Shrovetide

We look for any excuse to celebrate all manner of holidays at our house, and Shrove Tuesday is no exception. A tradition from my husband's family, we always enjoy a pancake dinner on the last day before Lent, a carry over from the days where all the good stuff (eggs, butter, fat and sugar) were used up before Lenten fasting. In other parts of the world Carnival and Mardi Gras are celebrated with much the same purpose-to let loose, before the strict days of prayer, confession and reflection leading up to Easter.

My children love to have breakfast for dinner any time of year, and I prepare it with equal enthusiasm because it is quick, easy and quite possibly best of all, inexpensive! I usually make my grandmother's recipe, but many folks also make a baked pancake or Dutch Baby on this day. This year, I will make both the usual recipe (for the picky kids) and some cottage cheese pancakes, which are a bit tangy, tender and moist throughout. A friend always used to serve them to guests at her cabin in the woods, a perfect setting to enjoy these cozy cakes. They are quite scrumptious topped with warm maple syrup, but would also be delicious served with a warm fruit compote or jam.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

makes 16 dollar pancakes

1 C unbleached flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

2 T sugar

4 eggs

1 C cottage cheese

1/2 C milk

2 T melted butter

Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl. Sift in flour, baking soda, salt and sugar and whisk, just until combined.

Heat large griddle or skillet over medium flame until hot. Grease pan or spray with cooking spray. Dollop batter onto skillet, using a 1/4 cup measure. Cook until golden brown on first side, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip and cook on remaining side until cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Remove to plate and repeat with remaining batter. Cover plate of pancakes with foil and keep warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.

Updated to add: the kids LOVED the cottage cheese pancakes. And because they contain extra protein, I think I will make them for power breakfast days (like during testing!).

Oh Baby! Dutch Baby Pancakes

Dutch Baby, German Pancake, Baked Pancake...whatever the name, this is a weekend breakfast favorite in our house. The star in the recipe is eggs, so I always like to make sure that I use good ones (from the farmers market or at the very least, free range organic). It bakes up high and mighty and is quite an amazing sight when it is removed from the oven. But don't blink, because it deflates quickly, which doesn't affect it's flavor, of course. A mixture of eggs, flour, butter and milk, this is really quite simple to prepare. A squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of powdered sugar are all you need to top it, although I've known folks to enjoy it with maple syrup too.

My high school boyfriend's mom used to make it every Saturday for her three (well four if you count her husband) hungry boys. I think that she only made one pan's worth. She must have been a much better rationer of food than I am, because we always have to triple the recipe.

Dutch Baby Pancake

To serve my piggies (there are 5 of us) we TRIPLE the recipe and put 1/3 of the mixture in a cast iron skillet and the rest in a 9x13.

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 C milk

1/2 C all purpose flour

1/2 t salt

2 T melted butter

lemon juice

confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Butter a 12 inch skillet. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until mixed. Add milk and blend well. Sift the flour and salt into egg mixture while whisking to prevent clumps. Add melted butter and mix briskly until the batter is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared skillet and place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn the temperature down to 350 degrees, and bake for another 10 minutes. The pancake will be high and golden. Sprinkle pancake with lemon juice and confectioners' sugar and serve while hot.

Lots of Leftovers!

Yesterday was a busy one with most of the morning spent putting away the last of the Thanksgiving dishes and decor, and most of the afternoon spent putting up Christmas. My husband tackled the lights outside, and I decked our halls. We love Christmas, and try to put up the decorations as soon as we deem is reasonable to do so, without shortchanging Thanksgiving Day (which usually ends up being sometime Thanksgiving weekend). But our fridge is still stuffed with reminders of our Thanksgiving feast and we never seem to tire of the endless leftovers of turkey, and the many ways in which to creatively prepare it (which I'm sure you will read about ad nauseum in the coming days).

But the first night of leftovers is a direct homage to the meal we partook in the day or two before. I usually enjoy this meal so much more than Thanksgiving itself, because I am not exhausted from days of cooking and cleaning. I slice up the leftover turkey and heat it in a pan full of leftover gravy. We heat up the stuffing and veggie sides too, and try to free-up as much space as possible in our little fridge. But the best part of this leftover dinner is the potato pancakes, which by the way, are quite different from the potato latkes served during Hanukkah. I make a heap of mashed potatoes just so that we can enjoy this buttery, salty treat with our meal. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these potato pancakes are devoured quickly, with each forkful slid through the gravy on the plate.

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

mashed potatoes (about 1/2 C per person)

1-2 eggs (1 egg for 1-2 servings, 2 eggs for 4 or more)

salt and pepper to taste

It is so simple, really. Just toss the mashed potatoes with an egg or two (depending on how much leftover mashers you are using) and mix well. Heat butter in a pan and plop out the potato mixture into small patties and fry until brown and crispy on each side. Salt and pepper to taste.

If You Give a Kid a Pancake

My kids love pancakes. Honestly, who doesn't love something when it is smothered with butter and drizzled with maple syrup? Like many families, we eat them often on the weekends, and I am always surprised to learn that many people do not make pancakes from scratch. I'm not sure why they don't. Perhaps it is because that they are so used to making it from Bisquick that they haven't really ever thought about making them themselves. But homemade pancakes taste better, are healthier (mixes often contain trans-fat), and more economical than those out of a box, and are really so easy to do. Once you try it, you may never go back.

This recipe, passed down from my maternal grandmother, has no added fat (except for what is in the milk and egg). I like to make "dollar" sized pancakes. Using a large griddle I put over two burners, I can make 8 pancakes at a time, using my 1/3 cup measure to dollop on the batter. I also only buy "Grade B" pure maple syrup. Not only is it cheaper than "Grade A," but it is darker and more flavorful as well. The grading system has nothing at all to do with the quality of the syrup, rather the depth of color and flavor.

I double this recipe when I make it for our family.

Nana's Pancakes

1 C flour

2 t baking powder

2 T sugar

1 t salt

1 egg

1 C milk (or buttermilk)

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add egg and milk and whisk to combine. Heat griddle over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and add dollops of batter evenly spaced when griddle is hot. Cook for about 1 minute per side or until cooked through. Remove to plate and cover with foil until all batter is used up.

Sometimes I use milk, or buttermilk, or a combination of the two, really whatever I have on hand. I have tried it with nonfat, low fat and whole milk and they all work just fine.