Thursday, February 2, 2012

Fact: Brown Sugar is the best thing in the world

  Aside from my fantastic adventures in bonny 'ol scotland, I also have been keeping myself alive off my own cooking. Don't worry...it's not as scary as it sounds. I made banana pancakes yesterday for breakfast (which ended up being brunch because it took me about an hour), and then baked tortellini for dinner! (little italy style, for those arkadelphians out there..)
Mmm.....

2

cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in milk and vanilla, stirring to combine. The mixture will still be dry. Add in mashed bananas and mix. Add in melted butter and stir until batter is somewhat smooth.
Heat a skillet or grilled on medium heat. Using a 1/3 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on top – about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for a minute or two more. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve hot with butter and syrup, or the vanilla maple glaze.
Note: if you don’t have/can’t find whole wheat pastry flour, use 1 cup of regular whole wheat and 1 cup of all purpose. Or 2 cups of all purpose.



I love brown sugar.

It makes everything better.

The finished product!

"Making banana pancakes, pretend like its the weekend now..."

Baked tortellini! I only ate 3/4 of the pan...
  
  Last night I toured the real Mary King's close. Under Ediburgh's Old Town, which is where I live, there are streets and "houses" many stories deep composing blocks called "closes" which are clearly non-functioning but can be toured by entering from various locations around the city. The reason for their existence is they were built over when people moved back into Old Town after the plague. (Most had relocated to New Town, right across the river...the river is now a train station, drained because it had become a cesspool.) Mary King's Close is one such close under buildings in the Old Town area, partially demolished and buried under the Royal Exchange, and later after being closed to the public for many years, the complex became shrouded in myths and urban legends; tales of ghosts and murders, and myths of plague victims being walled up and left to die abounded

  It was pretty creepy, and not because I thought there were ghosts, but because people had once lived and died of the plague or other causes right where I was standing. Living conditions were horrible and I could barely imagine how anyone could have survived there. It was however, very interesting and just added to the list of amazing history I have learned, and will continue to learn about this city, the UK, and Europe in general. (Unfortunately photography was prohibited.)




Still haven't hiked Arthur's Seat...hoping to do so tomorrow. Cheers!