This is the last time I mention pancakes. Promise. (JK I would never promise such a thing.)
Today I’m bringing you Coconut Pancakes. For this pancake situation, I teamed up with my friends Geri and Erin of LEAFtv. If you’re unfamiliar, LEAFtv is a how-to concept (and soon-to-be shoppable video site) that’s fresh, fun and beautifully shot. And! Their music is always really awesome. You’ll start by watching one video and then find yourself having watched 10. They’re addicting!
We shot about six recipes/videos in one day and this is the first one to be released. These pancakes are some of my favorites–the flavors remind me of being on a tropical island with a pina colada and a book in my hand. I need this in my life soon. If you’re currently reading this from your iPad sitting on the beach, then I’m jealous. If you’re not, then, well, we have these pancakes.
I love a good scone. Maybe it’s because I love English things like Downton Abbey, Mini Coopers and corgis. I’m not sure, but scones, tea and my pinky out is my current mood. I feel like I have another part of me that loves sweet tea, rollers in my hair, fried green tomatoes (the food and the movie) and Nashville. But that’s for another day. (ALSO CAN WE DISCUSS LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE?!)
Today we’re exploring my more dainty, English, proper side. I had leftover cherries hanging in my fridge and chocolate chilling in my pantry. I figured I couldn’t let this combination pass. It needed to be done.
I’ve been wanting to make some sort of buckwheat scones for a long time now. I adore buckwheat. It really does have a bad reputation because it has the ability to turn fluffy, light baked goods into heavy, door stoppers. But if done right (read: cut with all-purpose flour) it can really add a nice nutty, earthy flavor. These scones aren’t hockey pucks. No sireee. No. They’re tender, buttery, with a big, hearty, scone-like crumb. I li-it-uh-lot.
I’ve only recently become a weird morning person. I used to seriously turn off my alarm and then sleep the most anxious-ridden extra 15 minutes ever, knowing very well that I had to get up a few minutes later. Not a pleasant sleep but I’d still do it! WHY? So dumb. But now I set no alarm, and every single morning I miraculously wake up a little bit after 7am. (It also helps that I have a little beast of an animal I live with who whimpers at my face until my eyes finally open. So, I guess I do have an alarm clock, just not a traditional one.)
In college I had late night film classes and super early morning classes, which meant I was an awful person to be around before 10am. The one thing that would get me through the drudge of early morning stuff was the local coffee shop which had terrible coffee BUT an awesome marble loaf. It was seriously the only thing that kept me from sleeping through the first day’s class.
I wrote a cookbook. It happened. I haven’t spoken about it much because sometimes I’m shy. But today is the day when I scream it from the rooftops, text you to tell you about it, using lots of emojis and exclamations points, nudge you to maybe, only if you want to, pre-order it from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
My lil’ ol’ humble cookbook is being published by St. Martin’s Press and the release date is coming soon (eeeek!), May 28th!
This cookbook, like all cookbooks, was a labor of love with the help of my awesome literary agent, Danielle and super smart and fellow food-lover of an editor, BJ. The pretty pictures and styling was done by my friends, Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park. The cookbook is about my favorite breakfast food ever invented: pancakes. There are 72 recipes of breakfast pancakes, dinner pancakes, nerdy pancake information and even some savory and sweet toppings.
Before I show you a bunch of pictures of the cookbook, I feel like we should talk about these Banana Bourbon Pancakes because they’re pretty major. I know I’m not supposed to have favorites in the book but I do. I just do. These are one of them.
The bananas are caramelized in a bit of bourbon, butter, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. They’re cooked until golden brown and then added to a bourbon-spiked pancake batter. Holy moly. They’re fluffy and boozy and slightly sweet and oh so very delicious. I love. Just love.
Secret: For the past year I’ve been totally enamored with a certain cookbook. I’ve read it in bed, read it on airplanes, read it standing up in the kitchen and cooked from it over and over again. (Examples here and here.) It’s the dreamiest book about my favorite subject in the entire world. There are no pictures, just words, great words, in fact. And recipes that have all worked for me.
Marion Cunningham’s Breakfast Book is a gem. It’s the little black dress of my kitchen. I use it all the time for inspiration or as a base recipe, adding and subtracting what I like.
