EOW

Let me clue you into what happened this week. On Monday I smashed my computer (long story - not pretty). On Tuesday I searched my iPhone Best Buy app and in about 10 minutes chose and bought a new 17" laptop. On Wednesday I worked late, bought a jar of pimento-stuffed green olives and drank too many martinis (2 to be exact because I am - like - old). On Thursday I left work early, put the top down ('cause it was perfect weather in New York) and drove to the mall to pick up my new computer. Friday I had another martini (because after all those olives were still in the fridge), took a nap, got up at midnight and stayed up until 3 rebuilding my computer. On Saturday I stumbled to the kitchen desperate for a cup of coffee and something to soak up the last bits of vodka in my belly. By the way isn't it amazing how coffee can practically make itself when you are half asleep and completely uncoordinated because you haven't had coffee but you have had booze? Anyway - horror of horrors - no bread! Well, moldy bread. Nothing else. But guess what was in the cupboard? Pancakes. Or the dry part of a recipe for cornmeal pancakes I made a few weeks ago. I had stuck a big ol' label on the jar advising me that I would need to add 1/2 an egg, 1/2 a cup of buttermilk and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract to make the pancakes appear. Well I'm not sure how you measure half an egg and I didn't have any buttermilk. So once again, I improvised. I thought I totally messed it up when I added apple cider vinegar to the mix because I read that's how you make buttermilk. I think they meant white vinegar. But I didn't have that either. It seemed really wrong smelling vinegar in the pancakes but what the heck. I also had some ricotta cheese and I wondered if that would fluff up the pancakes so I added a few tablespoons. The batter got a little thin so I added in some more cornmeal and flour. Then, when I put the vinegar back in the cupboard, I saw the coconut. Let me tell you if you haven't yet discovered the large flake, unsweetened coconut chips they sell in the health food store you-don't-know-what-you-are-missing! Wow! These pancakes are amazing if I do say so myself. I guess the cornmeal and faux buttermilk make for a yummy crispy outer layer. The coconut bits are like little flavor bombs in there. Of course pure maple syrup and lots of butter never hurt. Crisp bacon adds a nice salty counterpoint. Yum. YUM. Super YUM.