Gracefully Saved: Errandonée #1

The Errandonée started on Friday, but I didn't get started until today. I celebrated by dragging the DC out of bed so we could catch an early table for brunch at Saving Grace. He was thrilled, so say the least.

Pancake of the Month: Pumpkin with Bourbon Vanilla Maple Syrup

I've been quietly posting past PotM posts timely-wimely. You can see them here, here, and here.


I've been rather tired lately because I've been spending my days helping Aged P sort through 50 years' worth of papers and photos and stuff. So I come home and collapse on the sofa while the DC brings me tea and I fail to get up the energy to go grocery shopping.

This is why I don't have buttermilk and only one egg.

The recipe I was planning for today calls for buttermilk, and the other one I thought of making needs two eggs. I know the milk + vinegar/lemon juice trick, and I've just learned about egg substitutes, but I'm trying to avoid making unnecessary substitutions if I can. Pinterest to the rescue! This recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen calls for milk and vinegar and only one egg. Perfect! And bourbon. Which I don't have. *Sigh*


But! It's a pumpkin recipe, which is appropriate to the season and the bourbon is only in the syrup, so I don't feel too bad about substituting Canadian whiskey and extra vanilla extract.

The result?

Pancake of the Month: Lemon Ricotta

I really resumed PotM in August with two recipes, but since I've only just now posted them in timey-wimey fashion, I'm not surprised you missed them. In fact, since I'm posting this in a timey-wimey fashion, you may have missed this too.

I picked up the rebar cookbook from a used bookstore in Montreal (thank you very much Heather for the suggestion) and I've been meaning to cook my way through all the pancake recipes. I've had this planned for over a month, lemons and everything, but it's a bit of an intensive procedure so it's taken me a while to get around to it.^*

The result?

Pancake of the Month #2: The Single Pancake

Not to be confused with the Single Lady pancake, also from Joy the Baker. Which pancake I still love to make, although I do split it into two flippable cakes. And, you know, read the recipe properly (2 tsp <> 2 tbsp!).

This is a very similar recipe, with blueberries instead of bananas and no pecans.



The result? Well, it's still tasty. This recipe is good for weekday pancakes, because you're not stuck making a dozen. I'd love to make up a bunch of packets of the dry ingredients so I can save the time measuring out the ingredients. (The other way is to make up a batch of pancakes on the weekend and freeze any extras which can be reheated on a weekday; the problem with this system is you need leftover pancakes, which doesn't happen much around here anymore.)

Pancake of the Month #1: Sweet Peach

It's been a while since I've made a new pancake recipe, so PotM has a lot of catching up to do! Fortunately, there is The Beach.


My friends E & L invite us to their cottage on Lake Huron every year. The only rules are 1) tell them when you're coming and 2) bring food. I always make pancakes, because obviously, so it seemed like a good time to reboot the challenge.^* I made Sweet Peach Pancakes from myrecipes.com because a) I like peaches and b) I really like cornmeal in my pancakes. I doubled the recipe because I was cooking for 9.5 people^** and used canned sliced peaches because of what I learned last time.


The verdict?

Pancake of the Month: Strawberry and champagne

The DC had to work New Year's Day, and I thought it would be nice to send him off with pancakes. What better way to use up leftover NYE champagne (or strictly speaking, sparkling wine) than this recipe from Veggie and the Beast. If you have leftover champagne. I had to hoard it carefully or it might have disappeared, but we had just enough this morning for this recipe and two mimosas made from freshly squeezed OJ. Yes, this morning. Sadly, I overslept yesterday and the DC was left pancakeless. He forgave me this morning.

The result?

A year in the life: 2014 retrospective

...sort of. I was going to do Gillian's 5 things roundup, but then I decided to steal Oonaballoona's collage idea and grey out the makes that didn't work out so well. And then I thought: since this blog isn't just about the stuff I make, usually, why not do an entire year in review? I've done some fun stuff this year, and I haven't gotten around to blogging it all yet, but this would be a good way of remembering where I went and what I did.

