Oven-Puffed Pancakes with Berries

This morning I awoke with Oven-Puffed Pancakes with Berries on my mind. I whipped up a batch speedy quick and then I was out the door for a little Sunday morning yoga.  

This morning yoga was hard. The entire class appeared exhausted only after the first 20 minutes, and this was a 90 minute class. The instructor challenged us to push ourselves and to repeat the same sequence over and over again for like a zillion times. The sweat poured off my brow, my nose and my chin. My arms quaked under my own weight, and to add insult to injury, I think balance all but abandoned me. I wobbled in Revolve Crescent and barely held on to Half Moon Pose. Many of these poses I've done with ease many a times, but not this morning. No way. That first 20 minutes had wiped me out. 

I took solace in knowing that once the 90 minutes was up, I would return home to a plate of puffy pancakes. Plus, today Jon and I celebrated our 11-year wedding anniversary. Can you believe it? 11-years.

And even though I came home looking haggard as hells, the beautiful Daffodils that Jon presented me with this morning put a smile on my face. I think I blushed a little -- or maybe that was just the sweat burning my cheeks. I'm not sure -- at this point it was all a blur.

I finally showered, dressed and dabbed a bit of make-up on my face and sat down to a sliver of puffed pancake. The little bit that I got was delicious.  

Thankful

Today is the last day of Thanksgiving break. It's been a soggy seven days with wind stripping away what leaves remained on sagging branches. Without the benefit of bushy shrubs to the east, our new neighbor's windows have full view of our bedrooms leaving us with very little, if any, privacy. On this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for window treatments.

This year, both of my rascals helped make Thanksgiving dinner! Hurray! Together, we made the stuffing. It was such a thrill to have my girls working by my side cutting, chopping, squeezing, mixing, and stirring -- they really did a fantastic job. Alex practically made the cranberry sauce all by herself.

I had planned to tell you a story about why I put orange slices in the water pitcher, but considering how uneventful the story really is, I decided against it. Perhaps another time.

This year, Thanksgiving fell on Jon's birthday.

Every year we celebrate Jon's birthday, and his sister's birthday, on Thanksgiving because they both have November birthdays. But this year it was extra special and so I made a Chocolate Mocha Cake. You can find the recipe {here}. I also made the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting which you can find, {here}.

My sister-in-law brought homemade mini donuts sprinkled with all kinds of goodness. And to balance out the sweets, she made this amazing salad to go along with dinner.

Now. Let's talk turkey.

Each year I make the same thing. Roasted turkey breasts, corn bread stuffing, Bourbon yams, etc. etc. I have the menu down to a science -- it always comes out pretty well. Only this year, my meat thermometer failed me. It stayed stuck at 155 degrees and would not go beyond that. After we realized the thermometer wasn't working, Jon tested the turkey with his high-tech digital thermometer that he uses for grilling and discovered that the turkey was more than done -- it was overcooked. Blargh!

By this time, my guests were hungry. They ate the dry turkey smothered in gravy and didn't complain once. They were super sweet to me despite the mishap. I am so incredibly thankful for their unconditional love.

City Mice

Before reading this post, sit down because you might be here for a while. You might even want to grab a cup of coffee to keep awake. This is going to be a long post covering events of yesterday evening and today.

Yesterday Sammy was sick, again, so we had to cancel a long awaited sleepover she was having with a friend. We intended to let the girls camp in the backyard for an extra special slumber party, but it was not to be. After much consideration, and a little bit of a spring in Sammy's step, by late afternoon we'd decided the slumber party was back on, this time with just our family. We cracked open the brand new six person, octagonal tent, Jon had bought a few days ago and started assembling it with a great deal of enthusiasm... at first. After an hour or so, it became all too clear that the tent was a lot smarter than us. We gave up. As much as I hate to admit it, it was just too damn hard and we were tired of wrestling with it. After all, we are, City Mice, and know not the ways of erecting tents and such, instead we are much better at erecting a suitcase in which to place our travel clothes for hotel stays.

Despite our pathetic attempts at outdoorsy fun, we settled on a simple backyard fire complete with Nutella S'mores.

The girls camped out in the family room instead of under the stars.

By morning, we were all hungry for a big breakfast {fighting with a tent will make you ravenous) so I made these Pikelets from Donna Hay. I'll have to provide the recipe later as I am too tired to type out the recipe now.

After breakfast it was off to explore our sunny city. As you probably know by now, it just isn't a family outing without a trip to a long board store. And yes, Jon did manage to buy another one -- with our encouragement of course.

Then it was off to downtown Seattle where we explored the open market and cavernous stores and eateries.

 

After the girls had ice-cream at Pike Place Market, we stopped in at the Chocolate Box - a cruel thing to do after the girls had already eaten their ice cream. Their hungry eyes wanted more treats but we just couldn't bring ourselves to give them more, so we left with having only a few samples.

Then it was off to Tune, a high-end audio store where we checked out a few turntables. And yes, I did explain to the children what the big black discs were and why they were going around and around on the flat plate.

We walked to the Olympic Sculpture Park where we rested and also played.

We listened to the gurgle of Seattle's underbelly through the large orifice in the center of this installment. Okay, maybe it wasn't Seattle's underbelly, but if you had to imagine it, it would probably sound like the glurp whoosh bubble bubble coming out of this contraption.

The City Mice showing off their sharp teeth and claws.

After taking the photos we saw the sign that read, "Do Not Touch." Oops.

I call the above image: Man, Red Chair and Striped Handbag. HA!!

It was such a beautiful day and this bride picked the perfect day to start her new life. I apologized to her for taking her picture but told her that I thought she looked gorgeous. I don't think she minded what with that radiant smile of hers.

This orange bike is fabulous.

Finally we arrived home after a long day walking the hard pavement of downtown Seattle. Jon made possibly the best ever iced coffee drink I've ever wrapped my lips around. But because it contains: condensed and evaporated milk along with concentrated coffee, I don't know how many more I'll be having -- it was extremely decadent. My husband knows me too well. I suppose I was supposed to sip it... I didn't. I chugged it. Yummy.

We City Mice were wiped out by the end of the evening -- well, except for me. After having that coffee I'll be up all night, hence the long post.