Fixin's Special: Christmas Morning Breakfast

We have wonderful traditions every Christmas. We get up in the morning (not before the Curious George alarm clock says 7:00 by the way!) and check under the tree to see if Santa has come.  Most years, he has indeed come and gone, leaving beautiful presents and cookie crumbs in his wake. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – better than seeing the look on Finally Five’s face when she recognizes that Santa has indeed visited our home.

Then, Finally Five, the HOTY and I have hot chocolate, coffee and tea (in that respective order) and open a couple of presents. As hard as it is, we don’t open them all at one time; instead (as Finally Five says), we “savor” them. Yes, she really does say that!

After, we go on a family hike, which is inspiring, invigorating and energizing.  We come home, open another present and then I make a delish breakfast. All bets are out the window with regard to healthy eating on this day.  It is soley about yumminess, which often means butter, sugar, white flour…basically all of the things that are not good for us.  Not to worry, the 26th is welcomed with a fire hose of green juice.

For today, it’s all about the pleasure of family, friends, giving and eating.  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Maili’s Buttermilk Pancakes

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients:

• 2  cups all purpose flour
• 4  tablespoons sugar
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1   teaspoon salt
• 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2   teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, optional
• 4  tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 4  eggs
• 2 1/2 cups buttermilk (Rosemary Musial recommends 2 1/4 for thicker traditional pancakes)

 Instructions:

• In your largest bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
• In a 4 cup measuring cup, mix all of your wet ingredients together.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to just barely combine.  DO NOT OVERMIX, the batter will be lumpy. (Anytime you are using things with baking soda – muffins, bananabread, etc.—you do not want to overmix or they will be flat and not rise.)
• The trickiest part is getting your pan or griddle to the right temperature.  Sometimes you’ll have to throw the first set out if you pan is too hot or too cold.  They should be nice and golden and cooked through (not black on the outside and raw in the inside).  I can’t tell you a correct temperature (except maybe medium) because I’ve had to adjust for every house we’ve ever lived in.
• The girls like them with syrup.  I like them with sugar and lemon juice.  You can also add blueberries or raspberries to the batter and they will be great.

Maili’s Notes:  I use the microwave for two things:  to melt butter and make super pretzels for the girls.  Microwaves are GREAT for melting butter.  Cover the top of the container with wax paper so the butter doesn’t blow up all over the microwave  (this happens mainly if the butter you put in was frozen.)