Spiderweb Pancakes

Hurricane Sandy is in full force today! If you remember, this day last year also saw extreme weather. A freak snowstorm came out of nowhere and blanketed the northeast with snow. Parts of Long Island were hit pretty hard, but not as hard as some sections of New Jersey. Family members who live there actually had a snow day on Halloween. Can you imagine that? October 29th is shaping up to be a day for extreme weather. It's also my grandpa's birthday. Mother Nature really knows how to throw him a party! As is tradition, the family gathered for dinner, cake and pumpkin carving. Here are our creations. Happy 82nd Old Gramps!

We ran the 3rd annual Owl Prowl for a second year in a row, joined this year by Megan, who took a picture of the "pumpkin patch" in our homemade shirts. This 5K is sponsored by the Seatuck Environmental Organization, and benefits the wildlife of Long Island. Last year we ran the day after a blizzard, this year the day before I hurricane. Let's see what next year throws at us!

So far the storm surges and downed trees make last years Hurricane Irene look like a breeze. While at my parents house on the north shore yesterday I went down to my summer spot, Big Rock Beach. I was astounded to see such active waves and water surges.. and it was only low tide! The waves looked like ocean waves, something I've never seen before in the Long Island Sound, which so far has surges up to 12 feet. The big rock was getting pounded by waves, which was such a surreal sight. I could have watched that all day.

Now you see it..

..now you don't.

I've been seeing pictures and videos of the beach today, and I can't believe how high the water is rising.

We haven't lost power, but the storm isn't over yet! If the power does go out, I'll at least be able to use the gas stove top. I'm prepared to make pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner then, but decided I couldn't wait for the power to go out to make them. We had these this morning before we made last minute hurricane preparations.

I made these using my recipe for vegan whole wheat pumpkin pancakes, but I left out the pumpkin. I modeled these off of a pattern I made with cookie icing once. To create the spiderweb effect, pour batter by the 1/2 cup onto a hot griddle. Using a chocolate sauce, make a spiral pattern in the pancakes as shown below.

Using a toothpick, make lines from the center of the pancake out to the edges. 

Flip the over and cook for another minute or so until cooked through. And there you have it, Halloween themed spiderweb pancakes :-)