blog post

Apple Oven Pancake

October 12, 2014October 21, 2014 by Sara

This recipe, perfect for tart or sour apples, comes to you from Rise Up Homestead. Jessie served this in the morning so that we would have the energy for a long day of catsup making. Enjoy this oven pancake with some crispy bacon and a strong cup of coffee, or in the evening with tea and spoon of cream drizzled over the top.

Apple Oven Pancake

Preheat oven 425 F.
Set a kettle of water to boil.
Place an 8 x 8″ or 8″ oval baking dish in the oven to warm with 1 tblsp butter.
Meanwhile, peel and dice 2 medium apples.
Remove baking dish from oven, add apples, spreading evenly.
Return baking dish to oven and allow apples cook (about 10 minutes).
Meanwhile, make a batter by whisking together 2 eggs, 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c milk, a few drops of vanilla and a pinch salt.
Remove baking dish from oven. Sprinkle apples with 1 tblsp brown sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Toss to coat. Squeeze the juice of 1/4 lemon over apples, then top with batter.
Set baking dish in a large, deep pan, place on oven rack, and pour 1-2″ boiling water into pan to create a bain-marie.
Bake until the pancake is puffy and golden (about 15 minutes).
Serve immediately.

One Dark Blue Night

This hat is the third in a series of patterns inspired by teachings in Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run with the Wolves. This time, I drew inspiration from Estés’ retelling of a Japanese tale, Tsukina Waguma or “The Crescent Moon Bear,” in which a young woman travels to the cave of an incredibly intimidating and ferocious bear.

She makes several journeys to the cave, leaving food and quickly retreating, until “one dark blue night,” she musters the courage to stand her ground and ask for what she seeks–one hair from a moon-shaped patch on the bear’s chest–which she is granted. The young woman returns, triumphant, to the old healer who has sent her on this quest.

She believes this single hair is the magic ingredient in solving the problem that plagues her. She holds it forth, but the healer tosses the hair into the flames. The young woman is in despair until she realizes the true lesson of her quest: that using her determination, courage, and patience, as she did with the crescent moon bear, will help her to confront the challenge at hand.

The moon phase motif of this colorwork hat is meant to capture the magic of a dark blue night–when the moon shines brightly overhead, the frosty air sparkles with possibility, and we succeed in summoning accumulated wisdom from deep within ourselves so that we can apply it to our own healing. Choose colors to conjure a wintery night sky, or select a palette of your signature colors.