April Showers

Waking up to the soft pit-a-patter of rain on a lazy Saturday morning is one of the best feelings in the world. No, I take that back. Pulling up the covers, snuggling a little deeper, and snoozing for another hour or two definitely tops it. Days like these are special- when you can just kick back, relax, and enjoy life without a care in the world. And what better way to treasure the moment than with a stack of warm banana pancakes and a cup of joe? As JJ so aptly puts it, "can't you see that it's just rainin'/ there ain't no need to go outside."

Banana Pancakes
adapted from All Recipes- makes about 6 large pancakes

-1 cup all purpose flour

-1 TBS sugar

-2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt

-1 egg (if you want to get extra fancy, separate egg white and yolk)

-1 cup milk

-2 TBS butter, melted (**Note: can omit this to cut the fat if planning on serving immediately. if saving some for later, i'd add this so they don't get slightly tough)

-2 ripe bananas, mashed

-1/4 tsp vanilla

-cinnamon

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking power, and salt in 1 bowl. Add dash of cinnamon. In separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, butter, vanilla, and bananas. (**Note: if you want extra fluffy pancakes, only add egg yolk here and follow option after step 2).

2. Stir dry ingredients into wet until mixed in. Batter will be lumpy. Be careful to not over-mix. (**Option for extra fluffy pancakes: Beat egg white separately. Gently fold in to already combined wet and dry mixture).

3. Set lightly greased pan on low to med-low heat. When pan warm, pour batter onto griddle, about 1/3 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes golden brown on both sides. (**Note: be careful with the heat!! If it's too hot, your pancakes will burn on the outside and not be cooked in the inside).

4. Serve hot. Top as desired.

can't wait till october!

Snack Attack... Chinese- style!

my first day in the MICU, and i had the afternoon off! what better way to spend the extra hours than in the kitchen? :) i decided to try out a scallion pancake recipe- link included below. (sorry, too lazy today to type out instructions :P)

http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/chinese-scallion-pancakes-photo-photo-recipe

**note: this recipe requires yeast. and the water: flour measurements are definitely off. i had to add a lot of extra flour to get the dough to be the right consistency. but she does provide pictures, which helps

no rolling pin? no problem! improvise with any round-ish surface you have in the kitchen... (i used a beer glass hahaha)

final conclusion: major props to chinese moms who do this on a regular basis!


if you want to try a recipe without yeast, this is from my good friend, joanna:

Scallion Pancakes

1. mix 3 cups flour with 1 cup flour

2. add 1/3 cup cold water and mix til even

3. knead on lightly floured surface until you have smooth ball o'dough

4. let dough rest 30 mintures

5. chop scallions into 1/8" pieces while you wait

6. take dough and form log 2-3 inches in diameter

7. cut log into 6-8 equal pieces

8. take one piece of dough, round than flatten in lightly floured surface

9. roll dough until about 1/16" thick

10. put 1 tsp oil on top, spread evenly

11. sprinkle layer of salt on top then a layer of chopped scallions

12. roll up pancake with scallion side on inside

13. once you've rolledup pancake, take one end of the roll and wrap around the other so it makes a circle (similar to a cinammon roll) (tuck end under so it doesn't unravel)

14. put piece of saran wrap over them and let rest for 30 minutes (so oil can absorb into dough more)

15. roll them out after 30 minutes, flatten with palm first, then roll into round pancake until 1/8" thick

16. put about 1 Tbsp oil in frying pan and fry on medium high heat

let me know which you like better!