So that's what you're getting, with some reflections along the way, minus the pancakes. You can see all my makes at Crazy Stuff I Do; most of the event posts are In Progress^TM.

The biggest thing to celebrate is a year a successful cohabitation with the DC! I'm still not sure what I did to deserve him, and I'm very excited to announce that Lucy has stopped hissing at him. Plus? He brings me tea and does the dishes. Often. And unasked. He's all-around awesome and I'm a lucky lady.

Ahem. On with the remembrances. Do you need me to tell you it's probably going to be a long post?

Pancake of the Month Bonus #2: Coconut

Apologies for spamming you with blog posts, but I've been on a bit of pancake rampage. A panckage, if you will. I guess I'm trying to catch up on lost flapjack time.


I love coconut. I've had a recipe for coconut waffles for years (but no waffle maker with which to make them), and I don't know why it's taken me so long to look around for a pancake version. This recipe from She Wears Many Hats was dangled in front of me on Pinterest, so I queued it up for this week.

The result?

Pancake of the Month bonus #1: Apple Cider

So, I'm off this week and have plenty of time to finish writing up on old blog posts, tidying up the apartment, catching up on vlogs, finishing some UFOs (if I say it, it will be true, right?), reading, marking, and making pancakes. As you may have noticed, I haven't been keeping up with my PotM posts, mostly because I haven't made pancakes this fall. I really got wiped out with that bug. BUT I will be making up for it this week. And it turns out there's going to be a bit of a theme: packages made with beverages.

Blame Pinterest, again. You may recall I've been trying to find an apple pancake recipe, but have not met with much success. When the words "apple cider pancake" showed up on my screen, I thought "Perhaps this will be the solution to my apple pancake problems."

There are a few recipes for apple cider pancakes out there. I used this one from Sincerely, Kinsey (mostly because I really like the name of her blog). I was a bit concerned about the 1 tbsp of cinnamon, because I was using wassail (which I make every year from this recipe by A Year of Slow Cooking) which is made with cinnamon sticks -- this could be a very cinnamon-heavy flapjack. Also, I knew that 3.5 tsp of baking powder was going to make for a very thick batter. Which means that flapjack is not a term that could apply.^*

The result?

Pancake of the Month: Eggnog (with eggnog syrup)

Oh dear. I've joined Pinterest.

I've been avoiding it because I know what a potential time-suck it is and I am very afraid of never coming up for air, but I finally caved because I wanted a place to store lesson ideas and education articles and other math stuff and bookmarking wasn't cutting it. I'm aem2 if you want to creep my physics simulations boards.


Anyway, as I was perusing recipes (it has to do with fluid dynamics, honest) I stumbled, as one does, upon several holiday pancake recipes, including this one from High Heels and Grills for not only eggnoggy pancakes, but syrup too. I should say that while I like the taste of eggnog, I can't drink more than a shot at a time because it's just too... something. Thick-tasting, I guess? However, in the spirit of the season, I naturally had to test these recipes out. For Science.


Result?

Pancake of the Month: Zucchini bread

Happy May 2-4, even though we still have nearly a week to go until the 24th. There's nothing lovelier on a holiday than having a nice lazy breakfast. This, naturally, calls for pancakes.

There seems to have been a lot of sugar in these parts lately, so I've been feeling I should get back to whole-grain goodness and make some slightly healthier pancakes. Fortunately, Smitten Kitchen came to my rescue (again) with a link to this recipe. Also, it's given me the opportunity to finally learn how to spell zucchini.

You only get a picture of a partial stack today because I forgot that not only does the DC have to work on a holiday, but he was going in early this morning and so had to dine and dash. No lazy brekkie for him.

The result?

Pancake of the Month: Lemon-Poppy Seed

I'm not religious, but the idea of Easter as a sign of spring maybe, finally arriving had me thinking about sunny flavours. This recipe from Joy the Baker (I told you I was probably going to be cooking my way through her blog, but at least it's not Chatelaine again, right?) was just the ticket.

