Pancakey

Though it is now full-blown Lent, I’m sharing my Mardi Gras luncheon because there’s nothing about it that’s sinful or off-limits in the fasting and abstinence sense, as far as I know. I can and will go on at length about how food is not “sinful” and should not cause guilt. Food is neutral. We bring the guilt as a side dish or a sauce. We also have the ability not to partake, but instead to enjoy our treats or what-have-ye mindfully and in appropriate-to-ourselves amounts.








Dear readers, I’ve been going off in the deep end about feelings to an extent that I don’t think fits this blog. See my eljay (LiveJournal, In Mortalite) for more reflecty reflection than reflection on food and eating and exercise. My latest bit of public postage there is my “daily gratitude,” a few things eachday for which I am grateful. I refuse to call it a “gratitude project” since“project” seems to be the word of the moment in order to describe, well,projects. I like projects to be called more creative things, like “The Sabbath Manifesto."

Jeez, I just realized the fellowship program Ileft was called…drumroll please…a project. In my opinion (and IMHO, saying “in my opinion” on my weblog isredundant), projects imply constant workage. Constant refining, sure, butconstant activity with overtones of the Sisyphean. Calling something “the[nominalization]” reeks of academia (academia, which I do not miss for onesecond). Judgments over.

Lately I’ve been noticing that I have energy!While I would have been dying by the end of the day after getting four or fivehours of sleep at any one of my desk jobs in the past, I survived yesterday’sadjustment from late shift to early shift just fine. Standing and moving aroundall day, I didn’t feel that tired. Now let’s not make it a habit to stay uplate anyway…  These pancakes were anexcellent “power lunch” on Mardi Gras before I worked closing shift.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used a blend ofunsweetened coconut and unsweetened vanilla almondmilk)
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon canola oil plus more for the pan
1 tablespoon chia seeds (chias are here just tomess with you; I included them in this recipe for fun and nutrition rather thanas a structural component)

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup carrots, diced or shredded (I destroyed2/3 of a 16-ounce bag of baby carrots in the Vitamix)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. In a tall measuring cup, whisk together the non-dairy milk,vinegar, oil, and chias. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, spices, and baking powder.  Add the wet to the dry and fold in the carrots, raisins, and walnuts. Mix well, taking care to watch for dry spots.  When drops of water dance on the skillet, add about a teaspoon of oil and swirl around. Dollop the pancakes in whatever size you’d like. Cook over medium-high heat until golden on the bottom, about 3 minutes (I made thick pancakes since that’s the way I like ’em). Flip and cook ‘til browned on the bottom.  Remove to a rack to cool. My recipe made about ten thick griddlecakes.




Thank you, Fashion-Forward Aunt, for the smiley spatula! 

Serve with maple syrup and daikon slaw!(Yea, srsly.)

Clearly I was on some kind of carrot cake kick last week; on Sunday I overhauled Morning Glory bread and shared it with le famille Alansyn.



Wednesday night I conjured up oatcakes after realizing that I was going to see my mentor without baked goods in hand, and Visiting--my friends--without baked goods to share, is a travesty in myworld.



For Lady Neona’s memorial celebration, I plan to make
--and pumpkin pie dip (same post as above; with apricots and raisins, not dates).

Praying I can change shifts to do so…it’s exciting and existential all at once to not know what my schedule is until the end of the week before. It’s like the “Tetris puzzle” of bagging; a varying and unpredictable schedule helps me grow and learn new ways to shuffle and prioritise the pieces of what I would like to do versus what I have to do.

Maximus the cat is making visceral, growly noises in his sleep as he naps in his royal purple “keister pillow” on one of the kitchen chairs.

Good night,
Q

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ave Atque Vale