Today… and Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Today marks the 38th week of our pregnancy! Who knows, this could have been the last day we have to sleep in for a very long time. We relished this waning freedom, and stayed snuggled in bed for a while after we woke up. Sunlight was streaming through the windows and the cats were cuddled up with us. It was the perfect start to the day!

The morning started to deteriorate from there… Nothing major, just a string of little annoyances that seem extra annoying when you are facing them on an empty stomach. We decided to go and stock up on groceries (so we could make breakfast) and Isaac’s motorbike wouldn’t start. This has been happening from time to time with his bike, much to our disappointment. He finally got it started and that is when we realized we forgot to get our reusable shopping bags. He hopped off the bike to go retrieve them, only to find that the lock to our front door lock had jammed (another thing that has been happening from time to time- so irritating!) and we were locked out. We jiggled the lock and handle at every angle possible, but it would not budge. While we were doing this, a swarm of mosquitoes took the opportunity to feast on our ankles. Argh! We called our wonderful realtor, John, who once again saved the day, and called a locksmith for us. As we waited for the locksmith, Isaac worked the lock some more and eventually got it open. Regardless, we knew we wanted a new front door lock, so I waited for the locksmith, while Isaac made the grocery run. The locksmith arrived, replaced the entire handle and lock panel with a much more user-friendly model, Isaac returned with the groceries, whipped up some smoothies for breakfast, and suddenly all was right with the world again. We even determined that it was probably a good thing that these annoying little things happened today, because we were home and could easily take care of them.

Later in the morning, Isaac whipped up a batch of incredible pumpkin spice pancakes that he developed based upon this old fashioned pancake recipe last week. They are so scrumptious we thought we would share the recipe. I do say “recipe” loosely, because Isaac tends to just eyeball ingredient amounts, but we did our best to give accurate approximations. Without further adieu, Ike’s Epic Pumpkin Spice Pancakes…

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar

1 1/4 cups of milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon (we used one cap-full) vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice- again, this is an approximation. Isaac just shook a whole bunch into the batter. You can adjust to your taste, but we tend to prefer a little more spice.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until incorporated. Throw in the pan and cook ’em up! This morning Isaac used bacon grease to cook the pancakes, but he also often uses a half butter/half olive oil mixture, which also gives the pancakes beautiful, crispy caramelized edges.

We’re thinking that next time we make these we’ll try adding a little maple whipped cream and crushed pecans… yum!

Woo hoo! The Halloween mugs have been dusted and are out for daily use!

Of course we had the OSU game on while cooking… go Beavs!

Completely unrelated, but last week we ventured over to the Hongqiao Flower Market. I had my heart set on getting some orchids and came home with two beautiful arrangements. I love seeing these gorgeous flowers every day! Let’s just hope we can keep them alive!