Tag Archives: Griddle

Cheese and Chilies Pancakes

Posted on April 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

If you know Caitlin and me, you know that we love a good pancake.  You can find us at IHOP now and then, but for the most part, we prefer making our own.  And boy have we: from gingerbread to butternut squash to lemon ricotta.

From the sheer number of pancakes we make, you might think that pancakes hold a special place in our relationship.  You’d be right — I made banana sour cream pancakes for Caitlin on our first date (and in spite of my friends’ concerns about having a date in the morning).

So when Caitlin suggested Continue reading →

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Gingerbread Pancakes

Posted on January 16, 2011 | 18 Comments

Gingerbread pancakes are the perfect treat on a cold Winter weekend morning, when there’s nothing better than curling up on the couch, drinking your hot coffee, and folding over sections of the Sunday paper.

Caitlin and I grated some fresh ginger for these pancakes.  For a little extra touch, you can add some Confectioners’ sugar and top with a piece of pickled ginger.

And if you do decide to brave the cold, well at least Continue reading →

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Southern Cornmeal Pancakes

Posted on May 17, 2010 | 4 Comments

When I first started my blog, my goals were modest to say the least.  I hoped a few dozen people would visit my blog each day.  I hoped my blog could be featured within the first few pages of a Google search.  And above all, I hoped that someone I didn’t already know might leave an encouraging comment.

I’ve met each of my first two goals.  According to the blog administrator, my blog receives over a hundred page views each day.  The administrator also lists the search terms and hyperlinks that direct these individuals to the pages within my blog.  When I keyed some of these terms into Google, sure enough, there was my blog – and on the first page no less!

I’ve also met my third goal – and in exciting fashion.  For many months now, Continue reading →

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Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

Posted on March 15, 2010 | 2 Comments

For me, chocolate is a lot like Ben Affleck – it’s best in a supporting role.

Chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate croissants, and chocolate-chip blondies are definite draws.  Think Good Will Hunting, School Ties, and Mallrats.  But put chocolate in a starring role – chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, or chocolate pudding – and you have a Gigli or Daredevil in the making.

By my standards, these pancakes are well cast.  The chocolate chips meld into the oatmeal-buttermilk batter, giving a subtle performance, but one that adds to the overall production.  They don’t steal the scene, but rather, focus it.

We all know chocolate as a dessert, but it’s a role it often plays, and usually overplays.  But after making these pancakes, Continue reading →

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Butternut Squash Pancakes

Posted on January 5, 2010 | 3 Comments

After making cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, I needed to find a use for all the leftover sauce.  When I noticed the leftover butternut squash purée sitting idly in its tupperware container, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

I based this recipe off my earlier recipe for pumpkin pancakes, added the cranberry sauce, and called it Continue reading →

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Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

Posted on August 31, 2009 | 2 Comments

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

From apples in pie, to peaches in cobbler, and from cherries in clafoutis, to bananas in pudding, certain fruits have their calling.  With blueberries, they answer to pancakes.  Nothing says pancakes, like blueberry pancakes.  That is, unless you’re making blueberry oatmeal pancakes.

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes Collage

Replacing most of the flour with oats turned out to be a great adaptation for an otherwise classic recipe.  I should have stopped there though.  Once I had oats in my mind, I immediately thought raisins – another one of those traditional pairings.  After dropping blueberries in the batter, I changed to amaretto-soaked raisins.  It was not to be.  Raisins and oats, I learned, are best left to cookies.  But at least Continue reading →

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Buttermilk Plum Pancakes

Posted on August 24, 2009 | 3 Comments

Buttermilk Plum Pancakes

In feeding my clafoutis addiction, I got into the habit of picking a handful of plums and peaches every Saturday morning at the Farmers’ Market.  The peaches, both white and yellow, would make their way into my Peach Italian Ice.  The plums, I decided, would partner perfectly with pancakes.

Plum Pancakes Collage

Plums were first cultivated in China about 2000 years ago, but didn’t arrive in the United States until about 1880, when the renowned botanist, Luther Burbank, began importing Japanese plums into California.  Indeed, at last count, California was home to nearly 200 varieties of plums.  Unfortunately, most plums are characterized Continue reading →

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Almond Butter, Banana, and Membrillo Sandwich

Posted on May 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

Membrillo

The PB&J Sandwich needs no introduction.  Its ingredients and structure are tried and true.  Add slices of banana, and the PBB&J Sandwich might merit a fleeting handshake.  But the ABB&M Sandwich is all but unknown – a foreign dignitary of sorts, whose presence deserves a formal introduction.

Membrillo is Spanish for quince, a lumpy, yellow-green fruit that resembles a cross between an apple and a pear.  The quince, born in the Caucasus, dates back to man’s earliest conquests and temptations.  The quince started the Trojan War, after Paris awarded the fruit to Aphrodite for the hand of Helen of Troy.  The quince is also said to be the apple that tempted Adam and Eve. Which may have been somewhat disappointing for Eve, since the quince is a hard and bitter fruit.  Only a few varieties can be eaten raw.

ABBM Sandwich

In its modern form, membrillo usually refers to Continue reading →

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Banana French Toast

Posted on May 9, 2009 | Leave a comment

I don’t quite know what prompted it, but for an entire summer, my youngest brother had to have French toast before camp.  What might have started as a special breakfast soon became the breakfast.  Every day.  And with time, his demands seemed only to grow.  It had to have the crusts removed.  It needed to be in the shape of a circle.  It had to come with powdered sugar.

Sometimes we’d all have French toast, but more often than not, we were content with cereal.  No matter.  He stuck to his guns.  And Mom faithfully complied, serving up French Toast, then rushing us all off to camp.

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On this Mother’s Day, why not Continue reading →

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Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Posted on February 2, 2009 | 3 Comments

Pancakes are universal – nearly every culture has a griddlecake of some kind.  But not only are pancakes universal, they’re classical – literally.  The Ancient Romans collected pancake recipes in the Apicius, their 5th Century cookbook.

From these early origins, the pancake has evolved into a quintessential American comfort food, a part of almost every family’s Sunday brunch.

This recipe Continue reading →

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