You know that Friends episode where Monica searches for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe because she wants to be The Mom with the best chocolate chip cookies on the block? I can totally relate, because my cookies have always been sub-par. My brownies are killer, as is my coconut cake, but my cookies – not so much. They’ve just never turned out right.

However. You’ll be pleased to know that I’m becoming The Mom with the best pancakes around. It’s become our Saturday morning ritual, and I rotate about six different varieties – from buttermilk (where you can, of course, add fruit or nuts or whatever) to sweet potato to apple oatmeal to banana whole wheat to gingerbread. Mmmmm. We don’t have pancake syrup, of course (one of those little things you don’t think of bringing overseas with you), but we make do just fine with butter, peanut butter, jelly, powdered sugar, or any other variety of healthy topping.

I bring this up because we’re having pancakes this morning even though it’s a Wednesday. And the reason is because I’m leaving town today and won’t be back until Sunday morning. I’m flying to a nearby city for a conference about educating children overseas, and I’m going alone. Well, there will be a number of people there that I know, but this will be the first time I’ve left Kabob and Chickpea together for this long. Kabob will be fine, but these days Chickpea is at her mommy-clingiest, so pray for her, when you think of it. It will be good for her, but we’ll miss each other like crazy.

So this said, I probably won’t be blogging the rest of the week, unless I’m hit with a case of the boredoms and I seek out an internet cafe. But seeing as I haven’t been bored in about two years, I don’t think that will happen.

And I’m also feeling generous, so I thought I’d share one of my prized possessions – my recipe for gingerbread pancakes from Magnolia Cafe. Yep, it’s directly from them. The only way they’d be better is if they came from Kerbey Lane.

Magnolia Cafe’s Gingerbread Pancakes

4 eggs
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c & 3 tbsp water
1/4 c coffee
2.5c white flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp nutmeg
6 tbsp melted butter

Cream together the first 2 ingredients. Add the next 3 ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together all but the last ingredient. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix well, and add butter and stir until combined. May need to add water if the batter is too thick. Recipe can easily be halved or doubled.

posted: 07 May 1
under: food, recipe