The Sun's Goin' Down, I Got Cakes on the Griddle!

Breakfast for dinner??! What kind of topsy-turvy idea is that? Is my sarcasm coming through? I sure hope so. In our home, I am one half of a couple whom works days and the other half works nights. Still, it is important to me for us to be able to share meals together when we can. So last night at the break of dawn I served up some apple chicken sausage with homemade pumpkin pancakes and applesauce. Thank God I'm a Country Girl! Not really, but I do respect John Denver. How did this breakfast for dinner at the break of dawn come to be you ask?

One of the pains of holiday cooking and baking is shortages at the supermarket. Once its the end of October, everybody wants pumpkin puree. The end of November, just try to find a turkey. You get the point-well, when I went to the store for my pumpkin bread and cupcakes, there were no 15oz cans left; only the bahama mama 30oz. I thought it was better than nothing and took the big girl home. After my delish little cakes and bread were down in the history books, I then had the opportunity to do something fun and new with the leftover pumpkin puree. In addition to craving a new dish, I have been craving chicken and apple sausage. I started to run through good combos with the sausage and then I had the epiphany, "Aha! Pumpkin pancakes!" Naturally I am not the first with this idea so I scoured the wondrous land of the Internet and found several great recipes. Once again, I found a recipe that matches most of the ingredients in my cupboard and adapted it to fit my needs.

Plump Pumpkin Pancakes

The breakdown:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup crushed walnuts
  
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 15oz. can pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Combine the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. Combine both for a smooth batter. Add the walnuts to the total mixture. Take a 1/4 measuring cup for each pancake and put it on a hot griddle at 300 degrees greased with cooking spray. Watch the browning creep up the sides, flip the cake, and let equal cooking time on the other side. Serve with butter and syrup and happy eating!

A few weeks back I tried to make baked apples and something went horribly wrong. I don't think I cooked them long enough and used almond extract which did not jive with the golden delicious apples. Anywho, I had 2 apples lingering that needed attention before they went bad and I went for a classic....

Homemade Applesauce

This was really simple. I had 2 different kind of apples and I found that I liked the combo.

• 1 Granny Smith Apple & 1 Golden Delicious Apple
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• pinch of salt

Put all ingredients into a pot and cook over medium heat for 12-14 minutes until apples are soft. Transfer the entire contents into a blender. Puree on high 5-10 seconds and serve hot. All in all, our early morning breakfast-dinner was hearty, healthy, balanced, and damn good if I do say so myself!