It has been a while since I’ve posted anything on this blog. It’s funny because I haven’t stopped cooking. It’s just that with the stress of a new, very demanding job, on top of being a single mom with a toddler, cooking has been hurried, a little clumsy, and somewhat uninspiring. But I realized this morning – as I leisurely transformed a leftover sweet potato from last night’s dinner into a buttery, savory pancake mix – that my nerves were cooled and my usual sense of urgency and pressure was quelled.
I was singing as I drizzled the batter on the griddle. Singing! Seriously, I haven’t sung since…well I really can’t remember. But I’m sure it was sometime before defending my dissertation. But this morning I taught my son the tunes of The Twelve Days of Christmas and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and even fit in some type of cheesy twirl dance.
Really I was acting pretty goofy this morning and as we unhurriedly dwelled on our delicious sweet potato pancakes I came to the realization that I’m pretty settled in my new job. I’ve fully adjusted to the new culture and environment. I’m highly productive and doing some pretty awesome things in a relatively short amount of time. I have a lot to be happy about and very little to stress about.
So with that I decided to resume my very fulfilling hobby of making real food and sharing it through this blog. Next up Mexican wedding cookies. Just as soon as I get that recipe from Tracy. I hope you’re reading this Tracy.
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recipe from The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook
makes about 18 to 22 pancakes and serves 6 to 8
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup milk
1 cup cooked, peeled, and mashed sweet potatoes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Canola oil
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a second large bowl, whisk together milk, sweet potato, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until batter is just blended. Do not over mix.
Preheat oven to 200° F. Lightly coat a griddle or large saute pan with canola oil and preheat over medium heat. (The surface is properly heated when a few drops of cold water flicked onto it jump and sputter; if the water just sits and slowly boils, the surface is not hot enough, if it steams away immediately, it is too hot.) Ladle 1/4 cup batter per pancake. When bubbles appear, flip pancakes and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Keep cooked pancakes warmed on an ovenproof plate, loosely covered with foil, ion a preheated oven while you make the whole batch.
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