This recipe for Marion Cunningham’s Yeasted Waffles is a throwback. Maybe one of the most famous recipes ever. I hesitated whether I should share it with you because, I dunno, it’s everywhere on the internets. But I just love it so hopefully this will be new to one or two of you.
You know the bulk bin area at the grocery store? You know, the area where they have all the crazy nuts, different flours, dried fruits and oats. THAT place is my absolute favorite section.
I feel like my brain goes into overdrive and all I wanna do is try all sorts of stuff I’d never normally think to cook with. It’s inspiration central. It’s also the place where people loooove sticking their entire hands into the bins so they can try a little bit of this or that. WHY?! Not ok. As a society we should be a little better than this. I mean, at least use the scooper!
Right now I’m having a moment with freeze dried strawberries. I blame the astronaut ice cream I loved eating whenever we took family trips to the space museum. If you’re new to the world of freeze dried fruit, it has the same exact texture as the astro ice cream but a totally different flavor. Think strawberries in overdrive. Yes, it’s magical.
1. If I never see Lena Dunham’s boobs again, I’ll be ok. We see them too much, I think.
2. The best way to procrastinate is to look through Kim Kardashian’s Instagram–pure gold!
3. I just found out there’s a corgi walk in Portland, where like hundreds of corgis go on a walk together. And it dawned on me, just as I was mentally planning a trip to Portland, that I actually can’t go…because there’s a good chance that’ll I pass out in the middle of the street from all the cuteness.
4. I’ll never get sick of putting on warm sweats straight from the dryer. Best feeling EVER!
5. Spring cleaning feels amazing. I feel lighter, cuter and quicker. I have no idea why it took me so long to get on the Spring-cleaning-bandwagon, but I did it (a little) on Saturday and loved it. I mean, I didn’t love it, but I love the results.
I put things in cute mason jars and wrote the contents’ names on the front. I must’ve spent a solid fifteen minutes just staring at them in organizational amazement. And not so surprisingly, organizing made me want to make things with the contents I forgot I had.
Like everything else in this world, I have an opinion about Irish Soda Bread. For years I thought that Irish Soda Bread should stick to being traditional.
Not that I’m a traditional girl, by any means, but I dunno…there’s something to a recipe that’s purpose is to be made, eaten and enjoyed with minimal ingredients, effort and time. Irish Soda Bread’s history is rooted in this notion, so to make it fancy just seemed rude.
So, when it came to make traditional, normal Irish Soda Bread I really wanted to stick to the plan, but I swayed.
Butter lured me, so did whiskey, as it always seems too. The added additions and tweaks are welcomed. I mean, a lot of people complain about traditional Irish Soda Bread tasting dry, crumb-ey and just overall bland.
This Irish Soda Bread is the exact opposite of all of those things.
And I’m pretty sure it mostly has to do with these raisins…soaked and macerated in Irish Whiskey.
This is a story of how I turn three super ugly, sad (do you see what I did below?) bananas into something interesting, comforting and delicious! I went on a short road trip this past weekend and when I returned the three bananas I bought for a healthy granola breakfast had turned into a hideous, dark brownish sight.
I think banana bread is the go-to thing to make when you’re dealing with unattractive, super ripe bananas. This version has a few unexpected yet delicious twists that I’m really into.
The banana bread starts in normal fashion: ugly bananas being mashed up. I added a few splashes of milk, a generous drizzle of honey and a flew glugs of orange blossom water.
I swear that in a few days I’m going to make something healthy for you but today? Chicken ‘n’ waffles, my fwiendz.
A few weeks ago, one of you lovely people told me that I make “happy food” and that seriously about made my day. I’m pretty positive that chicken ‘n’ waffles easily falls into that category.
I feel like happy food can be super powerful. It has the ability to make an already awesome, lazy Saturday morning even more lazy and fun; it can make a sucky Tuesday night, post-work, a little less sucky; and it can make a drunken 3am eating session into something nourishing.
Happy food is fun. I feel like we should collectively promise ourselves we’re going to eat lots of “fun food” before bathing suit season. Let’s eat waffles today and a salad tomorrow.
