Friends and foodies, lend me your bellies. It has been a quiet, dark, and foggy week at The Good Earth, the gentle mist of rain washes over the one-sided building we call “the winery”. It is coming along quickly now and as Bolek builds walls, we processed grapes. Patrick and I sorted through our Cabernet Franc this week, which like all our other grapes were some of the finest in the Bench. Plump, sweet and ready to be pressed into wine. Can’t wait to try the fruit of our labour.
Alas, all this hard work and dark mornings calls out for sleeping in. But as my winemaker partner rises in the morning with the booming of the bird bangers amongst the vineyards, so must I. Luckily, this weekend is Daylight Savings Time. And with one flick of the minute hand, we will all enjoy an extra hour of snoozing Sunday morning.
There is nothing more, I mean NOTHING that I appreciate more than this. Except perhaps the breakfast that comes along with knowing you have nowhere to go and nothing to do for the next three or four hours. Ahhh, I can smell it already.
My mornings usually consist of one cup of coffee w/ milk and sugar shared with Shiraz at the breakfast table. He gets the sports, I get the GO section of the Hamilton Spectator. We have either a whole grain cereal or whole grain bread with butter and homemade jams. Delicious yes, but hardly fit to begin a day fit to declare yourself lazy. Or fat.
I will have pancakes on my Sunday “extra day of sleep” day thank you very much. Drizzled with White Meadows maple syrup and lots of good salty butter. I shall warm the syrup and serve it with a side of Patrick’s Double Smoked Bacon. Done Crispy.
I make my own pancake batter which is pretty yummy and yes there is whole wheat in it. I got them from Alton Brown, who is not a Chef per se, but sure knows the science of cooking. He’s a gas. So, do not be afraid, they are light and sooooo good. Yummy in fact.Full of flavour because of the whole wheat, but filling. ENJOY and remember:
“all happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast” John Gunther, American Writer and Journalist, 1901-1970.
Whole Wheat Pancakes (makes about twelve four-inch pancakes)
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
Mix all these dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Wet Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
Mix wet ingredients and add to the dry. Mix ONLY until the batter comes together. Do not over mix.
On a well buttered griddle or non stick pan, ladle out batter to desired size. Flip once it has started to bubble through and is golden brown below.
Serve warm. They are very light and fluffy, and if you’ve made TOO many, freeze them for that sad day when Daylight Savings time causes us to lose an hour of sleep. Oh how I detest that day….
Toodles, Chefwithtongs.