gingerbread puffed pancake

puffed pancakes and dutch babies are pretty much the same thing.  i'm calling this recipe a puffed pancake recipe since i baked the batter in a pie plate instead of in an oven-safe skillet.  (other than that, it's basically a dutch baby.)

i love puffed pancakes.  they are a fun alternative to traditional pancakes, and they are super simple to make.  we often make plain puffed pancakes for breakfast on the weekends, but this past weekend we decided to add a few spices to the batter . . . thus, a gingerbread puffed pancake.

we enjoyed our gingerbread puffed pancake dusted with some powdered sugar and with a little bit of maple syrup on the side for dipping.

you could serve it anyway that you like.  i bet it would be great with a few sautéed apples on top of it too!

this simple recipe has a whole bunch of flavor.  the spices blend together perfectly, and each bite tastes just like fall.  yum!  it's a great breakfast for a crisp fall morning.

gingerbread puffed pancake
prep time: 10 minutes
baking time: 20 minutes
yields: 2 servings
adapted from the smitten kitchen cookbook

ingredients:
1 tablespoon salted butter
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup all-purpose four
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup whole milk

directions:
preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  as the oven is preheating, place the butter into a glass pie plate and put the pie plate in the oven in order to allow the butter to melt.  meanwhile, in a large bowl beat the eggs with an electric hand mixer until they are pale in color (about 2 minutes).  add the sugar, molasses, flour, spices, and milk.  mix well to combine.  once the butter is melted swirl it up the sides of the pie plate, making sure that the pie plate is evenly coated with the melted butter.  pour the batter into the buttered pie plate and bake for 20 minutes.  once baked, remove the pancake from the pie plate.   serve the pancake hot, dusted with powdered sugar and with maple syrup.

enjoy!

love, laurie

an early start to fall . . .

it's not officially autumn for another few weeks, but this weekend sure felt like fall.  the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and fall was in the air.  it's amazing how quickly everything changes after labor day is over.  (i feel like i'm still trying to figure out where august went!  ha!)

since it's now september (and practically fall), we packed our weekend full of fall activities to welcome the start of the new season . . . a crisp evening bike ride, wings, pumpkin ice cream, watching a movie on the couch, spice pancakes, apple picking, a trip to the flea market, and a lunch date at our favorite bbq spot.  we also made time for some much needed fall yard work too.

hope everyone had a great weekend!
love, laurie

chocolate chip banana bread

we had a few overly ripe bananas hanging out on our kitchen counter recently, so we decided to make a loaf of banana bread in order to use them up.

banana bread is a treat that can't be beat, and the addition of chocolate chips to the batter made it even better!

super easy and really simple to whip up, this recipe is a classic.  you could always swap out the chocolate chips for walnuts instead, or you could just add some walnuts in there too along with the chocolate chips.  now that sounds good!

chocolate chip banana bread
prep time: 10 minutes
baking time: 60 minutes
yields: 1 loaf
adapted from the daily muse

ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

directions:
preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  add the egg and beat well to incorporate.  mix in the vanilla and the mashed bananas.  in a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  add half of the sifted flour mixture to the batter and mix just until incorporated.  add the remaining flour and beat well.  stir in the lemon juice.  fold in the chocolate chips.

pour the batter into a loaf pan that is greased and floured or lined with parchment paper.  bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes, until the bread is golden brown on top.  once baked allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the bread from the pan and transferring it to a wire rack to finish cooling.

enjoy!

love, laurie

behind the scenes {by ryan}

hi, everyone!  ryan here.  today laurie is turning over the reins to me and letting me share a little bit about working behind the scenes as a stage hand.  when i was in college, my concentration was technical theatre, and ever since college i have been working as a theatre technician for our local stage hands' union (in addition to my full-time day job).  as a stage hand, i get to do a variety of different things including lighting and set construction.  over the years, i have had the chance to work all sorts of shows from national broadway tours on large stages to music concerts in outdoor amphitheaters.  it's pretty cool.

over labor day weekend, i worked the 2013 honda civic tour featuring maroon 5, kelly clarkson, and rozzie crane.   (laurie loves maroon 5.  she saw them in concert with jason mraz when she was in high school.)  i was there all day long, from 7:30am to 1:00am the next morning, loading in the show, running the show, and then loading out the show.  while i was working, i got to listen to the concert from back stage and then a little bit from the front of the house too.  (at one point i was just 5 feet away from kelly clarkson.)

normally when i work concerts like this one i'm so busy working that i don't get a chance to take any pictures, but during this concert i had some time to snap a few pictures on my phone.  so, here's a glance into my view as a stage hand.  i just love all of the colors of the lights in these pictures . . .

^watching kelly clarkson perform from backstage^

^watching maroon 5 perform from the front of the house^

^a concert just wouldn't be complete without lasers^

^at one point during the concert, we threw these giant white beach balls into the audience.  each ball had a wireless transmitter inside which communicated with the light board.  as the balls were tossed around the crowd, the light board operator changed the colors of the balls.  the effect was pretty cool and people loved it.^

^my very wrinkly crew shirt and my back stage pass . . . as crew members, we get t-shirts for just about every show that we work.  the t-shirts are color coordinated to distinguish what crew we are working on for each show.  i had a blue t-shirt for this concert since i was on lighting crew.  our back stage passes are called silks.  the t-shirts and the silks are cool souvenirs from each show.  i have quite a large collection at home from all of the shows that i have worked over the years.  it's fun to look back at them and to remember the different shows.^

. . . 

over and out, 

ryan

la festa italiana

one of our favorite traditions is to go to the italian festival each year on labor day weekend.  the italian festival has such special memories for us, and we look forward to it every year.

over labor day weekend we made two trips downtown to the italian festival.  we had pizza, meatballs, sausage and peppers, potato pancakes, pizza fritta, a cannoli, and lemonade.  it was all so good!

let the countdown to next year's italian festival begin!

love, laurie  

labor day weekend . . .

^a trip to the annual italian festival downtown^

^my mom made lobster rolls and raspberry pie.  both were soooo good!^

^playing with my parents' kittens^

. . .

hope everyone had a great labor day weekend!
love, laurie

happy labor day!

i had the chance to see my parents' three kittens yesterday and i snapped this picture while playing with one of them.  they sure are little cuties!  

since it's labor day, we have the day off from work today!  wahoo!

happy monday!

love, laurie