Pancakes

Woke up this morning and it was raining.  I didn't want to leave my house and didn't really (except to go to the grocery store to get frosting ingredients for my chai cake! ).  It's supposed to rain again tomorrow and in anticipation I found a gluten free pancake recipe...I'm thinking banana pancakes, eggs, and chai tea.

Here's the recipe I'm planning on working with:


Karina's Gluten-Free Pancakes Recipe

Since going gluten-free in 2001, I've tried all most of the gluten-free pancake mixes out there. And I found them less than inspiring. So I tried making my own g-free flour blends. And most attempts were good. But not blog-worthy. The one exception was my fall centric Pumpkin Pancakes. They were lovely.

But today I wanted a wanted a pancake that didn't taste like pumpkin. A pancake recipe suitable for Sundays year round. A pancake reminiscent of my pre-celiac days. Light and flavorful, not too heavy. Not too thick. Just. You know. Perfect.

And this combo worked. Like a charm. Magic happens.

Dry ingredients:

1 3/4 cups brown rice flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet ingredients:

1 cup soy milk (or milk of choice)
1 cup water
2 organic free-range eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons organic coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey or raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:

Heat a griddle on medium-high heat. If your griddle requires greasing, do that now.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add in the wet ingredients. Beat well to incorporate. Your batter should be silky and smooth. Not too thick.

Test the griddle by shaking a drop of water on it. If it pops and sizzles, your griddle is hot enough.

Using a ladle, pour a scoop of pancake batter on to the heated griddle. Repeat for as many pancakes as you can fit at one go.

When tiny bubbles have formed in the batter, carefully flip the pancakes with a thin flexible spatula. Cook a minute or two until firm- but don't over cook. Overcooking pancakes makes them tough.


Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2011/08/karinas-gluten-free-pancakes.html#ixzz1nouKktlE

And the inspiration...

Cold Night, Warm Chai

It has been really chilly in Santa Cruz the past couple days.  I woke up and had pretty rough time prying myself from my warm bed to hop on my bike at 7 in the am.  After a day of biking and walking around in the late February chill, I decided that the perfect thing would be a Chai Cake from a recipe I have been wanting to use for a long time.  

Erin, one of my coworkers at Patagonia, made delicious gluten free, processed sugar free, dairy free CHAI cupcakes for me last week and I have been wanting to make some of my own.  Unfortunately, as we don't have a real oven or many baking tins, I decided to bunt it (use a bunt tin).  

It's supposed to rain tonight and be stormy all through tomorrow.  While I am excited to hunker down in our cozy new home, I knew that I would be even more excited if I had delicious chai cake to wake up to...the one thing I am lacking is frosting so I may have to run to the store in the morning to augment the cake.  I'll just have to wait and see if it needs the extra kick of sweetness.  

Given my dietary restrictions I was pretty excited to find this ready made recipe on a food blog called WHAT I CRAVE ...the name couldn't have been better considering this is literally what I have been craving.  Enjoy!

Chai Cake

Makes one 8 x 8 square cake or 12 cupcakes

3/4 cup coconut milk, full fat

3 chai tea bags (I used rooibos chai tea)

6 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 to 1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon stevia

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease or line cake or muffin pan.
2. Steep tea bags in coconut milk over low heat for 5 – 10 minutes.
3. Mix wet ingredients together.  Slowly add tea infused coconut milk.
4. Mix dry ingredients together.  Combine wet and dry ingredients thoroughly.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes for 8 x 8 cake or 18 minutes for cupcakes.  Because honey tends to burn, check the cake periodically and adjust the temperature as necessary.

lunchbreak

This film makes me smile.  I first saw it on the Foam Magazine website and its got some decent surfing, a funny story line and some solid filming. I think my next board might just have to be fuchsia...

springtime soon

Its almost berry season! But until then I will keep myself satisfied with my favorite greens...kale and chard.
A relative of cabbage, kale is rich in beta carotene, vitamin's K and C, and calcium. This delicious green has been consumed since the Middle Ages and was encouraged in Victory Gardens during WWII since it's pretty easy to grow and is high in nutrients. I eat kale on the daily...usually in New Leaf's Coastal Kale Salad, Kale Chips or just stir fried with vegetables.



I like to joke that my wedding bouquet is gonna be Kale and Chard...

image credits to Crystal Smith

single pin red

                                                
Single Pin Red the story of If Slater Bowled...learn more about it, see some awesome and amusing pictures and play some Single Pin Red tic-tac-toe at singlepinred.com

And apparently he actually does bowl...

During the holidays Max and I found the pin lurking around Pages Book Shop, where the author of The Wave came to speak.

fantastic wave riding of the body

Just saw this video last week at Patagonia.  The shop was packed.  It definitely got me inspired to get in the water. I want to make my own hand plan but I don't have the proper tools to make a nice one...yet.
Here is a cool video on how to make one from korduroy tv!:
how to make a handplane with cy-surf sufficiecient

Here is the one I want to buy ; ) :
brownfishhandplanes

sky sliding

Sun slides
down the speckled sky
melting the light of the afternoon
into deep shades of mustard seed and umber.

As the sun slides, simultaneously so do humans.
We slide over the plane of the planet
moving with the rotation of the ages.

We also slide and glide
across the opaque surface of the sea.
Morphing with the surge of the earth energy
and the transference of the firmament's hue.

patterns and fish

golden evenings in the golden state

the original reef girls

From the Renaissance to the San O surf club, these are the original bare buns beauties ; ) . 

In fact, one might even say Reef is bashful based on the fact that their ladies are actually wearing something...