Christmas Morning Dreams

Dec 22, 2011

By Fran Hill

Early morning whispers of "Santa came." Bleary eyes and bed head. Twinkly lights on the tree. Squeals of delight over the mountains of gifts. Overflowing stockings. Torn wrapping paper and streamers of ribbon. New pajamas. Hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows.

Sounds delightful, doesn't it?  I dream of Christmas morning rituals, but at our house, the farm always demands attention. Lambs that need to be fed daily force Hubs to get up and do chores rain or shine, Christmas or not. I can hope that he makes it home for lunch on a holiday, but there are no guarantees.

So, I dream of pancakes and waffles and muffins and bacon and sausage and eggs, hot coffee with lots of cream and sugar, fresh squeezed orange juice and big glasses of milk. There isn't a breakfast food I don't like, and we often dip into these recipes for supper on cold winter nights.

The holidays are the perfect time to dream of Egg Nog Pancakes. I pick up a quart of egg nog as soon as I see it in the grocery each winter. It makes delicious, tall and fluffy pancakes. Not crumbly pancakes like so many of the mixes and famous restaurants produce; I do not dream of those. Homemade Egg Nog Pancakes are golden and rich with a perfect texture and wonderful, slightly spiced flavor. Top them with a pat of butter and a pour of gorgeous maple syrup and dream of Christmas morning or a warm supper, as the case may be.

Egg Nog Pancakes

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
2 cups egg nog
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat wet ingredients until combined. Sift dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring to moisten. Ladle batter 1/4 cup at a time onto hot griddle (may lightly grease, if necessary). Flip when bubbles form in the pancake; cook until second side is golden brown. Makes 4-6 servings.

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and two dogs reside near Colome.