It’s not often that I get out of bed thinking “I want to make breakfast! Something more complicated than cereal and milk, or fried eggs and toast!” No, usually I get out of bed thinking, “Why is there not a cup of coffee in my hand right now?!?” Apparently all I need to get my butt in gear is a situation worth getting panicky about.
Let me explain.
This is our dog Callie:
As I write this post, Callie is on a plane to Tokyo. This has been a long, hard journey for her, for us, and for our family. It all began 2 years ago when we had to leave her behind as we ventured out into the great unknown of life in Japan. We weren’t sure how well dogs would be accepted in the country so we thought it best to say a temporary goodbye to our pup. As it turns out, dogs are actually very popular in Tokyo. When we realized this, it took about 2 milliseconds to decide that Callie would join us.
The paperwork was a nightmare, as expected. But once everything was finalized and we scheduled her flight we figured we were out of the woods.
Oh boy were we wrong.
Yesterday (Friday in the U.S. and Saturday in Japan) Callie was supposed to get on a plane. However, a lovely employee at my least favorite airline informed my mom, who has been wonderful about taking care of Callie through all of this, the wrong time to be at the airport. After arriving at the airport, mom was told that Callie would not be allowed on the flight because she was late.
So we rescheduled the flight, confirmed that she would still be accepted at Narita Airport in Japan, and booked a car (since we don’t own one) for today. Whew, right? Yeah, not done yet…
The quarantine office where Callie needs to be looked over and given the ‘OK’ for entry into Japan closes at 7pm today. Her flight was originally supposed to land at 5:30pm, giving us just enough time for the final step before she came home with us.
Her flight was delayed by almost 4 hours. Meaning we will miss the 7pm cut-off time.
*Since I wrote this post, we have figured out that Callie will be here late tonight. We will pick her up tomorrow afternoon and bring her home then. Currently she is half-way to Tokyo!
I was so worked up and frustrated this morning. What could I do with myself? How could I channel all the energy that felt like it would explode out of my ears?
I made pancakes. They were delicious; crispy on the outside, moist and soft on the inside, and full of flavor. Cinnamon Polenta Pancakes, slightly adapted, from Food & Wine Magazine’s website, turned out beautifully. Even if I did brown them a bit too much. Less-than-perfect pancakes execution for a less-than-perfect day, right? Even so, it turned out that making breakfast this morning was exactly what I needed. Who knew panicking and pancakes went so well together?
Needless to say, my plans for doing oodles of blogging this weekend have been derailed. But here is the recipe for the pancakes with a little twist: yogurt in place of buttermilk.
Cinnamon Polenta Pancakes
Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine
Serves 4
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
In a bowl, whisk the flour with the cornmeal, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a bowl, whisk the yogurt with the eggs, olive oil and water. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, leaving small lumps.
Set a griddle or skillet over moderate high heat and spray it with vegetable oil spray. When the pan is hot, spoon in 1/4-cup mounds of batter and spread to form 4-inch rounds. Cook the pancakes until the bottoms are browned and bubbles appear on the surface, 2 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the bottom, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve the pancakes warm.