I love the idea of rubbing lemon peel in the granulated sugar. Not sure why, exactly.


The result?

There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity: Errandonées #10-12

So... the temperature shot back down to the negative double digits today. At least it didn't snow, but it meant that we had to bundle up again as we headed off for indian food at our friend C's birthday lunch at Joe's Buffet Place.

At least it was sunny, and at least there is now a tiny bit of parking on Yonge St. I kind of like these rings integrated into the lamps; I just wish there were more of them.

Pancake of the Month Extra Bonus: Cinnamon Mascarpone Pancakes with Warm Morello Cherries and Hazelnuts

This is a story of three recipes. The DC loves bread pudding, and when I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to make it for him. It's March Break, I got nothin' but time.

Of course, after that (quite tasty) breakfast, I had a lot of mascarpone cheese left over. Going through the freezer, I also discovered a bag of frozen cherries (no doubt purchased to avoid a repeat of last year's fiasco^*). To the internet! A quick search gave me this recipe for cherries poached in wine with mascarpone topping. I replaced the wine, sugar, and orange zest with Frangelico liqueur. Highly recommended, A+++++++, would repeat.

I also came across this pancake recipe from Bobby Flay. Naturally, I had to try it. It meant I had to buy some cherry brandy, which I don't exactly have a lot of use for otherwise. And which only comes in huge bottles and tastes like cough syrup. Fortunately, it pairs well with Coke. But I was very excited to flambé something.

The result?

Sated: Errandonées #8 & 9

The DC and I have been craving bibimbap for some time, and since we live a stone bowl's throw from Koreatown it's ridiculous how long it's taken us to get some. Friday night we finally got ourselves organized enough to visit Korean Village Han Kuk Kwan Restaurant.

Pancake of the Month Bonus: Carrot Cake

I don't know if you realize this, but I am rather fond of pancakes. Which makes this the best day of the year: Pancake Tuesday. I don't do Lent, but any day dedicated solely to the eating of pancakes is one that I will celebrate.

I could have made Harvest Corn pancakes, because those are amazing and I always try to have those ingredients to hand (I've been substituting provolone because asiago or fontina is too fancy for my local No Frills), but I wanted to try something new. I was looking around for a recipe that would be suitable for dinner when I came across this one from Smitten Kitchen^*. Carrots? Vegetable. Dinner. Perfect.

The sweet cream cheese frosting sauce? Er... early dessert.

The result?

Pancake of the Month: Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes

Yeah, it's still winter. I'm a little grumpy about it, especially since the bike lanes are getting that special "drive over the snow and compact it so the bikes can't use it" treatment that I still don't understand.

Anyway, I came across this recipe from Joy the Baker^* and had one of those can't-beat-'em'-join-'em moments. Plus? Browned butter.

It was the blood oranges that sealed the deal. I love blood oranges, although I'm not really sure I notice the difference from regular oranges, so I always buy them when they're in season. Which is now. I guess you could say somebody wanted me to embrace winter just long enough yesterday to make these pancakes.

The result?

Pancake of the Month: The Single Lady Pancake

I was waiting for Pancake Tuesday to do my February PotM post. Pancake Tuesday is always in February^*. It's one of the things that makes February worth-while^**. This year? To add to the joy brought by the seemingly never-ending cold and snow^***, Pancake Tuesday is in March. I mean, I ask you.

When I realized this, I had to scramble to find a quick pancake recipe before the end of the month because I ran out of weekends. Fortunately I came across this recipe from Joy the Baker, who loves pancakes nearly as much as I do. In fact, I may be baking my way through her recipes for the next little while...

Oh, and before you read too much into the name: the DC is still very much in the picture. I just... erm, didn't make him a pancake. Hey, it's a weekday; every person for themselves at breakfast. He gets to sleep in. I call it fair. Anyway, I'm sure the recipe would be suitable for all the single gentlemen as well.

