Pumpkin for All

                 Happy Fall!!!  I'm enjoying this fall, especially because I got to bring my baby home from the hospital.  It was still summer when she was born and the seasons changed while she was in the NICU.  When we brought her home, I decided to enjoy this fall season for the blessing it was and because I'm currently on maternity leave.  I haven't ventured outside very much because I don't want to expose Katherine to germs for the first few weeks.  With that in mind, I've had to bring the fall season indoors... in a small way.  I do have a newborn after all!  I decided to make pumpkin pancakes for lunch on Sunday.  I've always liked the flavor of pumpkin.  When I was younger I didn't think much past pumpkin pie, which I loved and looked forward to every Thanksgiving.  Over the past few years, I've had fun finding pumpkin recipes.  Recipes like this Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe that was modeled after the Starbucks latte (I have no idea how it measures up... I don't go to Starbucks.) and this Pumpkin Pie Smoothie recipe.  I de-veganize these recipes when I make them... partly because I'm not vegan, partly because I don't have the ingredients for them to be vegan. I'm extremely grateful for my cousin Angie's secret pumpkin bar recipe which I blogged about here.  The bars are amazing and I love sharing a secret with my family members.  Sharing the recipe made me feel like Angie was right next door instead of in Virginia where she lives with her family.
                I've gotten extremely off-track... sorry!  But thanks for taking that little detour with me!  Back to the pumpkin pancakes.  I decided to make them before I actually had a recipe so I turned to my trusty recipe search engine, allrecipes.com.  If you haven't visited this site, do.  Just make sure you don't have anything to do or anywhere to go for the next hour.  It's that addictive.  I found this recipe for pumpkin pancakes:

Pumpkin Pancakes with Nutmeg Whipped Cream

2 1/3 C pancake mix
2 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1/3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
1 1/4 C milk
1/3 C canned pumpkin
1/4 C vegetable oil

Nutmeg Whipped Cream
1 C whipping cream
2 tbsp white sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

The directions for the recipe were pretty standard: mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients and then mix the two together.  Being me, I made a few changes.  I used a 1/2 cup of pumpkin rather than 1/3 cup based on the recipe reviews.  I also used 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon and ginger.  This was not for any reason relating to flavor.  I just don't have a measuring spoon for 1/3 teaspoon.  In fact, this was the first recipe I've seen to call for that measurement.  I also used 1 1/2 cups milk... just so I wouldn't have a 1/4 cup of milk left in the fridge.    I did sift the dry ingredients because Bisquick tends to be clumpy and I didn't want to have to deal with clumps in the batter.  I mixed the batter and had 4 pancakes on the griddle and Katherine started to fuss.  I turned the reins over to Steve so I could feed her.  He finished cooking the pancakes and we sat down to lunch.  The pancakes have a very subtle pumpkin flavor.  The flavor does build with each pancake you eat.  These are an excellent addition to any fall baking and cooking you might be doing.  In fact, Steve and I both thought at the same time about serving these for Thanksgiving breakfast.  We did have left-overs which we've safely put away in the freezer for Thanksgiving morning.  I hope these pancakes will become a traditional part of our Thanksgiving.

(Side note about the whipped cream: You'll notice I didn't mention it at all.  That's because I didn't make it due to the lack of whipping cream.  Hopefully I'll remember to buy some for Thanksgiving!)