Paleo Pancakes: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Paleo Banana Pancakes


I’m still wrapping up some paleo posts here. Not every recipe was a slam sunk. For example. The web is chockful if Paleo dieters searching for the perfect pancake recipe. I was looking to make use of some almond flour and found a recipe using that, bananas and eggs for what looked like a pancake. However the texture was not so good. Even worse, the pancake leftovers didn’t star the test of time, all 4 hours.
So when life gives you mediocrity, make mediocre robot muffins!
 

Banana Robot Cupcakes

 The kid enjoyed these. Only had enough to make two cupcakes/muffins. She ate the first one up, and would have eaten the second one the following night, had Max not interfered and snatched it when it fell to the floor. Poor muffin. Kid was retelling the story just yesterday, though this happened a month ago. Hard to forget the one that got away.

For the record, THESE are the best paleo banana pancakes.

 

My First Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day started with me being cranky.

Until the husband said, “Happy Mother’s Day” and I said, “Oh yeah!!” Goody. Suddenly I was in a much better mood. The babe gave me a wonderful card with lots of wonderful things written inside, as translated by the husband (she likes to call him the “waiter”).

Flashback to a few weeks ago. We were standing in line at the grocery store and I saw the display of Mother’s Day cards. I started thinking about all the things I had to do to get ready … get cards for my mom and my sis. Figure out what to get for my mom. Make sure the husband got something for his mom, etc etc. “Oh drat,” I say to the husband, “Mother’s Day is coming up.”

“Yeah,” he says back to me. “You’re a mother now”.  I am! Suddenly I got very excited.

“I want pancakes!”

In the past, Mother’s Day has been brunch at some restaurant on the Eastside. This year, the mother-in-law offered to make brunch at the in-laws’ house, which was a splendid idea. I didn’t want to go to a restaurant, especially since the babe has been cranky lately. This also gave the grandparents as much time as they wanted to fawn over the babe.

Mother-in-law made a delicious brunch that included French toast (even better than pancakes), fresh fruit, bacon, sausage and blood sausage. I didn’t actually know what the blood sausage was. The husband had to tell me on the way home. I wished I had remembered to take a photo. Boo.

And … dessert! Cute little mini-pastries, including cupcakes from SweetCakes in Kirkland. Mini eclairs, tiny lemon meringues, cream puffs and more. My favorite, as I get the opportunity to try a variety. Yum.

mamma mia!

mamma mia!

These are some of the desserts we were allowed to take home with us. The in-laws know me way too well.

I look forward to many more Mother’s Days, and to making amazing new traditions with my growing family. Hooray!

Baby Baby

Baby has a very cute sweater, knit by my friend, Marcie:

baby sweater

baby sweater

Super cute shoes from Cheryl & Katie:

mouse shoes. they match the cute outfit that came with it.

mouse shoes. they match the cute outfit that came with it.

Tasty baby shower food … Eggs with dill and other fancy herbs. Egg quiche. Tasty little puff pastries with savory fillings. One was sweet potato and bacon. The other was … mashed potatoes? Embarrasingly enough now I can’t remember. Regardless, the puffs and eggs were courtesy of JB. The quiche from I think Marcie.

baby shower food

baby shower food

Fun was had by all. Hooray!

B.E.S.T.

We found out at the last minute that my cousin, Paul, would be in town for a couple of days, so quickly planned an outing. We met at Julias @ Wallingford, a great brunch place that we haven’t been to in ages. I ordered the B.E.S.T. Sandwich, that is Bacon, Egg, Spinach and Tomato. Quite good, I basically cleaned the plate.

B.E.S.T. Sandwich from Julias

B.E.S.T. Sandwich from Julia's

Paul took a few pics of us so he could share them with my mom (Paul is married to my cousin, Prudence, and they live about 20 minutes away from my parents down in SoCal). My mom called me last night to tell me she saw the pics. “You’re so heavy!” were more or less the first words out of her mouth. Thanks, Mom. Thanks.

Breakfast, I mean Brunch

BTW, that last quiche post was so long, I didn’t actually get a chance to show you what else we had at Saturday’s brunch. Remember, we get up at 5 a.m., so by 8:30 it really does seem like brunch. I guess that’s why we call it brunch …

oh yeah, let’s end with the classic Entenmann’s chocolate-frosted donut. Gooo donuts!

