strawberry dutch baby

i've spent the last five days and nights alone with the baby while jason and winn were out of town, visiting grandma. like most parents, i had visions of all the things i would get done with only one child under my feet - and one that cannot yet talk! or run! or break things! visions of clothes shopping. visions of painting the now guest room in our house as a surprise to my husband when he comes home today (surprise! i didn't do it). visions of putting a sizable dent in my stack of magazines, some of which date back to 2013. visions of cooking - oh the cooking! you don't even want to see my wish list for the last two days. and i was going to do all of this plus get back on track with my half marathon training by running for an hour or so each day.

to say i was delusional is an understatement. i gave in sometime early friday afternoon and let it be what it is - a great few days for me to spend one on one time with roo, which i haven't done since maternity leave ended and i went back to work last august. to say he's an entirely different person since then is another understatement. somehow, sometime in the last few months, while i was busy with his attention getting brother, roo made the switch from a baby to a kid. a kid who can stack a couple blocks, put the little people in the barn, roll trains and cars across the floor. cook in our play kitchen. bang tools on our play tool bench. a kid who can point to things in books and try to tell me about them. don't get me wrong, this isn't all a complete shock to me, but in reality, his louder, more dramatic brother usually gets my attention - and mostly because i'm trying to make sure he doesn't hurt himself, his brother, or break something. hopefully other parents can relate to this. long story short: while i've been saying and thinking i'm the parent of a toddler and a baby, in reality, winn has not been a toddler for a while and clearly roo is not a baby. i am now the parent of a preschooler and a toddler. somehow i blinked and landed here. and it's great.

this dutch baby is one of the few things that was on the list and i actually made while it was just the two of us. ready in 30 minutes and loaded with eggs, one of roo's favorites, this went over as well as the one pot tortellini.

strawberry dutch baby
adapted from two tarts
20 minutes, serves 4-8

1 cup strawberries
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
powdered sugar & real maple syrup for finishing & serving

1. place a 10" skillet in your oven and preheat it to 450F (you want the pan to be hot when the batter goes in).
2. wash & slice the berries while the oven preheats. 
3. to make the batter, whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla. add the flour and salt and whisk until smooth.
4. by now your oven should be preheated. when it is, remove the skillet, add the butter, and return the skillet to the oven for about 1 minute, or until melted and starting to bubble.
5. add the batter to the pan and sprinkle the berries evenly on top. bake for about 12 minutes, or until the sides are light brown.
6. run a spatula all the way around the pan and the bottom to loosen the pancake from the pan. carefully slide the pancake onto a serving platter. dust with powdered sugar & serve each wedge with a drizzle of real maple syrup. store leftovers in the refrigerator.