Pile of Pancakes

If you're like I am, the days after Thanksgiving are filled with nibbles and left-overs. By Sunday, I'm usually ready for something that doesn't resemble turkey, yams, or cranberries.

And that's precisely why I became fixated on pancakes yesterday. I had gotten a taste of these last weekend when our friends, Matt and Elie, joined us for brunch. I pulled out a recipe I'd printed a year ago and stashed away: Mark Bittman's Whole-Grain Pancakes. For those of you who don't follow the Minimalist, I highly recommend his cheeky videos on nytimes.com; his recipes happen to be fabulous, too. This recipe yields a big batch of fluffy, moist cakes, despite the whole-wheat and buckwheat. The secret is in the eggs, which are separated... the whites are whipped into stiff peaks.



Sunday Morning Pancakes
(adapted from Mark Bittman's Whole-Grain Pancakes)

3 Tbsp butter (plus more for serving)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup buckwheat
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup milk

Melt 3 tablespoons butter. In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (I prefer to let my electric mixer do this job.) Don't overbeat. In separate bowl, beat milk and buttermilk, yolks and melted butter until foamy - about a minute. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and give a couple of good stirs, but don't overmix. Fold in egg whites and stir until batter is just evenly colored and smooth; the lumps are okay.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter, heat just past white foaming stage, then add batter. Drop walnuts onto batter rounds. Cook until bubbles form and pop, about 1-2 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until well-colored. Keep them hot in the oven while you finish the rest of the batch.

Serve with a bowl full of colorful fresh fruit... or caramel-y sauteed apples, as we did yesterday. Please don't skimp on the maple syrup. And if you're feeling decadent, whip some cream and add a generous dallop to your steaming heap.

Full-Time Thanks

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I'm feeling the urge to give a little thanks.

I'm delighted to report that I accepted a wonderful job offer yesterday... at the Swedish Medical Center Foundation. In my new position, I'll be working on a variety of events that support one of Seattle's most well-respected and established medical centers. I'll be tied closely with the brand-new Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment, and a fascinating pianist-turned-neurosurgeon named Dr. Greg Foltz.

I was pleased to hear from my dad (I wonder how many other Minnesotans read the Seattle news?) that there was a lengthy article about the new Brain Cancer Center in today's Seattle Times! Click here to view the article.

I'll look forward to sharing more details soon. But for now, I just have to say, "thank goodness."

Tasty Morsel

So, you probably want a juicy update, don't you? I'm inclined to blather about our stunning Sunday hike near Snoqualmie Pass, but I'll give you a few scraps to chew on rather than wax poetic about a yellow maple.
































I started a part-time internship at the Seattle Art Museum today. I'm working in the development department, spearheading a fun, new corporate membership project. I should mention that this new internship complements my part-time work at the University of Washington and my other part-time work at a charming restaurant in Ballard. For those of you who aren't great with numbers, three part-time jobs = a lot of work.

When I walked into the museum this afternoon, it smelled of peanut butter sandwiches and wet tennies. I rounded the corner to find a herd of fourth-graders, lounging on the steps and feeding from rumpled brown bags. It sounds odd, I know, but I envied those students and their squishy sandwiches!

I made my way up to the 5th floor and met Jeanine, my supervisor. She showed me to my glamorous cubicle. It's quite nice, actually, save the enormous computer monitor that makes my eyes jitter and twitch. Once I got settled, Jeanine took me on a grand tour and introduced me to the whole cast of characters, the people who make the Seattle Art Museum tick. It's good to be there and I'm happy to be connecting another group of interesting Seattleites.

That's your morsel for this week. Almost as tasty as PB&J from a sack lunch you didn't have to pack. I know.