Breakfast #32: Bacon Pancakes

Have you let bacon pancakes into your life yet? They are great friends I promise. They are easy to throw together (especially if you get your pancake batter sorted the night before) and can make even the most bleary-eyed mornings seem promising. They can even make a Monday morning seem like a Friday morning – and that’s saying a lot especially if you, like me, is a person for whom Mondays loom ominous at every Sunday’s end!

I know I am certainly not alone in my dread of Mondays. It’s a day many are not particularly fond of. For me in particular, Mondays are when most all of my work reports are due. Pair that with the mountain of mails that always seem to sneakily pile up during the weekend, and you’ve set yourself up for a hectic chase every beginning of the week. This aside from the fact that Mondays, in and of themselves, are already frenetic and moody-bluesy and goodbye-lovely-weekend-feeling.

I have tried working later Fridays, as well as throughout the weekend, but nothing can quite prepare oneself for the advent of a mad and merciless Monday.

Except maybe for these.

Delicious, gut-sticking, unrepentantly indulgent, slightly tacky. Bacon Pancakes…I submit myself to you.

I stumbled onto these dubious beauties here – resplendent in their defiant retro-ness. I had to have them. Not just for Mondays either – they likewise work a treat when you are down with one of those untraceable, painful-throat, scratchy-cough, runny nosed, mystery illnesses. And no, I don’t listen to those types that claim that sweet and sticky things will only make your throat worse. Depressing food will make you worse I say!

I'm not ashamed to adsmit I've used boxed pancake mix here (I’m all for making things from scratch but Mondays, and illness, bring out the deviant in me), but if you have an easy, Monday-morning-friendly pancake recipe then by all means use that! Just fry some bacon in a hot skillet, leaving space in between each strip for the pancake batter. Then pour your batter of choice directly on the sizzling bacon when it is cooked but not too crisp. Once the underside is done, and lots of little bubbles appear on the surface, flip your bacon pancake and cook it the rest of the way through. I wish mine had turned out as perfectly shaped as those in this photo but it appears I am sadly lacking in 1950’s pizzazz. Or maybe I’m just messy.

Anyway…

The next time you are battling a miserable Monday, or an even more miserable flu-like bug, throw together some pancake batter, set the bacon on the griddle, and prepare for redemption.

***Another lovely thing to cheer me up when I’m ill…this little blog was mentioned in the online version of the Sunday Inquirer Magazine! Thanks to Travels with a Gourmet for the mention! :)

Not Just Mushed Carrots

I’ve been waiting for this moment since that monumental day we sat at my doctor's office and learned that we were going to be parents. When I would (finally) cook for my daughter. That’s not to say I wasn’t waiting with bated breath for all those smiles, and giggles, and toe chubs, and disappearing wrists --- oh yes, I waited, and subsequently relished, all those delicious bits.

But this, this doing what I love for someone I love, this was equally special.

Like a chef from a 4-star restaurant planning a degustation, I pored over menu choices, ingredients, and the order in which I would introduce new dishes. I debated sources and purveyors, methods and tools. I badgered our pediatrician with such vital questions such as “When can I introduce cumin?” and “Basil is considered greens right?”.

Finally the day was upon us…and with trumpets blaring and drums rolling I…

…went to the market, to my favorite organic farmer and bought several bright orange carrots, a quarter of a squash, and some sweet potatoes.

…steamed the cubed vegetables (separately), after a vigorous scrubbing and peeling, until they were soft.

…passed the yielding pieces through my little baby food mill.

…portioned the brightly colored purees to be tucked into the chiller and freezer.

Such excitement, indulge this first-time mum please :)

This may look like nothing but mashed carrots, but what it is really is the beginning of one little girl’s gastronomic journey. Hopefully the start of bigger, better, and more well-seasoned things!

This is what I’ve been up to these days…a different kind of cooking. Maybe I’ll share some recipes when the dishes develop into more exciting combinations. And perhaps you can share with me some of yours :) I’d love to know what you feed the little ones in your lives :)

p.s. yes that's a Moomin plate and glass! A gift to Little C from one of her aunts :)