PAW: French Crepes

We’ve eaten crepes before. Of all the international pancakes I’ve read about, I think crepes are the most well-known international pancakes in American culture. So yes, we’ve eaten crepes filled with fruit and whipped cream. In fact, crepes played a starring role in one of our very first emotional eating moments inspired by the COVID shut down last year. What we’ve never done is enjoyed crepes in a savory fashion. That is what we did today. We filled them with some delightful honey ham and lovely melted gruyere and draped them in a garlic cream sauce. They were good. Different from our usual dinner fare and as Nathan commented, a nice, light meal. I actually liked them better without the sauce as it allowed the ham and gruyere to shine. We all agree that they should grace our table again in the future. And due to their extraordinarily flexible nature (both literally and figuratively), the possibilities are endless.

Savory Crepes Rating: six thumbs up

Tender Mercy

Here’s today’s miracle. This afternoon I got the long-awaited email that our temple is moving to phase 3. I got online and of course, there were very few endowment sessions available and none at times that Kevin and I can go. But I did manage to schedule a sealing session for us in August. Then I switched over to initiatories and was completely stunned to be able to make a reservation for July 1. Five seconds later, all the initiatory sessions were gone and five seconds after that, the temple reservation website crashed. Now here is the miracle part. I have a family name that the baptism and confirmation were done pre-COVID. Since the temples closed, that name has been stuck on my magnet board. With the reservations I was able to make today, I can do the initiatory for that name on July 1, the endowment when Nathan goes for his own endowment on July 2, and the sealing when Kevin and I go in August. It all fell into place perfectly. I can’t explain it any other way than to say that there was some divine intervention.

PAW: Dutch Pannenkoeken

After our excursion to South America earlier this week, we made our way to Europe. Destination: the Netherlands. We sampled Dutch pannenkoeken for breakfast this morning. Pannenkoeken are thicker than a crepe but thinner than an American pancake. They are spread with whatever toppings you like, then rolled up and eaten. My batter was a bit too think at the onset which resulted in thick, kind of gummy pancakes, but once I thinned it just a touch, the results were much nicer. Kevin ate his plain which was not a surprise. Tortillas are one of his basic food groups and pannenkoeken are basically a Dutch breakfast tortilla, so he rolled it up and ate it just the way he eats tortillas. Matthew and Malia chose strawberry rhubarb compote.  The recipe I used included a bit of cinnamon, and I found that apple butter was a nice match. Nathan followed my example and spread apple butter on his as well. We definitely like these better than the cachapas. I don’t like them as much as the oladi, but they are tasty and I think we’d eat them again.

Pannenkoeken Rating: five thumbs up.

Paw: Venezuelan Cachapas

Today’s experiment was a Venezuelan breakfast staple-cachapas. They are a corn pancake served with melted queso de mano melted inside. Mozzarella is a really close substitute and much easier to find, so we used that. Due to their savory nature, I decided we would try them for dinner, so they comprised our evening meal. We added some chorizo on the side since Matthew can’t have the cheese. As it cooked, we started calling it taco sausage since that is exactly what it smelled like.

The corn and mozzarella were actually a really good combination. The chorizo was a great flavor match. But the texture. Let’s talk about the texture. The outside of the cachapas was golden brown, nice and crispy. It led us to believe that the interior would also be on the firm side. However, that lovely exterior led us astray. The interior texture was very soft, like creamed corn but thicker and more glue-like. It was pretty off putting. Nathan and Malia couldn’t even eat it. They ate the peripherals and then Malia supplemented her pancake with some chicken nuggets.

Overall, we liked the combination of flavors but not the texture. We want to use the chorizo and mozzarella again, maybe in a crunchy taco shell so we can have the same flavors with a much better texture. Despite the lack of love, we all agree that the experiment was still well worth our time. Matthew says he is excited for the rest of the summer. Now I get to decide what to try next!

Cachapas Rating: five thumbs sideways and one thumb very decidedly down. (Daniel is usually here for dinner but not for breakfast. So breakfast pancakes generally have a total of five thumbs to be counted and dinner ones have five or six depending on which of my adult children are working.)

