My mom - ahead of the curve

We didn't have a ton of money when I was a kid.  So, things like real maple syrup weren't common in our house.  Trouble is, my mom was against artificial sweetners and refused to buy things like 'Aunt Jemima' syrup...enter, honey and butter!  (because, despite our limited finances, we always had butter at home)

I am quite fond of honey and butter but rarely make it these days (although it is fabulous on pancakes!) I can't recall many of my friends using honey and butter when we were kids although apparently, it was quite popular at one time.  Looks like it is also starting to make a comeback.  As always, what's old is new again...

Pancakes

It's probably not a coincidence that the first recipe I ever memorized was my mom's recipe for pancakes.  After all, my first word as a baby was "pankies".  This, according to my mom, was my word for pancakes - a favorite food of mine since I was a wee babe.  My mom has always called her recipe "French Pancakes" and although I have no idea what it is that makes them 'French', I do think that this pancake recipe is pretty darn good.  

I've known how to make pancakes for about as long as I can remember - mostly because the measurements in this recipe are easy to memorize.  Making pancakes from scratch only takes about 10 minutes and is well worth the effort.  Some of my best food memories as a child come from the nights when my dad was at work and my mom made us pancakes for supper - yum!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

2 eggs
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add milk, sugar, and oil. Using a small bowl, separate your eggs into whites and yolks. The egg whites go into the small bowl and the yolks go into the large bowl. Mix the egg yolks, milk, sugar, and oil together with a spoon.

2. Beat your egg whites with a rotary or electric beater.  Your egg whites should be beaten until they form gentle peaks, about 2-4 minutes.

3. Sift your flour and baking powder into the large bowl.  Whisk together until the flour is just mixed in.  

4. Gently fold your egg whites into the pancake batter.  

5. Brush a hot griddle with a small amount of oil.  Cook your pancakes on one side until bubbles start forming in the batter.  Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.  

5. Serve with butter and lots of maple syrup!

Serves 2-4 people (depending on how many pancakes you can eat)

Corn and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

BBQ'd meat and salad is my favourite summer supper.  The meat is easy to cook and the salad only takes a short time to prepare. Some of my favourite summer salads are grainy ones such as this quinoa salad.  

This salad is a modification of a few different recipes that I've made over the past two years and I'm super happy with how this turned out.  Quinoa salads are very easy to play around with - I'd strongly encourage you to come up with your own variations based on this recipe.  

Ingredients:

Salad
1/2 can (398 ml) black beans, rinsed
1/8 cup finely chopped red onion
1 diced tomato
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (cooked according to package)
1/2 cup cooked corn (about 1/2 cob)
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 diced avocado
1/4 cup (or more to taste) crumbled feta (optional)

Dressing
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Dash of each (less than 1/8 tsp) - red chili flakes, cumin, cayenne
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients and whisk together until well blended.  Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the black beans, chopped onion, tomato, corn, and parsley.  Add the cooked quinoa, cover with dressing, and stir together.  Gently mix in the avocado and feta.

3. Serve at room temperature.

Summer holidays

Sorry for the long delay between postings.  We've been on summer holidays - camping in Montana and visiting family/friends on the West Coast.  I've got a few posts written up in my head and hope to get them online soon!  I'll be back in the Rockies in a few days...once I've caught up on laundry, I'll be back online.  Hope that everyone is enjoying this sunny summer that we've had so far.