Pancakes!

Are you aware that today is a holiday? A day for joyous celebration of ... blueberry pancakes! That's right, its National Blueberry Pancake Day, at least here in the US. I don't know if you been given the day off from work, or how you plan to mark this august occasion, but me? I'm making pancakes ... and they won't contain blueberries.

Its not simply that I'm a contrarian, although I am, more than that ... its January! I woke up to a snow and ice covered world, there's not a local blueberry in sight, and really I just don't understand why we're celebrating out of season?? Blueberry Pancake Day should be celebrated in July or August, not the dead of winter. In the dead of winter I want something hearty, something to chase the chill away. I want oat and nut pancakes!

In the spirit of the day, I will offer a pancake recipe and, if you're feeling celebratory, go ahead and throw a handful of blueberries into the mix. Personally, I never want fruit in my pancakes, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Oat and Nut Pancakes:

• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pancake mix
• 1 cup of rolled oats, such as Quaker
• 1/3 cup of chopped nuts, I used a mix of walnuts and pecans
• 1 egg
• 2 cups of milk*
• 1/2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing to blend and let stand for 10 minutes.

Cook the pancakes in a large, lightly greased, non-stick skillet until they begin to bubble and the bottoms have browned. Flip and continue cooking until browned on the other side and cooked throughout. Serve and enjoy!

As written, this recipe will yield 12 - 14 pancakes, depending on size. You can freeze the extras for later use.

* I used 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk and one cup of non-fat milk ... because I've got a ton of soy milk in the fridge.

You'll note that this recipe makes use of boxed pancake mix. For those more enterprising, feel free to make your own whole wheat batter and add the oats and nuts accordingly. Juliet of Yummy, Low Calorie Diet Food featured a recipe for whole wheat pancakes last month that would fit the bill nicely.

Either way you can't go wrong. These pancakes are wholesome, filling and altogether delicious - even without the blueberries. In case you're wondering, tomorrow is National Corn Chip day ... a holiday from which I will likely abstain. You can find a list of our other wacky holiday's here, scroll down to find the food related celebrations ... and ready your popcorn popper for Friday.

So, what's your favorite kind of pancake? Hungry Diva wants to know.

Bon appetite!