)
desiccated coconut
vegetable oil

1. Soak the oats in the water for 30 minutes.
2. Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk them with the flour until smooth with no lumps. Add the oats, salt and milk and blitz in a handheld blended. Leave to rest for one hour.
3. When the batter is ready, prepare the filling: Slice the bananas thinly. Thinner slices will heat more quickly. Cut thin shaves of chocolate. Place alongside the coconut.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Grease the pan with vegetable oil and ladle batter in the pan.
5. Right after you turn the pancake and start frying it on the other side, add the bananas (half a banana per pancake). Then add the shaved chocolate and coconut.
6. When finished, fold the pancake once and leave in the pan to allow more heat for the filling. Fold once again, and leave on a plate.
7. Continue with the rest of the batter. Bring the pancakes back to the pan and shave some chocolate on top and dust childishly with confectionary sugar.

More dishes with oats?

Overnight porridge with nuts and berries
Scandinavian waffles with cardamom