Tonight was my first night singing with the Hartlepool Community Choir. It is a bit of a milestone for me because it is my first excursion into Hartlepooligan society without Jason or any of my in-laws as a chaperon. I was pretty freaked out because I was afraid the choir would be composed of a bunch of lethargic old people. Luckily, the crowd was more the regular enthusiastic multi-generational crowd and everyone was very friendly and made me feel welcome. It was the most socially comfortable I have felt around people in this town, even though their sense of humor was still totally lost on me. That is one of the most difficult things about living here, I feel like I have absolutely no sense of humor. The only jokes I get are the ones that somehow end with "The Queen".
Tonight I also learned my first new English Christmas carol. This is exciting to me because I know literally every Christmas carol in the American repetoire, most of them backwards and forwards. The past two years running my team won the games portion of the company Christmas party solely on my ability to name any Christmas carol in just three notes. Some might even say that Christmas carols are "my thing" because they combine my two favorite things- Christmas and singing. For me, learning a new Christmas Carol was exhilirating, I can't remember the last time I heard a Christmas song that I didn't know. I am glad I will get to know some of the Christmas music standards in the choir because I can't imagine Christmas without being able to sing along to every song on the radio during the holidays.
This weekend I finally made something with pumpkin- pumpkin pancakes. They were delicious and really hit the spot. I found several recipes but modified some to come up with my own recipe and they came out great. Here is my recipe for whole wheat pumpkin pancakes!
Spiced Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
First I seeded and roasted one medium baking pumpkin for about 35 minutes at 400°F, or until a fork can easily sink into the flesh. I used about half of the baked pumpkin for this recipe. I mashed the flesh with a potato masher and then removed any large or tough chunks that wouldn't mash. I baked the pumpkin the night before so it was completely cooled when I added it to the recipe.
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup baked pumpkin flesh, mashed (or canned pumpkin)
1 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg). In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin, milk, egg yolks, brown sugar, butter and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just blended but still lumpy. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer or whisk until they form soft but not stiff peaks. Gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are combined.
Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat or 375°F on an electric griddle. Using a ladel, pour batter on the heated skillet until bubbles form on the surface and then flip them over until they are browned on the bottom.
This recipe makes about 4 "servings", but if you are like me and you really like pancakes its enough for two people. I served the pancakes with butter and cinnamon sugar but they would also be great with butter and warm maple syrup with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a handful of dried cranberries. They are very moist and hearty and great on a cold morning!
I apologize again for the late post, Jason took a couple days off work so he just went back to the base today. We try to spend as much time together as we can when he is home, so I couldn't tear myself away long enough to post. Next week I should be posting again on time.
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