MONDAY MORNING RECIPE - OATMEAL/BANANA PANCAKE

As husband was heading out to his favorite bagel shop for breakfast, and I didn't really want bagels that morning, I stayed home and made this recipe. There is no link and I'll be the first to say that I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea. Gregg would fit into that category. He better likes the crepe-like pancakes I make for him and even prefers those to the regular, thicker ones that I enjoy when we have gone out for breakfast. Most of the time we have the same tastes but occasionally we part ways.

My family and I used to go along the hedgerows when we were kids and pick wild blackberries to take home. Blackberries are at the top of my favorites. I always ate a hot bowl of oatmeal in the winter before setting out to school. The only pancakes I ever had were the traditional yearly ones on Shrove Tuesday (those are what I make for Gregg when he requests them). These are a little different and they might not be for you. I am adding it here for myself as I will make it again sometime. With that ringing endorsement I will continue.

Banana Oatmeal Pancake

1 banana

2 eggs

1/2 cup old fashioned oats 

A splash of vanilla extract

To put on the top:

Any favorite topping. These were on our latest shopping list: blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, quantity is up to you. 

Maple syrup

Next time I thought I would sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice which was another British tradition and how mother served them on Shrove Tuesday. 

Mash the banana in a small bowl. 

Add the eggs and mix until well combined. 

Add the splash of vanilla extract. 

Add the oats and mix well.

Heat a frying pan to medium-high. Coat frying pan with a good spray of avocado oil. Turn down to medium heat.

Pour the mixture into the pan.

I used this for one large pancake but it was a little tricky to turn over, so I will make 2 smaller ones next time.

Cover and cook 3 minutes on one side (if you think it is getting too brown, turn heat down).

Flip and cook 2 minutes on the other side.

Put on serving plate and serve with your choice of toppings. This one has a dusting of powdered sugar on the top.

We were lucky enough to have been given a jar of maple syrup from a dear friend of ours, and someone Gregg has known since early childhood. A friend of his made it (sharing a picture below). We are both in agreement here, it's delicious! Thanks dear friend!

And thank you for visiting.

I hope your week is a great one.

MONDAY RECIPE POST - DUTCH BABY MADE FOR BREAKFAST ON WEDNESDAY-1/28/25

Gregg sent me a text with this recipe. He found it on Instagram and there was a video of a young lady putting a Dutch Baby together. That link is here. He had never heard of a Dutch Baby before and I suggested we make it soon. I said let's have it for breakfast the next day, which we did (the 28th Jan). 

Very easy! You mix all the ingredients in a blender. 

We didn't have an iron skillet or an oven-proof frying pan but did have a round, small-ish Dutch Oven, which served well. Probably you can see how prettier this Dutch Baby is in the flatter skillet (seeing more of the puffed-up effect) but ours turned out great. 

Dutch Baby:

4 eggs, 

1/2 cup milk, 

2 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar

1/2 cup flower

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)

Equipment: cast iron skillet or as in our case, a Dutch Oven.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

In a blender, put the eggs, milk, maple syrup or sugar, flour, a pinch of salt and vanilla extract. Blend until combined. This doesn't take long, about 15 to 30 seconds, but you be the judge. 

Add half a stick of butter (4 tablespoons) to a cast iron skillet and place in oven to melt. (When you take it out it is going to be incredibly hot, so don't forget to wear your most durable oven mitts.) 

Once butter is melted, carefully pour your batter in the center of the skillet. It will spread out and you won’t have to worry about greasing any further. Put in the oven for 20 (our oven runs cooler so 22-23 minutes for us). 

When done, carefully take it out and leave for a couple of minutes. Cut into pie sections to serve and enjoy. The sides puff up beautifully but expect it to deflate as it cools.

Dust powdered sugar and top with a fruit compote, whipped cream, maple syrup or any favorite topping. We ate ours topped with pineapple, blueberries and maple syrup. 

I expect many of you have eaten these Dutch Babies before, but this was the first time that we had made one ever. We intend to make it again and am adding it to my collection.  A 10 out of 10 from both of us and above all, very easy to do.

Pro tips for blending:

Liquid first! Always add the milk and eggs to the blender first, then dry ingredients (flour, salt) on top. This prevents flour from getting stuck to the blades.

Avoid over-blending: if you are making thick pancakes, over-blending can develop too much gluten, making them rubbery or tough.

