Beer Pancakes and Strawberry Rice Pudding

For those of you who don't know, I'm a seasonalitarian. Yes, that is something I just made up (although I'm sure there are others who think like I do, so don't hassle me 'bout patents or nothin!). This means that in Summer I don't eat the meat, and in Winter I surely do (a word of wisdom-itarian?). I have the months divided up into adding things (in fall) and taking things out (in spring), because I'm just OCD that way.

So this month is where things get challenging. As of last weekend, I am giving up the eggs. Now I have been a vegetarian before (fail-atarian), so the gradual giving up of pork, beef, chicken and fish has not been all that difficult (unless Justin brings home a particularly delicious salami from Caputo's for our anniversary...ah the man knows me well!). But this year is the first year I've ever toyed with veganism, and I intend to dump the dairy come mid-June and see how it fits.

So basically...I'll let you know how it goes. So far I like it. Eating seasonally makes me feel more in touch with nature, and it's cool to feel my body change with the year. And its given me an excuse to hit the library for vegan cookbooks, and any excuse to come home with armloads of cookbooks is golden for me! Watch and see as I attempt to come up with egg and dairy free desserts. You know, the kind that stand on their own, without needing "egg and dairy free!" to sell them. 'Cause I hate all that low-fat no-sugar tastes-almost-like-real-butter crap!

Of course, the following desserts are from LAST week. So none of the above applies...YET!!





Now onto the second item.



It is time I did the strawberry some justice. It got a little last week in my strawberry champagne cake. It gets more this week in this delicious strawberry rice pudding.


Anna, Anna, Anna, you say. Why oh why are you always making things out of beer and champagne, complaining that nothing is in season when every time I go to the grocery store there are boxes and boxes and boxes of strawberries?


Plump, fresh, sweet, and begging to be used?


Teasing, fresh beside their pre-packaged angel-food cake and gloppy strawberry syrup wannabes? Don't you want to take them home? Don't you want to give them a proper home?


Enjoy the sun. In Utah it just came out.

Beer Pancakes (from Carole Raymond's "Student's Vegetarian Cookbook")

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 egg
3 T vegetable oil
1 T honey
1 can or bottle (12 oz.) beer

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix well. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, and honey with a fork.

2. Add the liquid mixture and the beer to the dry ingredients; stir just until a smooth batter is formed. The batter will be somewhat lumpy and slightly thick.

3. Lightly oil a medium skillet, and place it over medium heat until hot. Pour 1/2 c of batter at a time onto the skillet. Cook the pancakes until the bottoms are golden brown and the tops begin to bubble. Flip them over, and cook until the undersides are golden brown. Serve with maple syrup (and/or blackberries and whipped cream!).