breakfast
Orange cranberry scones
Let’s imagine for a second that we live in a world where “what if” scenarios are somewhat realistic. And if in that world someone posed a question “what if you can only bake one thing for the rest of your life?” then scones would be pretty high on the list of contestants. The flavour combinations are essentially endless. The individual and optional add-ons are adaptable according to everyone’s taste. And most importantly the entire process of putting them together from scratch rarely takes more than 30 minutes. This is of course largely because there is no need to get the ingredients to room temperature. Scones are one of the perfect answers to spontaneous baking. So orange cranberry scones this time, with hopefully many more variations to follow later.
Pumpkin pancakes
If you’ve risen up to the challenge and made your own cheese, then you should have some whey left over. And these healthy whole wheat pumpkin pancakes is just one example how to use it. But even if you haven’t, don’t fret! Whey can easily be substituted for your preferred type of milk here. These are very quick to make and they are a great change from the plain pancakes which normally don’t taste like anything other than the toppings. These pumpkin pancakes pack quite a bit of spice to kick start that sleepy metabolism. They also feel really indulgent but hassle-free on moody winter mornings. Healthy banana muffins
As with most recipes, these banana muffins have gradually and naturally evolved into what they are today. And what they are today is a cause for a bit of pride. Earlier this year I made these exact banana muffins for a neighbourhood baby shower. They certainly had a lot of competition: a local baker brought one of her homemade cakes. The same baker who later that day asked me for a recipe of my muffins because her son demanded more of them in his life. As you can imagine, that was rather ego-stimulating. Not that there was really any doubt about how tasty they are because this is certainly one of my family’s favourite ways to use up over ripened bananas.Syrniki – easy cheesy pancakes
After this unexpected and much longer than desired hiatus, we are back to (hopefully) regular broadcasts. The truth is that I had these cheesy pancakes, commonly known as syrniki, photographed over a month ago. Then life happened. Early last month we set off for a family vacation. In the days leading up to it, I diligently made sure to have the pictures ready because I very naively assumed I would have time to blog during kids’ nap time. In reality, we walked about 150km in 2 weeks. This is according to a phone application that does not include the time or effort spent on the playgrounds. Nor does it account for pushing a “lightweight travel stroller” (read: zero suspension) along cobbled streets in an already hilly terrain. And that’s probably a blessing because real numbers and figures would be too exhausting.