Let it rest: for the best texture, let the batter rest for 15-30 minutes after blending. This allows bubbles to settle and the flour to fully hydrate, resulting in more tender pancakes.

The following is the full address to the Instagram account, for you to copy and paste if you prefer that to the link above.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT3YL3LDpc_/?igsh=M2FheHA4ZmxkYjhr

Why is this oven-cooked pancake called Dutch Baby?

The term 'Dutch Baby' originated in the early 1900s at Manca's Cafe in Seattle, Washington. 

The name is believed to be a mispronunciation or 'Americanization' of the German word 'Deutsch' (meaning German) by the owner's daughter, rather than having any actual origin in the Netherlands. 

It is based on a German pancake dish known as Pfannkuchen. 

The name arose from a confusion between 'Deutsch' (German) and 'Dutch'. 

Manca's Cafe operated in Seattle from the 1900s to the 1950s, and popularized the term and reportedly trademarked it in 1942. 

The term 'baby' is believed to refer to the smaller, individual, or miniature version of the pancake that the restaurant served, according to some interpretations.

Thanks for looking and have a great day. 

Bon Appétit!

AROUND AND ABOUT FROM 3-3-25 TO 3-9-25

This is our weather forecast for this week, from Monday 3-10-25 to 3-17-25

Hello Family and Friends, thank you once again for your encouragement. Here Is this past week’s daily journal. 

Monday, March 3rd, 2025: father and son were off out for the day. I enjoyed my usual pottering. Not much went on here but Gregg returned with a gift from one of the bookstores they visited. He always says books find you, you don't find them. He saw this one on a display table and picked it up immediately, looked through it and knew I would love it. He was right. It's a new one by Amy Tan and all the art is her own.

Tuesday, March 4th, 2025: 

We ran an errand today, I just went along for the ride and stayed in the car while Gregg went into the dry cleaners. I saw the leprechaun and unicorn again on our way home. This time there was an Irish flag.

Not long now before St. Patrick's Day but in advance I'll wish you: 

"Lá fhéile Pádraig Sona Dhuit" in Irish. 

According to Google it actually translates directly to "Happy Day of the Festival of Patrick to you".

• "Lá Fhéile Pádraig": Means "St Patrick's Day".
• "Sona": Means "happy".
• "Duit": Means "to you". 

This shows its pronunciation:

With it being Shrove Tuesday I made pancakes this evening. It was a tradition in my family when I was growing up, and is still tradition in the UK I'm thinking, to make them once a year (Brit friends please let me know if this is still going on). Mum always made it a lot of fun. She would toss the pancakes up in the air to flip them back into the pan on the other side, letting us have a try. Quite a few landed on the floor and nothing but laughter and giggles, and lots of happy times.

When we first met, Gregg told me he was surprised that pancakes were only made once a year, which he had found on the Royal Navy ship he was stationed with for two years. When we were first married and he asked if I could make him pancakes, I remember being very surprised that pancakes were made for breakfast, and often. It certainly wasn't Shrove Tuesday. 

I still make them the way my mother used to, something between an American pancake and a crepe, but more like a crepe, which fortunately he loved and still loves. We always served ours sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar over the top, and intended to make them that way today. At the last minute we found we had used all our lemons, and I didn't want Gregg to go out just for those. Maple syrup it was! I added blueberries on mine. 

Wednesday, March 5th, 2025: when we saw them last Sunday, our son and daughter-in-law brought pastries from a place called Chateau de Chantilly Cafe. Gregg enjoyed his very much - a fried croissant with a cream filling - and suggested we go over there this morning for breakfast. We are also checking places out when our overseas company visit us.  They will be arriving a little over a month from now. 

This is actually our second visit to the cafe, our first was last year. Visually, and I thought it a bit strange, as I looked at all the variety of delicious delights they offered, I found myself a bit overwhelmed. 

I couldn't decide on anything. I ended up getting what Gregg had come here for, a fried croissant with a cream filling. It was outstanding. Gregg also purchased a coca-cola and ordered a latte for me, except that he accidentally ordered me two. 

I was so annoyed!

And yes I am joking. My unexpected café au lait pour deux? Lovely, and so was that fried croissant. I was wired for the rest of the day. That silly face was after my dear other half asked me if I enjoyed the extra cup of coffee and that was my response. They are not small cups!

