It’s just before 8 a.m. and Nora and I are fighting about pancakes.
My offer to make bacon and eggs was politely declined by Ben and Nora. They are sick of bacon and eggs.
“What else can we make?” Ben asked.
“I can make almond butter and banana pancakes,” I said. We have a nice, ripe banana.
“They’re not almond butter pancakes,” Nora said, making a face. “I use almond flour.”
And thus begins the bickering. I want to use a solid recipe: banana, eggs and almond butter in known ratios. Nora wants to use the recipe she invented, almond flour, banana, eggs — and feel her way through the measurements.
Left to myself, I could knock out these pancakes in less then 15 minutes. Allowing Nora to do it herself means I don’t know how long it will take and I can’t be sure of the results. I just want a fucking pancake.
I’ve been up since 5 a.m. I couldn’t get back to sleep after nursing the baby and peeing, so the baby and I got up.
I drank the last of yesterday’s afternoon pot of coffee, changed Alma’s diaper and made faces at her for a while. I worked on my article for Prevention magazine that’s due soon.
I’m not in bad shape, or so I thought. The rims of my eyelids are not burning. I am not nauseous.
I start looking up recipes and Nora looks over my shoulder.
“That recipe only has four and a half stars. Mine has five and a half,” she says.
I relent. She can make the pancakes. I don’t have the energy to negotiate a compromise. I interfere just enough to get a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in there.
I signal to Ben, who is rocking the baby, that I need to speak to him in the other room.
“I must be either more tired than I realize or not getting enough time to do my work, because this pancake thing is making me crazy.” After an abbreviated work/life integration discussion, he agrees to take the girls somewhere for a full hour and half later today. Even though it’s Sunday and I’ve agreed not to work on Sundays.
Walking back to the kitchen I hear Nora saying to no one in particular, “I love to watch the butter melt.”
How could my petulance not subside after hearing that?
Ten minutes later I am eating one of the best pancakes I’ve ever had. It’s nutty and sweet and firm.
Nora’s Banana Almond Pancakes (as dictated to me after breakfast)
2 large eggs
1 ripe banana
1 big pinch salt
1-1/2 cups almond flour (or almond meal)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Butter for the pan
Take out two medium mixing bowls. Put 1-1/2 cups almond flour in a bowl. Add a large pinch of salt. Into the other bowl, crack two large eggs. Then mush up a banana in a separate bowl. Then whisk the mushed banana and the eggs together. Put a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in the dry bowl. Then whisk up the dry bowl so someone doesn’t get a big hunk of baking soda or salt in their pancake. Put an eighth of the flour mixture into the egg bowl and whisk until combined. Sprinkle in more flour until it feels the right consistency, whisking in between each addition. You might not use all the flour. It will be a little thicker than a normal pancake batter.
Heat the stovetop to medium and drop in a pat of butter. Put a half cup of the batter in the pan. Stay by the stove and peek under sometimes to see if golden brown. When crispy and browned, flip. When other side crispy and brown, put on a plate and eat with syrup, butter or anything you’d like. Continue this process. You’ll probably get about four pancakes out of it. It’s not hard to double the recipe.