Palatable pumpkin protein pancake

Sploosh

With fall here and a chill in the air, I thought I needed to switch my usual protein shake to something that would give me the warm and fuzzies. Enter the protein pancake! I’d seen variations of protein pancakes made on Twitter, but my pancakes always fell flat (Get it? Flat?). So I trusted my gut and came up with my own recipe because I’m a home cook and they are fitness instructors and who wants a pancake recipe from a gym rat?

So here’s what I came up with:

Put in a blender:

1 cup almond milk

3 egg whites

1 whole egg

½ cup pumpkin purée (plain, canned)

1 scoop protein powder (optional)

½ cup white whole wheat flour

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

BLEND!

It’ll keep a few days in the fridge. Pour on a hot pan in the morning for a quick pancake that’ll fill you until lunch. Top with your favorite fruit and maple syrup.

Holiday Spirits

I like to make and bake my gifts to friends for Christmas. This year, since I'm into cocktail making, I thought I'd give some mason jars filled with a yummy cocktail (sterilize jars first.) I wanted something ginger based so it was holiday appropriate and could easily be weakened with ginger ale without taking away from the balance of flavors.

Making ginger syrup is easy! Just peel some fresh ginger (I use a spoon.) Then chop it up and throw it into a pot of a couple of cups of water and a cup of brown sugar (I'd use white sugar if it's hot outside.) I don't measure so you'll just have to eye  how much you'd like. Stir while it simmers for about 20 minutes so it reducing it down a little.

I poured the cooled syrup into a bottle with a pour spout. The cocktail had bourbon, ginger syrup, and a peel of clementine. Seal the top on tight, make a cute label and give the gift of holiday "spirit"!

Nice Cube

Sphere ice in holiday cocktail

We’re really getting into cocktail making here at 141 (what we call our house.) So for Christmas I got Tom a spherical ice mold like the one we saw at a speakeasy in Nashville, TN. Not only are these little balls of joy cool looking, they are functional, too! The size of the ice creates less melting and keeps your drink colder longer.

The cocktail pictured is bourbon, Apple Jack, homemade ginger liquor, and some freshly squeezed lemon. Cheers!

Dinner Tourist

My mom waiting to serve and dad taking photos

Thanksgiving was special this year because I got to visit my parents in my hometown with Tom. I hadn’t been home since I moved to CT two and a half years ago. I felt like a tourist, researching local breweries in Ashville and Boone and stopping in antique shops to buy Christmas gifts. It made for a memorable holiday; especially when we all sat down to eat.

 

My mother and I take pride in our Thanksgiving meal. We use the best ingredients- everything is homemade. Since Tom is a restaurant owner, I wanted everything to be perfect (which also resulted in a lengthier prep time). We used an apple cider glaze for our turkey and the gravy from the turkey came out a dark wine color as a result. It was perfectly cooked. The white meat was tender and moist and the dark meat was juicy and really flavorful.

While we cooked, we sipped Madeira and snacked on cheese from Caseus. I decided to mix it up a little when it came to our vegetable dish. I found a recipe for jerk spiced Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and chic peas. I first crisped up the veggies in a pan of oil, and then baked them at high heat with honey, butter, salt, and pepper. Then I sprinkled the spice mixture all over to give it that jerk flavor.

 

Our sweet potatoes were really small and skinny from the local farmers market. My mom meticulously peeled and scraped the baked potatoes, then put them in the food processor to make them nice and smooth.

The salad had a pomegranate seed dressed with very thinly sliced red onion over arugula with mandarin orange slices.

I found a recipe for homemade sweet yeast rolls that I had rising in a bowl while we cooked. Just before we started to set the table, I popped them in the oven, first coating them with heavy cream.  

 I made a pecan pie with a chocolate crust and my mom did a traditional pumpkin pie. When it was time for dessert, I made some whipped cream with sugar and vanilla.