A big thank you to him for such a nice treat with my extra surprise, and the nice drive to get out here.

I would describe this place as shabby/chic. I am comfortable wearing a sweater and jeans. It is in an old building with tall ceilings. When son and daughter-in-law were there on the weekend it was packed out and they were lucky to get a table. We had no problem mid-week, and we always go on an off hour when people have gone back to work.  There is an upstairs for the overflow. We managed to get a parking spot right out front, so I left my cane in the car and used Gregg’s arm. They are open every day from 7.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.

On the way home we had a good old Virginia downpour. I took this photo between the window wipers going at full speed. I have quite a few which I deleted before this one.

We had a FaceTime with my brother-in-law in Germany, another nice long chat. I feel blessed that we have such a close friendship with him after all these years, and with such distance between us too. I am grateful to this technology that allows us to keep in touch, almost like we are all in the same room.  

Thursday, March 6th, 2024: father and son were out again with my blessing. Gregg left the house around 2:00 a.m. I did nothing special and pottered! He knows I enjoy my quiet time. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them anyway. They like to gadabout all over the place and I would slow them down to a crawl. My time went quickly and when hubs got home late evening, he caught me up on his day and I told him mine. He won! I can’t remember everything I did now, I just know the day went quickly.  

Friday, March 7th, 2025: I woke up to the wind howling outside. It was a little after 1:00 a.m. I could hear the sound of the tree branches whipping into a frenzy. It took me forever to get back to sleep. I could see the light of dawn coming through the shutters before going back to sleep.

The first thing I did this morning was look out on the deck. The only thing I could see amiss, was a small branch from the fir tree. When we first moved here, that fir tree was tiny and remained that way for years. I was told the roots hit the water table and from there on it grew and it grew, and it grew. It is way above the house, and we are going to have to do something about it soon, but unlike our other trees that had to be cut down, it looks very healthy. Someone quoted us $1,200 and because of priorities, don't want to do that right now as we have other things to take care of. It is a healthy-looking tree, and this price quoted was just for pruning. This seems to be the going rate and they certainly are very skilled. When the last man cut down the tree, he was like a lumberjack, shimmying up and down like it was no effort at all.

We picked up an item of clothing from the dry cleaners and that was about it for my outdoor adventure today. There was even more traffic around today.

Look what we saw on the way home? I think the leprechaun and his steed were a wee bit tipsy, or perhaps competing in a rodeo?

The more logical explanation is that with the wind last night, they were deflated.  I saw them flattened on the ground earlier with a couple of bicycles on top acting as weights. I think it was in the process of being inflated again.

Saturday, March 8th, 2025: I took one of my books down off the shelf and picked out a walrus to sketch. This book is not only educational, it has the most wonderful artwork inside, just like the new book Gregg gave me.

This is the one I chose. I remember seeing them once and they are magnificent marine animals. You can read about them at this link.

Here's my scribble sketch.

Nothing else of note today. We had a very quiet day, very relaxing.  

Sunday, March 9th, 2025: son just left at 12:30 p.m. He usually arrives between 8.30 and 9.00 with my coffee in hand and also a muffin. I look forward to his weekly visits. He and his dad will be getting together on Tuesday again. It's becoming a regular thing. 

I have a doctor's appointment coming up next week to see what's going on with this knee, as there are no marathons in my future until I get it sorted out. Not that there were any marathons in my past either, but it would be lovely to be able to get out on a good walk around my favorite places. I am very lucky, I have Green Spring Gardens as it's a short trip to where we park the car and is an easy, flat area.

It feels good to look outside and see the sun shining. 

I think I am going to end this week's around and about here. If something exciting happens I will add it before I publish. I have a feeling it's going to be all quiet, so at 5.13 p.m. I'll say bye-bye for now and until next time...

thanks so much for continuing to read through these things, always appreciated. 

MONDAY RECIPE POST - PANCAKES FOR ONE

My recipe came from One Dish Kitchen hosted by Joanie.  You can find the original recipe here.  I was curious and as my dear other half was out for the day and it had been a while since I had pancakes, I chose this recipe. I liked it enough to keep in my make-again folder.  The recipe makes way thicker pancakes than I normally like but it was a change of pace.  They are 228 calories for one pancake.  This is only an approximate value, but I added a 1/4 cup extra milk to thin it down, and this should be added to the original count if you are going to do the same.  There was batter left over for two more pancakes, which I cooked and froze for when I felt like them again.  One was more than enough for breakfast.  I always recommend visiting the website to read all the tips and see their photos.  Also, for other recipes which look great.

