February was a rough month. For just about everybody I know. You?
Somewhere towards the beginning, a car crashed into my dining room. At 5:30 PM. When we should have been sitting at the dining room table eating dinner. But I was feeling grouchy (February was a rough month.) and decided to stop at Chipotle instead of cooking. I got home with two sleepy boys ready for a bath and bed to find our front yard strewn with glass and splintered hunks of wood and the flashing red lights of fire trucks and small huddled groups of neighbors and a forest green honda accord compressing our baby strollers to the front door.
Shockingly, no one was hurt. The front windows are still boarded up. And there's still some structural work to be done. But we're back in our house. It's fine. Just dark.
And to make matters worse, our best pals have abandoned us to live and work in New Orleans for the next six months.
So today we will rally with pancakes.
Traditionally, I understand, pancakes are eaten on this last day before Lent as one last hurrah - to use up your butter and sugar before the spartan living of this reflective period before Easter.
I would like to flip all that around. I'll take the pancakes, but to mark richness to come, not past. Bring on the (vegan) butter and sugar and flowers and sunshine and seventy degree days (like Saturday). More bike rides and barbecues. And strawberries. And margaritas. Right now, please.
There's no school today, and Paul's between movies, so we will celebrate as if Pancake Day were really the national holiday it obviously should be. (Oh my, this is liberating, I am so declaring my own national holidays from here on out. Just think of what this could mean...)
Paul's Buttermilk Pancakes
Serves 4. Makes about 15 3 to 4 inch pancakes.
- 1 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups soy milk
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
In a glass measuring cup, stir together the milk and vinegar and set aside to thicken (that's how you make vegan buttermilk).
Now, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Go get your griddle ready. It should be heated to medium-low.
By now your buttermilk should be quite thick. Add the sugar, vanilla, and oil to the cup. Stir. And pour the wet ingredients into the dry.
You should have a nice thick-ish batter with some lumps. Don't over mix.
When your griddle is nice and hot, lather it lightly with vegan butter and pour your batter onto the hot surface. About 1/4 cup of batter will give you a nice sized pancake. When the edges are dry and some bubbles have formed and popped, it's ready to flip.
Repeat. Serve hot with vegan butter and maple syrup.
