late-night pancakes

i had to admit that i'd committed an awful crime. when was the last time i cooked something? hmmm. long, long ago. maybe an entire week ago. the problem was that i went home for the weekend (and whose mother lets them cook when they go home?), then i went and got my hair cut. consequently, food budget zipping along to zero, and i have been living off pasta with pasta sauce, and sandwiches.

granted, i could certainly do something more interesting with what i have on hand; i just haven't felt like it (although, as i say that, i suddenly feel the cooking block dissipate). accordingly, last night i resorted to both sandwich and pasta. feeling guilty, i wanted to make something, but really didn't want to put in much effort, having spent 9 hours at work and walked home in the rain. ok, i had an umbrella, but it was a cold, wet walk home in my flip flops. i had forgotten my sweatshirt that day, consequently freezing to death at work; when i walked out the door from work, i got a nasty surprise: not only was it raining, but it was COLD. normally, i rejoice when it's cold in the summertime, but when i'm already freezing cold, it's not so much welcome as miserable.

and this makes me feel yet guiltier, but really, i had a craving for a nice pancake that could become soaked by maple syrup. maple syrup is just one of my weaknesses...when we were in montreal in april, i definitely ate more than my fair share of maple candy. that stuff is really addictive... ok, so pancakes it was. i justified it to myself by pretending that the pancakes were really for mary, who works 9-5, then has her harvard class from 6-8 (and with the rain on top of that, i'm sure that pancakes are always welcome).

i was going to make the pancake batter before we were meeting to look at a coffee table (which, it turned out, had already been sold), but i was lazy and didn't end up making it until we got back, after a "quick stop" at harvest where i threw caution to the wind and bought two bottles of wine (no, they didn't card me. i must have looked 35 last night): chateau ste. michelle gewurtztraminer, which dave shared with us once and that i liked a lot, although this could have been partly because the vineyard is in washington; and rex goliath cabernet, or maybe it was merlot. anyway, i decided that i wanted to try a new wine i'd never had before (where does one pick up knowledge about wine when it's so expensive, anyway?); this one has a nice french blue rooster on the label. though judging a book by the design of its cover is never really a good idea, it's still a widespread practice (and of course, one that the publishers are banking on), and i'm sure that judging a bottle of wine by its label, paired with my vague knowledge of what to avoid in general, is an accepted practice for many other people as well. unfortunately, the really interesting-looking wines: tokay and muscat (campbells, rutherglen) and the sauternes, were both out of my price range. though i will buy any bottle of wine, regardless of size, if it is $13 or less, i cannot bring myself to spend $20 on 375mL of wine. with no permanent job, it's unfortunately just not something i could do without experiencing that extreme guilt that you would usually experience after buying a pair of manolo blahniks. doubtless, it would have been interesting to taste these wines, and granted, that's not really that expensive for wines imported from australia, but they are just out of my reaches. i even thought about the tokay and the muscat again this morning, but finally rejected them. i'm sure my mood will change once i have gotten paid again (this getting paid weekly thing is probably NOT a good thing).

pancakes are a wonderful comfort food. i was much happier after having eaten my maple-syrup doused pancake, along with the chocolate milk that i bought at harvest. mmm...chocolate milk is also good stuff. since i don't have the joy of cooking with me, i kind of make up a recipe every time i make pancakes, though this really isn't a problem since pancakes are so basic. i like my pancakes sweet, and i usually beat the egg whites to soft peaks if i'm not feeling too lazy (it generates a lot more dishes). hopefully there will be leftover pancakes when i get back from work today.