Pancakes for One

Approximately 228 calories for each pancake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

¾ cup milk (I used 2% milk but you can use whole milk, skim milk, unsweetened almond milk, or oat milk. I added another ¼ cup milk – 1 cup total – as the batter was thicker than I normally like it.  This is suggested in Joanie’s notes, to thin batter down if needed)

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon salted butter, melted

1 teaspoon salted butter for the pan

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

In another bowl, beat the egg and then whisk in the milk, vanilla and melted butter.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. If the batter seems too thick, add more of the milk, a little at a time.

Melt the butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.

Ladle about ¾ cup of the batter onto the skillet to make a pancake.

Cook until bubbles break the surface of the pancake, and the underside is golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Flip with a spatula and cook about 1 minute more on the second side.

Remove from the pan and place on a plate.

Repeat until all the batter is used up.

Serve with your favorite toppings: butter, syrup, fruit.

The only thing I had at the time was frozen blueberries, which I used as my topping, also a drizzle of maple syrup.

The following is the link to the original recipe.

https://onedishkitchen.com/how-to-make-pancakes-for-one/

Thanks for the visit and enjoy your day!

MONDAY RECIPE POST - OATMEAL, BANANA PANCAKES - FREEZER FRIENDLY

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes (Freezer Friendly)

This came from "Red & Honey", which is a recipe, home and lifestyle, health & wellness blog hosted by Beth Ricci.  You can see that recipe here.   

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

These freeze well.

Servings: 20 pancakes

Calories: 88kcal

1/4 cup butter melted

1 1/2 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons aluminium-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup rolled oats or quick oats

2 eggs

2 cups milk, any kind

2 bananas mashed

Melt butter and set aside to cool

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and oatmeal in a large mixing bowl and stir well

Combine cooled butter, milk, eggs and mashed banana in another bowl

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. There should be some lumps

Cook pancakes in a medium-high skillet until golden brown. Flip and cook until golden brown on other side.

If you plan to freeze leftovers, cool pancakes completely on a cooling rack and place layers of wax paper in between pancakes so they don’t stick together.

These were very good.  I added a tablespoon of vanilla and half a cup of chopped walnuts stirred into the batter.  One of the commenters suggested honey and apples also.

I used a tablespoon of maple syrup on top of mine, but was thinking, maybe next time I will use a little sugar and lemon juice sprinkled over.  I do that whenever I make crepes.  The way my dear mother used to make them, traditionally once a year on Shrove Tuesday, were only a little thicker than a crepe (always think of them as English pancakes), and again traditionally, always sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar.  They were divine.

A little powdered sugar might be nice, or a berry syrup? And of course, you can use your own favorite.

Served mine with strawberries and blueberries, they were delicious.

I had lots of leftovers and put batter in 1-cup freezer-proof containers.  The rest I cooked and sealed in freezer bags, with a piece of parchment paper between them.  It will be very nice to take them out and pop one in the microwave for a no-fuss breakfast.

A few days later in the evening I felt like a snack and got one pancake out of the freezer.  My pancakes, as I mentioned earlier, had walnuts added.  I put it in the microwave until it was heated through, rolled it up and ate it with a napkin wrapped around one end. With none of the usual additions like syrup or extra fruit, it tasted more savory and was very yummy.  I will definitely eat it that way again.  I didn't need supper after eating it.  It carried me through until the next morning.

One note about the ingredient Aluminum-free baking powder.  I checked mine and it didn't say aluminum-free.  I have never even noticed the type before.  I found a website at this link that says in part:

"What's the difference between aluminum-free baking powder and regular baking powder?

The main difference between aluminum-free baking powder and regular baking powder is that aluminum-free baking powder contains no aluminum and reacts with liquid instead of heat.  

The reality is that regular baking powder (with aluminum) leaves a bitter, metallic taste.  (A taste that is obviously off-putting.)"

I can't say I have ever noticed a metallic taste in any of the baking powders I have ever used.  The article continues giving more information if you would like to check the link out above.  (There are lots of advertisements on this page.)