 

Return to the Temple

After nearly a year and a half (and longer than that for Daniel since he was serving a mission), all my boys were finally able to return to the temple. As the temples reopen in stages, the first proxy ordinance that became available was baptisms. These appointments are reserved for those with limited use recommends, although those with their endowments were welcomed to come perform the ordinances for their youth. Kev and Daniel both went to perform baptisms and confirmations, and since they could take up to sixteen people, we asked around the ward to see if there were others who wanted to go. The current relief society president that I’m serving with is out of town, but two of her daughters were anxious to join the group. They asked if they could bring several cousins, one of whom happens to be a good friend of Matthew’s, so the group blossomed to seven, not counting Kev.

Technically I could have gone as a witness, but Malia is so anxious to get to the temple and the fact that she is the only one in our family who can’t go yet is hard for her. As such, I opted to spend the evening with her instead. It was a good choice. We watched a movie together. But honestly, I’m a little bit jealous. I’ve been texting the RS president, and she’s a little jealous too. But we are both so glad that our youth got to go and I’m so, so glad the leaders of the church put allowing the youth back into the temples above the ordinances that adults can perform. As adults we definitely need and crave the blessings that are found by serving in the temple, but the youth need it so much more. They are growing up in an increasingly wicked world and that spiritual boost is necessary for them. The adversary isn’t even trying to be subtle anymore and every time these youth step out into the world they are confronted with blatant reminders that the ways of the world are no longer even close to being in sync with the ways of the gospel. So I’m enormously grateful that my boys were able to attend. There are only a few appointments available in relation to how many want to go, and I feel that we were blessed to be able to make this appointment.

 

Renewed Red, White and Blue

One of the fun traditions my sisters and I have is the yearly gathering for patriotic pedicures. We missed last year (stupid COVID) and while I could have done my nails at home, 1) doing it alone was nowhere near as fun and 2) my mind was so wrapped up in other far more stressful things that it never even occurred to me until it was long past the appropriate holiday. When I realized that the time had passed, I mourned the missed event as yet another way our lives had been disrupted. I think all my sisters missed our time together as much as I did, because this year we jumped the gun and got our toenail time in a few weeks earlier than normal. We also added the daughters to the occasion which was super fun! Malia got to come with me, and we all created our red, white and blue sandal wearing proclamation of our love of country.
 

Is it sad that looking at my toes makes me ridiculously happy right now?

PAW: Hoe Cakes

As part of our pancake experience, I thought I’d throw in some pancakes from different regions of the U.S. Hoe cakes are cornmeal pancakes popular in the south. They were also common pioneer food. They are thick and crispy, delicious draped in butter and maple syrup. Kevin, Nathan and I like them. Matthew said they are not his favorite but are good. For a kid who doesn’t like cornbread, that’s high praise. And he ate multiple pancakes so that’s a good sign that he does actually think they are good. Malia thought they were weird but ok. Pretty much everything new she tastes gets the “weird” moniker, but she ate them so that must mean they are at least palatable.

Hoe Cakes Rating: three thumbs up and two thumbs sideways, slightly tipping up. 

 

Pancakes Around the World, AKA. Paw: Russian Oladi

With the late start and sporadic school attendance associated with Flex Fridays being a thing this school year, Fridays have become pancake day. Now that school is ending, the flex Friday schedule is a thing of the past…sort of. Next year will see occasional flex Fridays, but we’re not really sure how all of that will work and with three months until we have to deal with it, we’ve all put it on the back burner. Anyway, I’ve liked pancake day and have decided that I want to continue celebrating my love of the griddle cooked delights. But being who I am, I’ve decided to give it a twist for the summer. Instead of just making traditional American pancakes in the many delightful flavors that we’ve come to enjoy, I’m going to feed my fam traditional pancakes from a variety of cultures. As I’ve searched out recipes, I’ve found a delightful assortment of both sweet and savory versions that are enjoyed in various spots around the world. So this summer we are going globetrotting pancake style. I’ve dubbed our adventure Pancakes Around the World which gives us the acronym PAW.

This morning we began our adventure with a taste of Russian oladi, a buttermilk pancake that is quite similar to the pancakes we already know and love. The difference is the smaller size and the fact that they are traditionally served with sour cream. Malia thought the sweetened sour cream was weird and Matthew couldn’t eat it, of course, but Nathan and I thought it was delightful. Add to it a sweet burst from some fresh raspberries, and we had a winner. The leftovers were consumed cold as snacks and that was tasty too. I’ve already told the kids we can make these ones again.

Our first stop on the PAW trip was a success! I can hardly wait to try some more!

Oladi Rating: four thumbs up