Right now I am sitting in a coffee shop. Michael is sitting across from me doing work on a paper for Sweden. He’s a big deal. The couple at the table next to us is having a first date. Michael and I text back and forth about them. He has nice eyes. She’s a lot smaller than him. He was probably skinnier back in the day, but maybe he doesn’t have time to workout now that he has a 9-5 job. And HOLY SHIT WTF does that dude have a tail? Welcome to Broad Ripple. In order to make this afternoon more…cafe-like, I’m listening to Pink Martini on my phone. Some of their songs sound very Parisian cafe. All of them sound like they could be on the soundtrack of a black and white movie from the 40s. It’s making the ambiance less dude-with-a-tail-y. I feel fancy.

I love breakfast. Have I said that before? Making a pot of coffee, taking the time to cook eggs or pancakes or biscuits, making my plate look pretty before I set my fork to the food, and then sitting on the couch and eating at a relaxed speed without the pressure of having to run to work hanging over my head. I love drinking multiple mugs of coffee over a few hours, really taking in and enjoying the taste. Breakfast can really be a ritual.

I have two weekend breakfast stand-bys: eggs with runny yolks, poached in my new-old egg poaching pot from my grandparents house or fried eggs, or pancakes. I have a variety of pancakes in my weekend breakfast repertoire. The latest addition are these pumpkin pancakes. They’re filling and thick and made with whole-wheat flour, and full of autumn spices. And the apple maple syrup. Oh heaven. sautéed and cinnamoned apple slices briefly cooked in a dousing of maple syrup. This is the breakfast of autumn kings and queens. Or at least the exact breakfast I’d like to eat on a blustery November day. This recipe makes more than enough for one or two people for one meal. I still like to make the full recipe though, and put the extra batter in the refrigerator to use for a quick weekday breakfast.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Maple Syrup

found at Honey and Jam

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/3 cup sugar


1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice


1 1/4 cups buttermilk or soy milk

1 cup pumpkin puree (make your own!!)

2 eggs, lightly beaten


2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus a bit extra for the pan

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk, pumpkin, eggs, and melted butter. Stir all the ingredients until they are just combined. Don’t worry if the batter is a bit lumpy, you don’t want to over mix it. This goes for any and all pancake batters!

Heat your skillet, pan, or griddle to medium-hot and melt a pat of butter in it. Turn the stove down to medium heat. You want your pancakes to cook through slowly over a lower heat so they’ll get goldeny-brown on the outside. Pour about 1/3 of a cup of batter into the skillet. Wait until the pancake bottom is deep golden in color, then flip with a spatula and cook the other side until golden and cooked through. Be patient. I have a hard time with this.

Makes about 12 large pancakes.

Serve the warm pancakes with apple maple syrup. Recipe’s below!

Apple Maple Syrup

Ingredients:

Apples

Butter

Cinnamon

Maple Syrup

I use 1/2 an apple per person’s three pancakes. Cut the apple into slices.

Next, add a pat of butter to a medium sized pan, enough to coat the entire thing. Add the apples to the pan and sprinkle them with cinnamon. Let the apples get soft, moving and mixing them around the pan. Add enough maple syrup to cover the apples. Let it bubble away for a minute or so. Pour over warm pancakes.