Thanks for visiting and I hope your week is a great one.

MONDAY RECIPE POST - PECAN-OATMEAL PANCAKES

Pecan-Oatmeal Pancakes

Makes 14 to 16 pancakes

This week's recipe comes from Taste of Home here.

1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups whole milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

Combine milk, eggs and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until blended.

Fold in pecans.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour onto a greased cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat; turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes.  Cook until second side is golden brown.

Our cast-iron skillet is too heavy for me to handle easily these days, and I don't have a griddle any more. I used a regular frying pan.  

There was no whole milk in the fridge.  I used 2%  instead.

I had blackberries in the fridge but any other favorite fruit would be nice to make it look pretty. Raspberries or strawberries would give a more colorful presentation.  Blueberries is another favorite of mine.  Or bananas and blackberries, which you can see here.  A mixture of all would be delicious.  

I topped/drowned my pancake with Maple Syrup, an old standby and one I have always enjoyed (I need to wake up first before I try pouring out of any bottle. This wasn’t such a catastrophe but I have had others, and all learning experiences). For a change of pace I would like to try Raspberry Syrup and will put that on my grocery list for next time, unless I make my own.

The website said 3 pancakes (1/4 cup of batter for each one) works out to about 402 calories.  One was more than enough for me.  It depends how hungry you are.  There is more nutritional information at that website above.

You can halve the amount of ingredients if you want to make a smaller batch.  However, as I like to use my freezer for quick and easy meals, there were a lot of leftovers to do that.  I used up the rest of the pancake batter, put them on one of my cutting boards in a single layer, popped them in the fridge and flash-froze them.  Once frozen I wrapped them up individually in aluminum foil and stacked them in the freezer. I suppose you could also freeze small portions of the batter and cook the pancakes later if you prefer. 

I used old-fashioned oatmeal.  I read a while ago that you can give these oats a whirl in your blender. Don’t pulverize them, just a couple of bursts and you can use them instead of the quick cooking oats called for in a recipe. 

I hope you like the sound of this.  I really enjoyed my pancake.  It is not for everyone I know.  Hubs prefers the crepe versions I make, which I also enjoy. Actually, they are a cross between a crepe and an American pancake, and like the English pancakes I learned to make from my Mum when she made them once a year on Shrove Tuesday.  

Stay safe and enjoy your day.

MONDAY RECIPE POST - BANANA PANCAKES

My favorite way to have a pancake over the past couple of years is to add blueberries.  When I saw this old recipe I had saved in 2009, I thought it might make a nice change and will make them the next time.  

I have shared this story before, but I grew up having pancakes only once a year on Shrove Tuesday.  Up to that point and for several years later until I moved to the States, I had never heard of having pancakes at any other time than on Shrove Tuesday.  

The way my Mum made pancakes was thinner than an American one, but slightly thicker than a French crepe.  Mum made the greatest pancakes and what made them even better was the fact that she used to toss them as high up in the air as she could, and much to the delight of my sister and me, she occasionally missed and one would drop on the floor.  Fits of giggles from all three of us, and an even more wonderful memory the older I get. When we were old enough Mum taught us how to toss them high, and even more landed on the floor. It was always great fun. The ones that didn't land on the floor were served sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar, delicious!

While still living in England, the first time I ate American pancakes was in a small restaurant in Torquay - pronounced "Torkee".  I was 20 years' old and worked in the legal section of the local government offices for a few years.  Occasionally I met up with friends for lunch and we would go to a small restaurant on the harbor.  One day there were American Pancakes on the dessert menu.  They sounded very exotic served with Maple Syrup (never had that before either and wondered what it tasted like). Well, the very first bite was a new taste sensation and we all said that these pancakes were amazing, and we couldn't wait to come back and try them again.  

I found this recipe at AllRecipes.

Banana Pancakes

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes  
Ready in: 15 minutes  
Yields: 12 pancakes  Servings 6

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed  

Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt.  

In a separate bowl mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.  

Stir flour mixture into banana mixture.  The batter will be slightly lumpy.  

Heat lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.  Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.  Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides.  Serve hot. 

Nutritional Information:

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Amount Per Serving.

Calories: 193 

Excellent pancakes!  The only thing I changed was adding a handful of chopped pecans as I mixed the batter.  I also sprinkled a few on the top when serving them up, and poured maple syrup.