Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

I know, I know. Pumpkin EVERYTHING! EVERYWHERE! But it's fall, so pumpkins. So there.

I was born in central New York and raised in Connecticut. And my birthday is in October, the day before Halloween no less. So I am sure that I would be violating some sort of unwritten contract if I didn't love everything pumpkin and apple and autumnal. So it's a damn good thing I do!

I also love food blogs, but it makes me crazy when there are 8,000 pictures of the same dish before you can even see the recipe! So I won't do that to you.

I made these delicious pancakes this morning, and they are full of fiber and can be easily adapted to your own taste and dietary preferences, as well as vegan and gluten free options. They aren't too sweet, which is how I like my pancakes. I also like texture, so the addition of oats is good and adding walnuts makes them even better. Not everyone in my family likes walnuts, so I added them to the top of each individual pancake before I flipped them to the other side. I made half with and half without. I didn't soak my walnuts first because I decided when I woke up that I wanted these, and I didn't have presoaked ones on hand. You could also add diced apples, dried cranberries, raisins, ground flax seeds, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts. This already makes a boat load of pancakes (which can easily be frozen and reheated in your toaster), so remember the more stuff you add, the more you will have. But they will be so chock-full of good stuff, they will practically be like breakfast cookies! With butter and syrup!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
In a large bowl, whisk together:
1-1/2 cups raw milk (or almond, rice, or hemp)
1 can organic pumpkin puree (or mashed sweet potato)
2 eggs (or egg substitute if you are vegan. I don't have a lot of experience with chia as an egg replacement, but if you do, go for it!)
2 tbs. melted butter or oil of your choice (coconut, grape seed)
2 tbs. unfiltered apple cider vinegar (Bragg's is what I use)


Then add:
4 tbs. brown sugar (or honey, maple syrup, or molasses)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbs. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger (grate some fresh, if you have it)

Whisk briskly, then add:
2 c. all-purpose flour (or 1/2 wheat and 1/2 AP. Or a gluten free AP substitute.)
1/2 c. rolled oats (or soaked steel cut oats)
2 c. walnuts (and/or other additions)

Stir completely and thoroughly. Then drop by 1/4 cup blobs and fry in butter or oil. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Or melted fig jam. Or anything that you like!



And some thick peppered bacon goes perfectly!

Saturday Morning Farmers Market

Then I came home and made pancakes with these giant blackberries and some lemon curd. 

Weeds or Wildflowers?

If I have to pullover to the side of the road just to take their photo, I say wildflowers. 

The Joy of a Proper Bagel

I.

Made.

Bagels!

I made bagels! From scratch! They were surprisingly easy and incredibly delicious. I can't get over how easy they were. All of them had flaked salt on them, and then some had poppy seeds, some sesame, and some caraway.

I made one with all three seeds, plus dried rosemary. And then I stood by the counter and ate the whole thing, slathered in raw butter. Well, I did give hubby a bite. We just stared at each other like, “What have I done?!”

I used this recipe, and it could not have been easier. Since I have been here in the Midwest, I have not had a good bagel, i.e. an East Coast bagel. I don’t even know if this qualifies as an East Coast bagel. But it is a delicious, homemade bagel that is chewy on the outside, tender inside, and can be made with whatever flavors you like.


Oh, thank heavens for the dough hook!

Formed, already boiled, and topped with salt and seeds.

Baked and ready to eat! I probably could have let them go another 5 minutes or so, but I didn't want to mess them up!

Little Girl Hair

My girl is 7 now, but still small for her age and looks much younger. Well, I think she looks much younger, but she's got long arms and legs. She's very tall! If she were standing, that is. Her new haircut makes her look her age now, I think.

Anyway.

Her hair is this lovely, soft cornsilk, but the back has always been a complete nightmare. For years, I attributed it to her being on her back a lot, but that is not the case. She can look perfectly normal from the front, but then the back is horrible, all knotted up, and almost matted into one solid dreadlock. I have tried coconut oil, olive oil, argan oil, and all kinds of leave-in conditioner. Even lotion, for Pete's sake. I was at Barnes & Noble one morning when I saw a man walk in with his daughter. She had the rattiest, messiest snarl of locks that I had ever seen — since I dropped P off at school that morning, that is. We chatted for a bit, commiserated over the frustration and pain involved with that kind of hair. We basically gave each other permission to carry on.

I would love for her to have long, blonde ringlets or at least be at a length that I could braid, put up, play with. Maybe when she's older — if she allows me to still play with her hair.

For now, a short bob with lots of conditioner and regular brushing is all we can do.

Before

After

Or we could just forget about it and get her this t-shirt.

I just approved two comments from nearly TWO years ago! That just sad. I am so sorry!

I've been intending to get back to this. My neighbor works for a big blog site that rhymes with Blogger, and she encouraged me. So here I am. And I actually have something to say.

There has been a big (pun intended) movement lately of body acceptance for us rounder girls. Finally. What I don't understand about this is how it brings the amateur doctors and armchair stylists out of the woodwork! Every person knows better than your own doctor and, by God, they can just look at you and tell that you have diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, and probably cooties. We round girls don't think that every skinny person has an eating disorder or a tapeworm or giardia. We also don't assume that they are healthy. Just like it is totally unfair to assume that we are unhealthy OR that we eat Twinkies for breakfast, fried chicken for lunch, and 8 cartons of ice cream for dinner. As an aside, I just need to say that there are people in my family, extended family, who talk about how fat they are and are constantly on some diet or another. Because they are like a size 10 or in one case, a 2. Seriously. They must think I am some sort of monster. That's fine. I ain't got time for that kind of crap!

Anyway, I am not turning this into a fat acceptance blog. There are people that do that far better than I could ever dream, like Jess at The Militant Baker and anyone involved in this bit of awesomeness. I just had to get this off my chest as I had it out with some people on xoJane.com today. But I also got some immense love there and that was fantastic.

Your body does not determine your worth. There are worse things in the world to be than fat. Like a bigot or a racist or a misogynist or a murderer or a rapist or a child molester or a hypocrite or a traitor or a liar or abusive or mean to animals or mean to other people or rude. Well, I hope you get it. Thanks for listening.