Debbie Dance Uhrig
Well I hope this finds everyone getting into the festivities of Thanksgiving. At our home I’ve been preparing foods for the freezer. When my parents come to town, during the week of Thanksgiving, I like to spoil them something ‘fierce’.
I’ve had my little elf ears open so I’ll know how best to satisfy the palates of my entire family. For example: When my dad, Jerry, was here in early October he made a comment about my homemade biscotti. Well, by golly, I’ve got him covered! Currently I’m attempting to round out my holiday plans. Cranberry Chutney still needs to be prepared along with homemade biscuits and biscotti.
While the family is gathered for the week I’ll do my best to throw in a couple of morning breakfasts that are quick and delicious. One of my favorite early morning meals has always been pancakes. With the help of a cup of oatmeal you’ll find these banana sour cream cakes staying with you longer than a simple buttermilk flapjack. The next ingredient is also another favorite for my pancakes and that’s the addition of corn meal. The subtle corn taste comes through, but again, it’s subtle.
As the recipe states serve these with the roasted pecans and garnish with additional sliced bananas. If you’re going after a presentation place a small dollop of sour cream and then the bananas and nuts. The nuts will provide more protein and again you’ll feel full longer. I enjoy pancakes, however I usually present them with sausage and made to order eggs.
In the first paragraph I mentioned homemade biscuits. Don’t forget you can roll these palate pleasing yummies and then quick freeze them on a parchment covered sheet. After they’re frozen pop them into a freezer bag and you’re ready to bake fresh biscuits without all the additional mess. One of the things I like to do Thanksgiving morning is to have a terrific breakfast. Then we don’t eat the holiday meal until perhaps 3pm in the afternoon. Which means I do not cook that night!! Totally helpie selfie after the big dinner.
You can ask just about anyone in my family what my favorite holiday is and they’ll tell you, Thanksgiving. I enjoy the visiting, family, a warm fireplace and counting our many blessings. I also find great pleasure around 5 or 6pm when I slip into lounging clothes for the remainder of the evening. (Plus a cup of decaf!)
I’m sure many tables will be missing faces this year due to illness, deaths or ‘issues’. My prayer is that we embrace those present. Pray for understanding in each situation, and turn it over to our heavenly father. Then move forward and enjoy every moment of the holiday. Take lots of pictures!!!
My life is blessed by having so many wonderful people read my column each week. ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done.’
Simply yours, The Covered Dish www.thecovereddish.com.
Banana Sour Cream Pancakes
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick/minute oatmeal
¼ cup yellow cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon soda
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 ½ cups buttermilk or sour cream
¼ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
½ cup dairy sour cream
2 bananas, mashed
½ cup roasted chopped pecans
Additional bananas for garnish
Coconut Oil
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. If you desire to make this the night before mix all the dry and cover with plastic wrap. Make a well in the center of the dry and begin adding the remainder of ingredients: eggs, buttermilk, oil, sour cream, bananas and lastly the chopped pecans. (I often omit the nutmeats as our son, Phillip, doesn’t care for them) Mix until everything is well blended.
Heat the griddle to medium low/medium heat. When griddle is hot drop about ¼ – ½ teaspoon of coconut oil and swish or brush it around the cooking area. Using a ¼ cup scoop place pancakes down on hot griddle. I often add an additional tablespoon to the ¼ cup scoop of batter. This recipe will render 12- 15 pancakes. (I used a ¼-1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil for each batch.) Vegetable spray goes ‘everywhere’ and it tends to build up on your bakeware over time.
Serve the pancakes warm with sliced banana on the top or even a few extra roasted pecans. We serve these with ‘real’ pancake syrup and it took very little due to the great flavor of the pancake. Truth is, I seldom use any syrup when I make these pancakes. Enjoy, debbie