The Pie-Crust Chronicles

The rowing club had their second “meet & greet” brunch on Saturday. Since I did muffins last time, I decided this time I should bring a protein. Makes most sense, as we are a bunch of athletes coming in from practice, hungry for carbs & protein, not just carbs. So, the decision was made weeks ago to make a quiche.

No problem, I thought. A month earlier I purchased a frozen, ready-made pie crusts from Trader Joe’s. So Friday evening I stopped at the MM and up your standard quiche ingredients.

I took the pie crust out of the freezer and at that point realized, this wasn’t pie crust in a pie plate. It was the kind you have to thaw and then unfold and put into your own pie crust. Um. Okay. At least one hour to thaw. A bit of a damper but it won’t stop me from doing this. So, I just prepped all of the ingredients while the pie crust thaws. It’ll be baking a little bit later than I would have preferred, but it’s gotta happen.

An hour later, I unfold the pie crust and see that it is broken into 4 quarters. Um. Great. It’s 8:45 p.m. and I have no pie crust.

I’ve got the ingredients. I could make one from scatch. How long could that possibly take?

At this point in the story, I’d like to take a few seconds to remind everyone of my previous pie-crust making experience. Remember the New Year’s apple pie? Yeah. Haven’t attempted since, despite receiving this kick-ass pies and tarts cookbook from the MIL.

So, I start a pie crust from scratch. And it’s going unbelievably well. Until I blind bake the damn thing:

bad pie crust via chattycha on flickr

What the hell is that? That’s what happens when you blind bake a pie crust without a) weighting it down with beans and b) don’t prick the pastry shell. It’s also wise to make sure it’s chilled, but I think a) and b) are the important tips.

I had switched recipes, from Great Pies & Tarts to Better Homes & Gardens and let me tell you, big mistake. At this point, it’s is 9:30 in the evening. I’m supposed to be at practice at 6 the next morning. I tell the husband of my woes and he is so kind. He comes downstairs and cleans the kitchen. He tastes the disastrous pie crust and thinks it tastes great. He doesn’t make fun of me, too much.

quiche via chattycha on flickr

The next morning, at 5:30, I go back to MM before practice and pick up an already made quiche, Spinach/Feta/Wild Mushroom. It does not go unnoticed that this whole quiche is exactly seven dollars and one cent cheaper than the amount I spent on ingredients the evening before.

The quiche from MM was ok. Not delightful, but certainly served the purpose as a protein for a post-workout meal. It disappears quickly, especially since it’s the only protein on the table.

Later on in the day, I was still kicking myself for not getting that pie crust right. Since I still had all of the ingredients for an awesome Quiche Lorraine, at 2 PM I set out to do it again. Made-from-scratch crust and all.pie crust via chattycha on flickr

Four hours later, success! I made the crust, chilled it for over an hour (recipe suggests 30 minutes minimum). I blind-baked it, covered in tin foil with beans weighting it down. And I pricked the shell. And I let it chill (again) beforehand.

As for taste … I’ve gotta say, the quiche was frikkin good. The crust was buttery, flaky and baked to a T. Very impressed with the recipe that the MIL recommended. Not something I could make on a regular basis (2 sticks of butter. That’s right. Two), but at least now the pie crust no longer owns me.

As for the quiche … tons o’ swiss cheese. I added some provolone to give it a different twang as well. Lightly seasoned with nutmeg, and even used 2% milk instead of the standard whole. I also used a nice thick alderwood-smoked bacon. And everyone knows, bacon makes everything taste good. This quiche was far superior than the ready-made one I had purchased earlier (if you don’t mind me saying).

It also passed the “morning-after” test. Tasted just as good the next day, cold right out of the fridge.

quiche via chattycha on flickr

Ta-da!

