After watching the pancake video a few too many times, I couldn't resist mixing up a batch of my favorite pancakes. Buttermilk pancakes are light, fluffy and perfect for add-ins. You can stir in almost anything to make your pancakes a little more interesting. In the summer, blueberries (pictured) are a natural choice, as are any other fresh berries. Diced bananas and shredded coconut are also popular picks. The kid in you may want to relieve childhood memories by adding chocolate chips to the batter, though by using chopped bittersweet chocolate, expensive chocolate, you can make them a little more grown up.

Speaking of kids, making pancakes in the morning is a great way to bond with your children and get them interested in cooking. Just set out little bowls with plenty of good things to add in to the pancake batter and let them make their own selections while you supervise the griddle. Banana chocolate chip? Raspberry coconut? Orange cinnamon?

Sounds good to me.

Just about every new cookbook recommends cooking extra food over the weekend to have on hand for weekday lunches and weeknight meals. There are entire cookbooks dedicated to the idea of a slow Sunday brunch. The theory behind this cook-on-weekends advice is that people have more free time on the weekends. And that they want to spend it cooking.

In theory, it's a great idea to use the obligation-free weekends to cook. On Sunday, you probably have a more leisurely morning than on the average Monday, and if you cook ahead, you don't have to worry about food during the generally busy work/school week. The problem is that weekends are not obligation-free and can be just as busy as the week, with errands, events and, if you have kids, everything from music lessons to soccer games. When you're running around from one place to another for 10 hours straight, there isn't much time or energy left to cook for one night, let alone 6 others.

Now, I do cook on the weekends, and I love the idea of a long Sunday brunch, but I do not wait until the weekends to cook. Instead, I try to cook most days, not "saving" the work until it needs to take up one massive chunk of time to get it done. But is it actually easier to do it this way? Cooking as much as you can at one time? I can't say. But if you are someone who is able to plan out a whole week at once like this, I would love to hear about how you manage it in the comments section below!

Few things can compare with a buttery scone, warm from the oven, though these are perfectly good at room temperature, too. In honor of D-day, they are packed with three types of dried fruits: sweet cherries, golden raisins and dried apricots. These create a rich blend of flavors and lend a lot of sweetness to the scones, but feel free so pick and choose any dried fruits you like, from blueberries to currants. The scones are absolutely delicious with a cup of coffee or tea.