Coconut Pancakes & Saturdays

Saturday started with slipper socks, hot tea, and a living room breakfast picnic since the dining room table has been overtaken by a Christmas factory of sorts - making gifts, wrapping gifts, and constructing cards has left glitter, bits of paper and lots of art supplies strewn about the dining room.


These pancakes were a result of that half a can of coconut milk that is always left over whenever a dinner recipe calls for coconut milk.  That small amount of coconut milk gets stashed away in the fridge with the best intentions to use it in something but then always ends up getting thrown away a week later.  The leftover milk, the remains of a bag of coconut flakes and a recently gifted griddle  lead to these pancakes.  I did a quick search online and ended up loosely following this recipe. We topped them them with almonds, raspberries, a little greek yogurt, and his & hers molasses and maple syrup.

We then headed north to spend the day finishing Christmas shopping in Kennebunkport, which is probably the quintessential New England town. The town was decorated with Christmas lights everywhere and they had a huge Christmas tree right in the center of downtown decorated with buoys and a lobster tree topper. 

We poked around at some shops and had lunch at Allisson's, where we also enjoyed a beer sampler of mostly Maine beers, per Saturday outing tradition.  Overall, a relaxing Saturday that all Saturdays should aspire to be like.

Cinnamon Chip Snowballs

Well, time got away from me there for about a month. Between dwindling daylight hours and a lack of enthusiasm after working marathon work weeks there hasn't been much thought to photographing after cooking or baking. There has still been lots of it, just not well documented. I've missed the camera but I think I'm back at it.

October ended with a weekend of friends, pizza, and pumpkin carving and last minute costumes for a Halloween party.  November then rolled in and weekends were full of being at work or being out of town on the occasion that there was no work. We went to Woods Hole in Cape Cod fin early November and virtually had the whole place to ourselves.  We took a long, dark drive there on a Friday night where we found ourselves situated in a corner room with a king sized bed. We awoke to sunshine and views of the ocean and spent the next two days bundling up, exploring, drinking margaritas, relaxing and ending it all with a 16 mile winding bike ride along the southern part of Cape Cod.

November Instagrams (@michellekmartin)

Thanksgiving came and went and was full of family and delicious food and now we are officially in the second week of December and we still don't have a Christmas tree but it's on the agenda for this weekend (hopefully!)

In the meantime, to get in the spirit of Christmas without having the time to fully decorate I've made these snowball cookies. The cookies have just a few ingredients and they are perfect to make them in to whatever you'd like based on preferences or simply whatever's in your pantry. I used these cookies as an opportunity to clean out the last of a few baking odds and ends. Whatever add ins you choose to use, these cookies turn out as festive little bites.

Cinnamon Chip Snowballs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 cup nuts (I used 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup slivered almonds)
• 1 cup chips (I used 1/2 cup cinnamon chips and 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks)

1. Beat together vanilla, water, sugar, and butter. Once well combined add in the flour.
2. Fold in nuts and chips
3. Form in to 1 inch balls and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Ana Sortun's Chef Sets

A post over on Eat Boutique about the Ana Sortun Chef Sets! A simple (and delicious) solution to a quick & healthy weeknight dinner.