Christmas morning in my family always began with me sitting at the top of the stairs with my sister. We would wait patiently while my parents put the finishing touches on the gifts under the tree, set up the video camera, and made coffee. The suspense that built not-so-gradually until we were finally allowed to go down the stairs. A fire would be crackling in the fireplace, and we would sit down as a family opening presents. At some point in the morning, we would enjoy a big, beautiful breakfast together.

Now that we have our own little family, I’m thinking of ways to make Christmas morning just as special and memorable for Riley. These gingerbread pancakes are an excellent place to start. Holiday breakfasts that play with the flavors of the season help to make the meal unique without adding too much extra work. The smell of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and molasses fill the air as the pancakes cook. The warmth and joy of the season is undeniable as you bite into the surprisingly light, cakey pancakes. Sitting down to a stack of delicious gingerbread pancakes and a mug of fresh, hot coffee or cider is the simple enough to start any chilly winter morning and festive enough to serve on Christmas morning. Also, pancakes are great to make in large batches because you can easily freeze the leftovers, pop them in the toaster, and enjoy them any day of the week.

This year, we will be spending Christmas in Tokyo. We have a tiny Christmas tree, there won’t be any snow, and definitely no fire crackling in the fireplace. However, we are together with our beautiful baby boy, making new memories with our newly expanded family.

What are some of your favorite Christmas memories or traditions?

Gingerbread Pancakes

Recipe from William-Sonoma

Life is full of unexpected surprises, both good and bad. This is a lesson I learn over and over again with each passing year. Sometimes I wish life would just remain calm for a little while- you know, no more big natural disasters would be a good start. But, for better or for worse, huge changes continue to happen all around me.

Pregnancy? Biggest and best change so far. In only 7 weeks, we will welcome the biggest change of our lives.

Unexpected surprises are often easy to miss. They don’t always take you by the shoulders and force you to pay attention. Today, for example, I was sitting in the living room when I heard the faint, distant bang of a drum. It did not immediately grab my attention until I heard the beating drum followed by the bright sound of a wooden whistle. Still, none of these things were particularly attention-grabbing and I could have easily ignored them and continued wasting time on Pinterest. But instead I grabbed my camera on the off-chance that something interesting might be outside my door. And today, walking those few steps out of the apartment prevented me from missing this…

Sometimes unexpected things happen to us. Other times we have to take the extra step(s) to notice.

After snapping a couple photos of the passing Mikoshi outside my door, I went back to the apartment where the scent of cinnamon and apples had filled the air. I love making food that permeates each room of the apartment with warm, delicious smells. I especially love it when the weather is cool and the smell of spices, baking chocolate, or simmering soup are like a big, cozy hug.

This apple spice syrup is easy to throw together and brings the fragrance of fall into the kitchen. It can be used in a similar way to the popular pumpkin syrups everyone loves to make this time of year. Apple spice lattes, apple spice hot chocolate, or apple spice tea are just a few of the creations you can put together when you have this syrup on hand. My sister requested that I post a recipe for a spiced syrup, so here you go, Rebecca! I hope you like it!

Apple Spice Syrup

Makes about 1 1/2-2 cups

*Note: this syrup is quite sweet using the recipe below. If you don’t want it to be as sweet, cut back on the sugar but don’t expect a very syrup-like texture. I’ve also included the option of using honey instead of sugar, which will also create a less thick final product, but the flavor is very nice.

1 cup apple cider (you can use juice if you don’t have cider, but I’d recommend the cider)

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar or 3/4 cup honey

1/2 of a large apple, peeled and cubed (about 1 cup) – granny smith is best, or another tart variety

4 cinnamon sticks

4 cloves

1/4 teaspoon dried ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine the cider/juice, water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to simmer, turning the heat down to medium, for about 10 minutes. Strain the syrup into a bowl to cool. Transfer to a glass jar or bottle and store in the refrigerator.

On Friday night we hosted a cocktail party. After an entire day of working, it seemed completely unreasonable to put together a bunch of food for 10 people but somehow, we pulled it off and were even able to relax and enjoy time with our friends. The spread included whiskey glazed chicken drummies, spring roll cups filled with spiced kabocha, pecans, and cranberries (recipe coming soon) with a dollop of whipped cream, and a big, heaping bowl of popcorn. Yep. We went for the classic snack food to help satisfy our guests’ hunger and save us some time. Our friends brought food to contribute as well. Pumpkin hummus made an appearance, as well as a beautiful Japanese chestnut cake. All in all, it was a successful and scrumptious evening!

After the party, I got to thinking about popcorn and how versatile it is. Caramel corn, Kettle corn, buttered popcorn, cheese popcorn…the flavors go on and on. Then I started wondering how I could add a unique twist that was all my own. The wheels started turning. Then I remembered when I was in the grocery store the other day and spotted powdered kabocha (Japanese pumpkin)! I had never seen anything like it before, so I was thrilled at my discovery.

I’ve been saving the little packet of joy for a couple weeks now. Until today when I had a flash of brilliance! OK, maybe not brilliance…but it was exciting nonetheless. What if I made a spice mix to add to popcorn? Ah, yes. A recipe is born! This popcorn is tasty enough to serve at a holiday party as a flavorful yet light appetizer. It would be perfect alongside a glass of champagne or sparkling cider. If you are looking for a stylish way to serve the popcorn, I would recommend using these pine wood cones (click on the link to order- type in “tokyoterrace” as a coupon code and receive 10% off!) from restaurantware.com. I just love the way the popcorn looks piled into the eco-friendly cones! Elegant and simple.

The process was simple- I took a bag of microwave popcorn (the buttered kind so the spices stuck to the popcorn) and added the spices directly to the bag when it was done popping. I just shook the bag around to coat the popcorn and it was done! Fast, easy, and full of flavor. If you love kettle corn, you’ll go crazy over this. The combination of brown sugar, warm cinnamon, all-spice and of course the kabocha powder, make a perfect addition to popcorn. Brad ate the entire bowl while I took the photos. The entire bowl. That’s a really good sign!

So, if you are hosting Thanksgiving and would like a light snack for everyone while the turkey is roasting away, this is the perfect choice. Serve it with a glass of champagne garnished with pomegranate seeds (click on the link for the cocktail) or cranberries and you’ve got the perfect holiday starter!

Kabocha/Pumpkin Spice Popcorn

Makes enough for 1 bag of microwave popcorn

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons powdered pumpkin (or kabocha)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt

1 bag microwave buttered popcorn

Place the popcorn in the microwave and cook according to package directions.
Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl using a whisk or fork. When the popcorn is done, pour the spice mixture in the popcorn bag. Roll the top closed (be careful- the popcorn may still be hot!) and shake it to distribute the spice mixture. It is important to do this with hot, buttered popcorn so the spice mixture sticks to the popcorn kernels.

Pour into pine wood cones and serve!

*You can purchase eco-friendly products like catering supplies and plastic plates from restaurantware.com and receive 10% off by entering the coupon code: tokyoterrace

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.