Ithaca & Pancakes

Things have been super busy, both in real life and here on the blog! So today I decided to keep it low key with a fun post about my weekend adventures and a reshare of an amazing and surprising basic pancake recipe. Recounting these fun things is my attempt to relax myself on a stressful Monday. Several grant deadlines, the fall MRS meeting and poster presentation, a final large cell study (crucial to my first postdoc publication), and a surprise faculty position application are all looming in my future before the holidays hit, so I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. This is of course par for the course in academia!

Last weekend, I traveled to visit one of my closest friends in Ithaca, where she just started a PhD program at Cornell. This particular friend really impresses me... after having a front row seat to all of my ups, downs, and straight up frantic freak-out moments during my PhD, she decided that it would be fun to go to grad school to pursue her own PhD. After witnessing my suffering, she knows that PhDs are not for the faint of heart! It was great to catch up with her and enjoy some of the scenery that late fall in Ithaca offers. We went for a lovely hike around Buttermilk Falls and enjoyed some ice cream afterwards before I headed east.

Our Subarus reunited!

The highlight of the weekend though, was these pancakes. She didn't have the ingredients I usually use in her cupboard, so I had to find something else. I was skeptical at first, because they do contain a massive amount of baking powder, but the result was just perfect! Pancakes that cooked quickly to a lovely golden brown, and were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside! I modified the recipe slightly, but you can use the recipe as is: it will result in a thicker pancake, which is just as delicious.

Easy Pancakes

2c flour (you can also use 1 2/3c flour and 1/3c vanilla protein powder, also delicious!)
1T cornstarch
2T white sugar
4T baking powder
2 1/4c vanilla soy milk
2T vegetable oil
generous amounts of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg (~1T each)

Grease and preheat skillet. It's ready when water droplets sizzle when added. Mix the dry ingredients, then fold in the wet. Drop 1/2c batter onto the skillet for a test pancake. Flip when the top is covered in bubbles. Cook the other side ~2 minutes or until it's also golden brown. If you find that the pancake isn't cooked through, add more soy milk to thin the batter. If you find that the first side got to crispy before you flipped it, turn the heat on the burner down just a touch. Enjoy topped with nuts and maple syrup!