2.26.2012

Pancake Fare

There is something deliciously indulgent about pancakes. First off, they are that top-heavy dose of carbohydrates and sweetness that accompany traditional American breakfasts. Second, early Saturday or Sunday mornings end up being those quiet reflective moments in the week when the sun streams through my kitchen window and I have the time to enjoy while slowly mixing the pancake batter and scooping it out onto a hot sizzling griddle pan.
This pancake recipe is adapted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life. I didn't quite follow it exactly: I swapped some flours for others, omitted the poppy seeds and added thin slices of ripened banana. So the final product is not something the author intended, but it was still very tasty, especially with the ghostly wisps of melted butter and a heavy-handed drizzle of maple syrup.
And I'm loving blood oranges lately. Their slightly bitter, surprisingly mellow sweetness has me smitten.

I just finished Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, food writer and owner of Prune in New York. One excerpt of the book really resonated and I appreciated her putting into words this visceral feeling that has manifested from my struggle to enjoy the process of cooking but to also not constantly feel obligated or a chore to feed. For lack of giving the story away (and I won't, because this is an entertaining read) she's having this struggle while in the kitchen of her in-law's family's home in Puglia, Italy. "I want to do the cooking. It is what grounds me, gives me pleasure, and is the best way for me to communicate with the Italian-speaking family and to make a contribution. But it can also make me feel like the hired help." Do you ever feel the push and pull between culinary passion vs. the monotonous chore that it can be?

Question of the Day: What's your favorite breakfast food?

PS - Tim and I are STILL in the running as GRAND FINALISTS in the Green Wedding Giveaway Contest and we could use your votes! Please vote for Jess and Tim at www.greenweddinggiveaway.com!

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Posted by Jess at 9:04 PM

3 Comments... Click here to show some love!:

  1. Yes I feel like that sometimes too! I love love cooking but there are times I just want to be cooked for! Over the weekend, Funk whipped up this salmon/couscous/bean meal for himself for lunch and I told him he needs to hop in the dinner making repetoire! I've noticed I cook a from-scratch type meal about twice a week, and the rest of the week Dr. Praeger is our chef ;) Also, I want to borrow that book! I need a good vaca read.

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  2. Mmm, these look like the perfect way to start a morning although I made pancakes so rarely because I'm just no a morning person. If someone made them for me on the other hand, that'd be a whole different story (sort of related to what you're talking about at the end - I love cooking but not always!)

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  3. Nicole @WholeHealthRDMarch 13, 2012 10:08 PM

    I just cooked for my sister's baby shower over the weekend. I was happy to do it, because I like to cook and I like to show off how good healthy food can be! But cooking for 30 people was hard work! I didn't think about that when I signed up for the job. By the end of the night, I was cranky and not very grounded or relaxed! But the day of the shower was worth it. Lots of smiles and full bellies. All worth it : )

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