Also, I might be making this for us again tomorrow. So there's that.



I like the idea behind a recipe that makes just enough for one person, and I'm always intrigued when recipes don't include eggs. Plus: bananas, chocolate chips, and pecans? Always a good idea. Although that is an oddly specific number of banana slices.

The result?

Quite tasty and nice and fluffy. The recipe says it makes one large pancake. I got one large, messy pancake -- when she says "it's okay if it doesn't flip perfectly," pay heed to the warning. It isn't stable -- although that might be because I misread the recipe (what else is new?) and put all the banana slices in the batter instead of only half. But it's still too big to cook through evenly without turning the heat right down. I think the next time I make this I will split it into two easy-to-handle pancakes. And put the proper number of banana slices in the batter. And maybe less sugar -- I don't think it needs a whole two tablespoons with all the chocolate-banana-roasted pecan-maple syrup action going on.

And since the song is in your head anyway...


^*Except when it's not.

^**That, and birthday sushi.

^***I'm all for letting the seasons do their thing, but can we be done being winter and start being spring already? I'd even settle for still-winter-but-hovering-around-0 C.

Pancake of the month: Chai Vanilla

Happy perihelion, my friends. New year, new blog look, because somebody wants me to put bigger pictures on the site. Of course, I'm now having difficulties with pictures on my "Crazy Stuff I'm Doing" page not linking to things they used to link to -- I haven't changed the code, so I can't figure it out. If anyone can figure that out for me, I'd be grateful.

Anyway. I have decreed that it's not really January until I go back to school on Monday, which is why this is December's Pancake of the Month. I tried making chai pancakes a few years ago, using brewed chai instead of milk. Didn't really work, so I let Google suggest this recipe from Not Your Momma's Cookie. I served them with maple syrup instead of the custard sauce (note that NYMC files it under breakfast sweets!).

The result?

Very tasty; they taste nicely like chai tea, and honestly I'm pretty sure I'll like anything with cardamom. The pancakes are reasonably fluffy and quite pretty with the visible spices, but I only got 10 3/4 at 1/4 c. scoops where the recipe says 12. Adding more buttermilk would probably fix that.

On a final note, my maple syrup bottle has been growing some really beautiful sugar crystals in the bottom. At least, I hope they're sugar crystals...

Even Mr. Darcy acknowledged that the partridges were remarkably well done: P&P #28

Dinner with Mr. Darcy: Recipes inspired by the novels of Jane Austen by Pen Vogler

I came across this Sunday when I was browsing in Chapters after the Sing-Along Messiah waiting to meet up up with the DC and G to see The Hobbit (Xmas spirit, I has it) and I couldn't resist.

This is a nifty book. Vogler has split the recipes into meals and linked them to a book: breakfast at Northanger Abbey, tea at Mansfield Park, the supper at the Netherfield Ball, etc. What's cool, though, is that below the standard recipe is an original recipe from a contemporary cookbook; many of them are from Martha Lloyd's Household Book, written by a lady who I am just learning now lived with the Austen ladies. There are also short articles discussing mealtimes, table arrangements, servants and the like.

There is, happily, a recipe for white soup.

Image source: rylandpeters.com

This isn't a book for vegetarians, by the way. There are only three or four non-meat or sweet dishes. Bring on the night sweats!

My one complaint is the texture of the cover; it's fabric and a cat-hair magnet. I'm going to need to vacuum it before I use it again.

Naturally, I needed to test one of the recipes. I chose to make gingerbread, since it is one of the DC's favourite things. These are quite tasty; they have caraway seeds in them, which gives them an unusual flavour. The DC has taken to calling them "Mr. Darcy's gingerbread."



I might be attempting some of the picnic recipes for next year's Dîner en blanc -- pigeon pie, anyone? Assuming I can source pigeons (aka squab) in Toronto.