Old Glory

Happy 4th of July Week!

It doesn't get more American than red, white and blue pancakes.

Old Glory
adapted slightly from The Black Dog Tavern 40th Anniversary cookbook
serves 4
1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 c whole-wheat flour
1 T sugar/honey/syrup (we used Rapadura)
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 c milk of choice (whole recommended)
2 T melted butter, olive oil or organic coconut oil
1/4 c fresh strawberries, sliced
1/4 c fresh blueberries, sliced
1 banana, sliced

Sift dry ingredients. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, 1 c milk & melted butter/oil.
Combine wet and dry ingredients by stirring gently (do not overmix). Add more milk to thin the batter.

Gently stir in fresh fruit.

Ladle 4-inch circles of batter onto a greased griddle. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until  bubbles form on the edges. Flip pancakes and cook until done.

Garnish with fresh fruit. Serve hot with butter & maple syrup.

Enjoy your July 4th holiday week! Join us in thanking a veteran!

O's favorite patriotic song, "Proud to be an American" can be heard here.

(If you'd rather your child not see photos of guns, you could just listen along)

PS Don't forget the piggies! Or any other animals that might enjoy a little compost for breakfast.
Our pig friends even eat our egg shells!

Looking for the Perfect Pancake?

Did you know hens like to lay their eggs near others?

No big story here this week. Just a divine pancake recipe!

It simply began with a familiar rescue mission: what to do with the container of sour cream cowering in the back corners of our fridge?

Pretty soon, it was happy endings for all . . .

Looking for the Perfect Pancake?

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
serves 5-6

INGREDIENTS:
2 c. all-purpose flour (sub 1 c. millet flour to up the healthy factor)
2 T your choice of sugar
1 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t sea salt
2 c. buttermilk
¼ c. sour cream
2 eggs
3 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients (buttermilk, sour cream, eggs & butter). Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes before cooking.

O's first pancake flip!

Pour about 1/4 c. batter and cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break (for 2 to 3 minutes). Flip and continue to cook until second side is golden brown (1 to 2 minutes longer).

"Excellent pancakes. Excellent," Reid remarked. 
These rank high on our list of favorites.

Monkey Bar Pancakes

Nothing says family like old bananas. I love that my brother-in-law walked into our kitchen yesterday and offered us a bunch of brown, speckled, soft bananas. It reminded me of bringing an open bottle of wine to a best friend's dinner party. O & I gratefully scooped them up, chatting excitedly about what we could do with them.

We decided to try a "monkey bars" recipe from a local cookbook, Morning Glory Farm, and the Family that Feeds an Island. Of course, O & I healthi-ed those monkey bars right up! And, Uncle Ryan's old bananas did what they do so well in baked goods-- created a moist, sweet irresistible treat. As O & I tasted the warm, gooey, rich monkey bars and licked chocolate from our fingers, we looked at each other and agreed, "These would make an awesome pancake." So, here we have them . . .

Monkey Bar Pancakes
serves 4

1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1.5 T date sugar (sugar of choice)
3/4 c oat flour (or flour of choice)
3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 T ground flaxseeds
2 T wheat germ
1/3 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1 large elderly banana, mashed up
1 t pure vanilla extract
3 T softened organic coconut oil or butter, plus more for greasing griddle
2 eggs
1 1/2 c milk of choice (if you like a thinner, less-cakey pancake- add more milk)
1/3 c dark chocolate chips

(We had leftover fresh coconut flesh, so we added that to the wet ingredients, too.)

Combine banana, vanilla, oil, eggs & milk in a medium bowl. Mix flours, baking powder, salt, sugar, wheat germ, flaxseeds & shredded coconut in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in wet ingredients, mixing until smooth. Be careful not to overmix.

Heat oiled griddle and pour batter, using about 1/4 cup for each pancake. Drop a few chocolate chips on each pancake (a little goes a long way). When you see bubbles throughout, flip and cook for another two minutes or so.

They are like little breakfast cookies, but really, the only questionable ingredients are a little white flour and a few dark chocolate chips. Definitely worth making for a birthday or overnight guests.

Monkey bars for all!

And Happy Father's Day to all the daddies, grandaddies and daddy's-to-be!
Some fave daddy's photographed below . . .

 My Pop Pop and I. How I loved playing with his cane!

What a shock it was- discovering how much fun my dad could be during 

Parent's Weekends at Florida State!

How incredible it is to watch your once college-lifeguard-boyfriend transform 

into a hands on, caring, intelligent father! 

W a i t . . . there's Cottage Cheese in Here? Pancakes

I'll admit we were leery at first of cottage cheese pancakes. Wouldn't they taste too healthy?
After all, we want tasty pancakes, not vitamins for our Sunday breakfast!

But, these turned out to be some of our best pancakes yet. The whole wheat pastry flour & beaten eggs kept them light, while the cinnamon sweetened them up. The barely noticeable cottage cheese added a subtle richness. 

W a i t . . . there's Cottage Cheese in Here? Pancakes

INGREDIENTS 

serves 4+
slightly adapted from Be Fit with Kristen

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

2 tablespoons sweetener of choice (we recommend honey or date sugar)
1 tablespoon cinnamon (we promise it's not overpowering)
1 cup cottage cheese
3/4 cups milk of choice (we use whole milk)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons soft organic coconut oil (or neutral oil of choice/melted butter)

O & his cousins help our favorite farmer wash the eggs.

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients. Add eggs, cottage cheese, vanilla extract and mix until well-blended.

Drop the batter onto a heated, oiled pan in 1/4 cup portions. Cook on low until the top starts to bubble (usually about 5 minutes). Flip the pancakes and cook for another 1 -2 minutes.

Yum!

We will make these again!

Some photos from our Farmer's Market trip yesterday. First one of the year- so much fun to see old friends and watch the local produce trickle in.

See you next Sunday!

Strawberries and Cream Flapjacks

Strawberry Flapjacks presents . . . Strawberry Season! 

O shows off our first-ever homegrowns.

How lucky were we to scoop up the first-last pint of strawberries from Mermaid Farm last week?

Strawberries & Cream Flapjacks
serves 3
1/2 c. spelt flour (an easy-to-digest ancient gain which is rich in protein, fiber and B complex vitamins)
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
2 T honey
1 egg
1 c. milk of choice (we recommend whole milk)
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 T organic coconut oil or soft unsalted butter
2 c. chopped strawberries

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together honey, egg, milk, butter/coconut oil and vanilla in a small bowl.

Combine wet and ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently stir in strawberries.

For uniform size, pour about 1/4 c. batter onto preheated, greased griddle. Flip when bubbly & set. Cook for about two more minutes.


Whipped Cream
1 c. heavy cream
1 T confectioner's sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Do not overbeat.

Serve with butter, pure maple syrup & whipped cream.

Full disclosure: we licked forks, plates and fingers. Pancakes were perfectly fluffy & sweet. It feels like getting away with something. (We all know we're basically having strawberry shortcake for breakfast.)