Mother’s Day Brunch

Happy Mother’s Day! My mother is in CO visiting her grandkids (it’s Mother’s Day so she gets to do what she wants.) Not sure if the mother of her grandkids was expecting it, but oh well. We went to brunch with the in-laws. Kirkland’s Yarrow Bay Grill, with its wonderful view of Lake Washington, offered a nice brunch today. We started with warm scones and croissants. The husband is a croissant connoisseur, and when he raves about a croissant, you know it’s going to be good. These, split in halves, were warm, moist, buttery and flaky. With some berry jam it was truly one of the best croissants I have tasted in a long time. I ended up picking up a second half. These were so good that the husband grabbed one more half before the main course was served for fear the waiter would take away the bread bowl too soon. That’s when I snapped this pic.

croissant via chattycha on flickr

Up next was a fruit dish … berries, melons and pineapple with a smidgen of yogurt on top. The husband also got a mint leaf. Following the fruit we had a salmon and lox appetizer served with crackers. All very nice.

For the main course I ordered the Seafood Frittata. Lobster, crab, scallops and various other seafoods combined with eggs and served with roasted potatoes and asparagus. A tomato salsa was drizzled on top. It was a bit heavy on the cilantro. Not a problem for me, but meant that the husband wouldn’t give it a taste. The husband ordered the Scrambled Eggs Carbonara. That looked quite good but I didn’t give it a taste. I first said no when he offered me a bit and the plate was cleaned when I thought maybe I should have given it a try. He gave it a thumbs up (how can you not say no to anything with bacon?

The Seafood Frittata (a bit blurry, but I was was hurried as I attempted to be inconspicuous about taking a photo:

seafood frittata via chattycha on flickr

A nice, enjoyable brunch with the in-laws. It was lengthy, too. Our reservation was for 11:45 and we finally left around 1:30. Quite nice to not be rushed. A long line of mothers and their families were waiting for their tables as we were leaving. Was quite glad that we got an earlier reservation time.

Brunch at 8:30?

When you are a rower, brunch at 8:30 doesn’t seem too unreasonable. Considering how many people are still sleeping at this time, I guess technically this was still breakfast. The rowing club held a get together this morning after practice. I made Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins. I wish the pics had turned out better. There was no natural light (this is what happens when you are baking muffins at 9:00 at night):

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins via chattycha on flickr

I used my new silicone muffin “tins” and they worked fabulously. I spritzed the tins with Pam and a few minutes after coming out of the oven the muffins nearly popped themselves out of the tin. Little to no manual labor was needed to get them cleaned (and I had done an impressive job getting batter all over those tins.). Highly recommended. I just wish I knew what to call them. They really aren’t tins anymore, now are they.

Man, I’ve made pumpkin stuff before, but adding chocolate chips brings it up a notch like you wouldn’t believe. It makes it all the more special, I tell you!

Most of the rowers also brought muffins and other carb-heavy, sweet treats:

Robyn’s Banana Muffins:

robyn's banana muffins via chattycha on flickr

Niki’s Blueberry Coffee Cake (not really sure what the name of it is, but it was good. I had two pieces):

niki's blueberry coffee cake via chattycha on flickr

Lori brought the protein, an Egg Strata. Delicious, and it was nearly devoured by the time I got around to taking a photo.

lori's egg strata via chattycha on flickr

Yay, Potluck!

Brunch with the Brooks

French toast & Eggs via chattycha on flickr

The Brooks owed us (rowers) a home-cooked meal, and today we cashed in. JB made French Toast using thick slices of artisan bread and a hint of orange zest. Warm maple syrup (the real stuff) on top. Eggs combined with oven-roasted mushrooms, ricotta cheese, thyme and lemon. The french toast was cooked to perfection and served just right. The eggs were light and fluffy with a nice complement of flavors. Empty plates from everyone.

french toast via chattycha on flickr eggs via chattycha on flickr

I was made fun of because I took pictures of the pets (Raisin and Tenzig), and the food (as described above), but not the people at this gathering. Ha! I’ve gotten so accustomed of taking pics of the same thing (food and Max), that I didn’t even think to take photos of the guests. Whoops. My bad.

Tenzig via chattycha on flickr Raisin the Turtle via chattycha on flickr

(Above Left: Tenzig checking the place out before pouncing. Above Right: Raisin, close-up).

Thanks to the Brooks. Yum.