I had a birthday this week and last Saturday I went out for Indian food with a bunch of my friends to celebrate. I wanted to share a not-so-flattering silly photo of me that my friend Jenni took of me there.
I seem to always make odd faces when she is Instagramming me. I hope you find it as funny as we did. Yes, it’s true that I turned 50 and I still wear silly t-shirts out to dinner. I doubt I’ll ever grow up in that way.
Photo by Jenni Fields of pastrychefonline.com
For my birthday I made myself Jenn’s carrot cake pancakes from her blog, Veggie Inspired Journey. The pancakes were just as satisfying as cake and still felt like a special treat.
I was able to control what went in them too. I substituted the flour with whole wheat pastry flour and used pecans instead of walnuts.
The only other change I made was to add more cinnamon. You have to try them too! You can find the recipe here and make them for your family.
Photo and recipe by Jenn Sebestyen
I hope spring has reached wherever you are. I don’t know about you, but I get the winter blues. Seeing all the flower and leaves come back gets me back in a better frame of mind.
I haven’t had time to get much of my container garden planted yet, but I have a few things ready to go in. I’m also planting some interesting white strawberries that will be spotted with red seeds. They’ll really dress up my food photos later in the summer. Don’t worry they are not GMO, but just an old hybrid that should taste like pineapple.
My CSA has been full of green onions the past few weeks. I’ve dehydrated some to use in soups over the winter and have been throwing the rest in everything I make.
I wanted to try regrowing them and look at them go! The longer bunch is about 2 weeks old and the shorter ones just went in last week. It looks like I will harvest some new growth this weekend.
Just cut off the green parts to cook with and stick the leftover bottoms into a shallow glass of water. Let the tops to stick out of the water so they can breathe a little. Change the water about every 3 days when it gets murky and rinse off the roots. That makes the water clean and keeps it from getting smelly.
Mint is one of my favorite herbs and I always add in some new varieties every year. This year it’s ginger mint. The plant I bought was ready to be trimmed. Some of that went into my water and tea, but the rest of the cuttings I’m rooting.
Mint always wants to grow and it can actually be a problem, but it’s in our favor for rooting. Stick the cuttings in a glass of water and let the mint work its magic! You can see how well mine has done in the photo above.
I have some more mint that I’m trying to root below that came in my CSA. It doubles as decoration and if it doesn’t root it will make a tasty iced tea!
What do you grow on your windowsill, or planning to plant in your garden?
Annie says
Those pancakes are to die for and a most excellent way to celebrate a birthday. BTW, I’m so glad that you are still wearing silly t-shirts and making funny faces at 50. As you know, I’m nearing the big 5-0 myself, but in my head I’m a 20-something!
Kathy Hester says
Sometimes I feel like I’m 18 and others like I’m 30. Usually depends on if it’s something new-to-me or not 😉
Jenn says
Happy Birthday, Kathy!! And thank you so much for sharing the pancakes. I’m so glad you liked them!
Kathy Hester says
Thank you! I’ll be making those pancakes again this weekend!
Essie says
Happy Birthday! Carrot cake for breakfast is right up my alley. Thanks for the recipe. I have been making pineapple pancakes for years because with butter (I’m vegetarian not vegan) and syrup they taste like pineapple upside-down cake. Originally there was an exact measurement for the crushed pineapple but I just started adding as much as the batter could take. I think I’ll probably end up doing the same with the carrots in this recipe. Yum.
A hint about rooting mint or other plant cuttings; remove any leaves that are under water. Just leave bare stem in the water. Also, either use an opaque container or wrap heavy paper around it and hold in place with a rubber band to keep light away from the part under water.
Kathy Hester says
Thank you for the bday wishes and the great mint tips!
Ana @ Ana's Rocket Ship says
Personally, I hate gardening and can’t grow anything ( I am the girl who can kill cress (and no- I seriously wish that was a joke) ) but I DO love the look of those carrot cake pancakes!
Gwen @simplyhealthyfamily says
I can have my favorite cake in breakfast form?? oxox
Kathy Hester says
I know – that’s the best!
Katie @ Recipe for Perfection says
What a rad idea for pancakes! I grow basil outside my door. I don’t have much of a green thumb, but it does pretty well.
Kathy Hester says
Basil is pretty wonderful too. I usually grow Italian, purple and lemon basils.
Kate @ Diethood says
Happy Birthday!! I loooove that fluffy stack of pancakes!
Kathy Hester says
Thank you!
Elena says
Happy Birthday! No better way to celebrate than with pancakes.