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 :-)

Valentine's Day Brunch

I hope everyone felt the love yesterday! I definitely did. I got so many kisses from Logan, got to see one of my best friends, and had a wonderful day with Andrew. I don't care how many people call it a "hallmark holiday" or complain about it for whatever reason.. Scrooges. I like any excuse to get dressed up, go on a date, get flowers and feel extra loved. We skipped hallmark this year anyways and made our own cards, much more sustainable and less wasteful than those commercial cards that usually get tossed in the garbage. I got an idea from pinterest (where I seem to be getting all my ideas these days), and made cards out of Logan's drawings.


Megan, who I've been friends with since forever (we can never figure out how long we've known each other for), came for a vegan brunch in the morning, since she was taking Logan on a date as her valentine. I made heart shaped pumpkin pancakes by scooping batter out with a 1/4 cup measuring cup and pouring it in a "V" shape on the griddle. They came out much better than I thought! With more "pinspiration" I made a couple creative fruit platters, along with a vegan whipped cream using only two ingredients.

Coconut whipped cream

• 1 can coconut milk (not the lite stuff)
• Cinnamon, to taste

1. Refrigerate the can of coconut milk overnight. The liquid will separate, and you will be left with a semi solid chunk of coconut.
2. Remove the solid portion with a spatula and/or fork and transfer to a bowl.
3. Whip the coconut into a cream using a whisk.
4. Add cinnamon, starting with 1/2 a tsp and adjust according to your taste.

Don't throw out the liquid after removing the solid.
Add it to a smoothie or drink it straight.

While not as flavorful as whipped cream, it's still pretty good, and it's definitely healthier. I forget where I was reading this article, but a British chef was saying how Americans have lost their taste for the "subtle". It's true. It seems that unless it's packed with flavor, it's not considered tasty. I hope to break that stereotype and train my palette to appreciate everything along the flavor spectrum. 

Meditazione, meaning "meditate" in Italian.

Andrew and I took our date all the way east to Bridgehampton. Around Christmastime I heard about a new type of wine. It's actually not all that new, but it's something that's recently come back to modern day vineyards. It's not a white, nor a red nor a rose, but it's an orange wine. It's only being fermented in a few places in the world, and we're lucky enough to live about an hour away from Channing's Daughters, one of it's producers. The drive was totally worth it, I've never tasted a wine like that in my life! It tasted like a white, but with characteristics of a red, and it had a unique orange color. We sampled two different types, Envelope and Meditazione. The latter was so delicious that we bought a bottle to bring home. This is a must try for anyone who appreciates wine!

I'm so glad my forsythias were in bloom for Vday.
I took branches from a tree at my moms and placed them in
water. It took 2 weeks, but they're worth the wait!
Photo cred Meg_Shut. Find her on Instagram.

Vegan Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

I found a great recipe for vegan pancakes on allrecipes.com, added pumpkin purée to it and struck gold. It's quick, easy to make, and you most likely have everything you need to make it already in the cabinets. No worries if you don't have pumpkin, they're still great pancakes without it. I made a cinnamon syrup to go with it, another recipe I got from allrecipes.com. I made some changes to the original recipe, like adding less sugar, more cinnamon, and omitted the flour. These have become favorites in our house, and I've made them time and time again.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

Makes 12 small pancakes

Logan chowing down on an "L" shaped pancake on his first birthday

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. safflower oil (canola or olive oil would work here too)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1. Mix everything into a large bowl.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over a medium flame. Drop about 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake onto the griddle. 
3. Flip the pancake when bubbles begin to form and the edges start to brown.
4. Enjoy with mimosas.

Cinnamon Syrup

Serves about 8*

• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or white sugar if that's what you have)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup water

1. Stir all ingredients in a small saucepan. 
2. Bring to a boil and stir until it thickens to the consistency of syrup.
3. Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes before serving. 

*Any extra can be stored in the fridge and reheated before each use. I store extra in old Frank's Hot Sauce bottles. We put hot sauce on a lot of our food, so we have plenty of those bottles lying around!