Zucchini Fritters with Chipotle Cream or Zucchini Explosion Part II

Last year, when I was drowning in zucchini, I tried making zucchini fritters.  I wasn't overly impressed with them.  I tried my hand at them twice.  The second time I added a little grated potato for body.  It was a slight improvement, but not blog worthy.  I've been thinking about those fritters...and then it came to me.  While I was searching for different appetizers from my favorite bloggers, I came across cornmeal cakes on Annie's Eats.  Cornmeal, that's it!  Cornmeal would be the perfect ingredient to give my fritters enough body without being bland.  Annie's recipe inspired me to try again.  This time, in my humble opinion,  I came up with a blog worthy recipe.

Healthy Oatmeal Pancakes

In an effort to eat healthier this year, breakfast has become a very important meal.  Starting the day off with a meal that is filled with protein, whole grains and fruit. can pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day.  A healthy breakfast fills me up, boosts my energy level and will usually stave off hunger until late in the day.

It's difficult to eat a substantial breakfast on a work day.  I leave the house around 7:30AM and the thought of eating a big breakfast is the last thing on my mind.  The weekend is a different story.  I've always enjoyed making something special breakfast or brunch.  Weekend breakfasts are probably my favorite meal.  Unfortunately, they usually contains many of the foods we are trying to avoid.  In an effort to keep weekend breakfasts interesting, I needed to get creative.  I love pancakes, but I usually make them with white flour and top 'em off with butter and pure maple syrup.  I decided to make a healthier version.  These pancakes didn't require any special ingredients, just ingredients that I pretty much keep stocked in the house.  It does require the use of a food processor though.  I topped the pancakes with fresh berries, but a sauce made from frozen berries would be a good option if you can't get fresh.  This recipe made 12  three inch pancakes which fed me, Paul and another serving left over.  They are hearty pancakes! Leftovers can be wrapped and refrigerated.   For a quick weekday treat, just pop them in the microwave for a minute with some berries and you can pretend it's the weekend.

Pumpkin Pecan Belgian Waffles

Have you ever had one of those days where you just felt like you had eat something pumpkin?  Weird right?  I was out east for a few days where everything looked and felt like fall.  The wineries were buzzing as the grapes were being harvested.  Farm stands were at their best, brimming with cauliflower, broccoli, apples and beautiful fall chrysanthemums.  There were bales of hay, corn mazes and the most sincere pumpkin patches.  I was so looking forward to this little trip, a few days of tasting wine, dining on local seafood, and soaking up the NOFO ambiance,  but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and I had a nasty head cold the whole time.  Head cold + wine tasting= bad combination.  I went through "the motions" with everyone else, so not to be the party pooper,  but I felt as if my head was in a cloud and secretly longed to be under the covers in my own bed.  I did manage to shoot a few pictures one day.  The sun poked in and out between showers.

Looking toward Shelter Island

A break of sunshine

Make It A Blueberry Oatmeal Pancake Weekend!

Pancakes make me happy.  I'm not sure why, they just do.  Or maybe it's the other way around.  Maybe when I'm happy I want pancakes.  Really, when do you eat pancakes?  Weekends?  Snow days?  On vacation?  Which came first, being happy or pancakes?

Growing up, pancakes were like "the special occasion" breakfast.  We ate pancakes the first day of summer vacation.  We'd have pancakes on Christmas morning.  My mother didn't make pancakes just any old time; she made them to celebrate something special.  There were a few times we actually got to eat pancakes for dinner when my dad was out of town on business.   My dad did not like pancakes.  For the longest time I did not understand how he could not share in my love of those heavenly, fluffy vehicles for maple syrup.  It wasn't until I was about 12 years old,  begging to go to IHOP while our family was on vacation, that my dad shared his story of the origin of his pancake avoidance.   During WWII he served in the Navy on a ship in the South Pacific.  The ship was at sea for quite some time and had run out of rations.  The only thing they had left to cook was pancake mix.  My dad and his shipmates ate pancakes for something like 28 days, two meals a day.  Hmmmm....so what was the problem?  I guess they didn't have any real maple syrup.

The first thing I ever made from scratch was a batch pancakes.  I made some pancakes for my brother and his friends.  I was trying to impress the boys with my culinary skills, but my pancakes were not the light and fluffy pancakes that I envisioned.  I don't know where I went wrong, but they were dense and well....inedible.  I was horrified to see my brother's friends playing Frisbee with my pancakes in our back yard. 

I can say with confidence that my pancake making skills have improved.  The apple did not fall far from the tree, as pancakes are one of Melissa's favorites as well.  I've experimented with recipes over the years, and she has always been a difficult customer since she likes Bisquick pancakes and doesn't understand my my quest to make the perfect buttermilk pancake.  Since she has been eating healthy the past few months,  I thought she'd be open to trying my newly concocted Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes for breakfast when she visited last weekend.  Like I said, she's always been a difficult customer....when I asked her opinion I got, "they're OK".  I translated that into a SUCCESS.  We all really liked them and I hope you do too.