Apple Cinnamon Multigrain Pancakes

I have a friend I met when Anne was just about 2 weeks old - the first time I went to our parish's playgroup. Her younger daughter was 5 weeks old at the time, so those girls have been friends almost from birth, which I think is kind of amazing.



We spend a lot of time together. Like, a lot. And when we're not together, we talk almost every day, at least once. She only lives 6 blocks away, and because her husband also has a very demanding job, we have established a wonderful tradition of coming together for "family dinners" on most of the nights when both husbands have to be away for dinner for whatever reason.


{After she helped me make the apples and batter and then saw me run over to the good light to take a photo, she ran over to her play kitchen, grabbed a pan and said, "Can you take a smile of my dinner?" Aspiring food blogger right here.}

These dinners are complete sanity-savers for me. The girls play, and we usually sip a glass of wine and talk while we cook.



The reason this kind of community is so important to me is that food was not meant to be enjoyed alone. And during those weeks when my husband's work keeps him away during most of my waking hours, elevating my dinner conversation beyond what a 2-year-old is capable of is nothing short of miraculous.



Like the loaves and the fishes, sharing multiplies. It multiplies our gratefulness for the food we have, our ability to see what's right in front of us, our awareness of the presence of the Spirit in our lives.



Community like this is rare in the world we live in. So tonight, after a rough week of surviving, I rolled up my sleeves and made pancakes and said a prayer of thanks from my heart.



Apple Cinnamon Multigrain Pancakes

For the apples:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the pancakes:
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup amaranth flour
1/3 cup rye flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add apples, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon, and toss together. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5-6 minutes, until the apples are soft but not falling apart, and the sugar and butter are sticky and caramelized. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk together. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl, then pour wet into dry and whisk together. Set aside for 10-15 minutes if possible, just to allow the batter to bubble and develop a bit. I think this makes for puffier pancakes.

Preheat an electric griddle to 350 degrees, or set up a skillet over a medium flame. Not too hot, or the outsides will burn before the insides get done! When the pan is hot, rub butter all over, and then scoop the batter in 1/4- to 1/3-cup servings. (I made some little silver-dollars for the kids, some of whom sometimes scream when I cut their food.) In about a minute, spoon some of the cinnamon-apples onto the top, and then when the underside is golden (2-3 minutes total), flip! Cook another minute or two and repeat until batter is gone. Serve topped with butter and extra apples or maple syrup.

Lavender Buttermilk Pancakes

I've been a little hesitant to sign up for a CSA box.  It sounds like a fantastic idea, but I just... I don't know.  I'm worried about what would happen if the entire box was full of things that one of us didn't like.  What would we do with all that food?  Maybe when we have a family to feed it won't seem so intimidating. 

For now, though, I've discovered this great service to supplement my farmers' market visits: Door to Door Organics.  They deliver boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables, and if you choose, they can all be from local farms!  They just recently started serving the Chicago area, and while I still prefer to choose my own produce at the market, this was a good experiment.  I left a cooler on my front porch yesterday morning when I left for work, and when I got home, it was filled with tons and tons of veggies:

Clockwise from top left: arugula, collard greens, dandelion greens, zucchini,
cucumber, green leaf lettuce, yellow squash, and red leaf lettuce.

I got them out, sorted through them, and then made pancakes and bacon for dinner.  That's just who I am.  Over the next few days, I will be munching my way through most of this solo, since nobody else who lives in my apartment eats leafy greens (unless they are extremely well hidden).  So I deserved pancakes... in advance of my healthy future decisions.  Right?



I always use the last bit of batter to make a bunny. 

 Just like my mom always did.



Lavender pancakes

Lavender Buttermilk Pancakes
adapted from smittenkitchen

The original recipe called for 3 cups of buttermilk.  I only had 2 cups of buttermilk, so I combined what remained of basically every sour-milk product in my refrigerator: buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir.  It was delicious.  If you have 3 cups of buttermilk, go ahead and use it, but if you only have kefir or yogurt, or you need to combine, have confidence that it will taste amazing.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk (or a combination of buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
a few tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Preheat an electric griddle to 350, or a skillet over medium-high heat.  Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add eggs, buttermik, and butter, and whisk until just barely combined.  You like the lumps.  Leave them in there.  Brush the griddle with canola or safflower oil, and use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to ladle batter onto it.  Sprinkle each pancake sparingly with lavender flowers; the flavor is very strong, so be careful not to use too much.  When bubbles form and start to burst on the surface of the pancakes, and the edges are dry, flip them over and cook until golden on both sides.  Serve with warm maple syrup.

Makes about 18 4-inch pancakes, plus one bunny.