Strawberry Banana Pancakes

Do you know what's frustrating? Being nostalgic for the present. Inadvertently anticipating the inevitable. A kind of pre-sentimental sentimentality. That's where I keep finding myself lately. I haven't even left yet, and somehow I already miss London.

 

It's like I'm acutely aware that these moments are fleeting and that when they are gone, I will miss them terribly. So I jump the gun and end up feeling all sentimental about the eventual absence of people and places and things that are still right in front of me.

 

It is perfectly fine to mourn the end of an era...but only at the end of that era. I'm still here. This is silly. This is no way to live. This calls for comfort food. Specifically, pancakes.

 

The amount of time it takes to make and eat pancakes is pretty much the perfect amount of time to allow myself to sit in this too-soon sentimentality. It's okay to be a little sad. But don't stay there. Make yourself some pancakes. Then eat up, man up, and move on.

 

Let's save the tears for the plane ride back, shall we? It's always more fun to cry in a cramped public space anyway, right? Riiiiiiight... 
 
Strawberry Banana Pancakes 

 
Ingredients:

3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

just over 1/2 cup milk

1/4 stick (28 g) melted butter

1 egg

A dash of vanilla
1 banana, thinly sliced
handful of strawberries, thinly sliced

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Whisk together milk, butter, egg and vanilla in a smaller bowl. Make sure the milk isn't cold or it will cause the butter to re-solidify (is that a word?) and make life and whisking very frustrating. I usually just melt the butter with the milk and let it cool a bit before adding the egg and vanilla.
 

 
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. 

Heat a pan over medium heat. Grease before spooning the batter into it. Add banana and strawberry slices as you see fit, making sure to press them down into the batter a bit so they stay tucked into the pancake when it's flipped. Once bubbles start to form and burst in the middle of the pancake, you'll know it's time to turn it. It'll only take about half as long to cook on the other side. 

Stack sky high and serve warm with plenty of butter and cinnamon. 
 

Simply perfect (and perfectly simple) brownies.

Sometimes situations go awry, and no amount of plan B's or C's or LMNOP's can make things work out the way you'd like. It's just part of life, I suppose. People will tell you not to let it get to you -- that there's something better coming and everything will be okay and just wait and see. 
 

Easier said than done, right?
 

Waiting and seeing is really hard. I’m more comfortable with movement, so sitting still in the tension of not knowing isn’t exactly my cup of tea. In fact, it stresses me out. 
 

In times like these, I fight back with butter and sugar. All this waiting and seeing may mean that I'm not able to make plans or move forward, but at least I can make brownies. And while that might not actually solve any of my problems, it certainly helps soothe them.
 

Bring it on, life. I've got chocolate chips, and I know how to use them.

  
Simply perfect (and perfectly simple) brownies

  

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cups (75g) butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp water

1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, separated

1 tsp vanilla  

2 eggs 

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F (160 C). Then grease and flour (I use cocoa instead) an 8x8 inch pan. If you want super easy removal and cleanup, line the pan with parchment paper. It's a wonderful invention.
 

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. 
  

In a large saucepan, melt butter with the sugar and water. Bring just to a boil and then remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Add vanilla extract and allow to cool till it's only just warm.

Whisk in the eggs one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture, and then add the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and the nuts.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan, and bake for 25-35 minutes. Check them at around 20 to make sure you don't overbake -- dry brownies are a tragedy. Then remove from oven and cool before serving.