I actually forgot that it was Fat Tuesday. When I lived in Oak Park, every year I would stop by a bakery and pick up paczki’s for the office. You literally had to order them in advance that’s how good they were – if you just walked in and tried to get some, you were out of luck.
In 2009, I even tried to make my own! I am sure I wrote about this before, but many years ago we had local counsel ship us a King Cake at one of the law firms I was working at. I had no idea what it was, but being over 200 pounds, turns out I liked cake! I took a piece and went to my desk and started eating it.
About the third bite in, I bit down on something and I spit out a tiny plastic baby. My first thought? The baker had her kids in the bakery the day that cake was made, and the kid decided to throw it into the batter and the Mom didn’t notice! It wasn’t until someone said “who got the baby?!” that I realized it was supposed to bring good luck to the person who got it.
Yesterday, one of the attorneys brought in a king cake. It smelled amazing, but koo-dohz to me, I didn’t have even a crumb of it! For litigation reasons, the baby is no longer buried in the cake, it just sits on top.
I made the best fricken pancakes yesterday if I do say so myself. My breakfast boss LOVES all things sweet, so I decided to make Chobani’s Perfect Pancakes. I subbed in a 6 ounce container of the blueberry Chobani vs. the vanilla, which made them extra blueberry.
Perfect Pancakes
- makes 4 servings, 3 pancakes each
- 240 calories, 3 fat, 41 carbs, 1 fiber, 11 protein and 630 mg sodium
Ingredients:
- ½ c Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt (I used blueberry)
- 1½ c all-purpose flour
- 1½ t baking powder
- ¼ t baking soda
- ½ t salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¾ c whole milk (I used 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, Chobani and milk.
Step 2
Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to combine lightly.
Step 3
Heat a nonstick skilled over medium heat. Lightly coat with cooking spray and pour about ¼ c of batter onto pan for each pancake. Cook until edges set and bubbles appear on surface, about 2 minutes. Flip to brown other side.
The other thing I do is I let my batter sit for at least 15 minutes to let the baking powder do it’s magic – you’ll get fluffier pancakes. I had 1/4 cup of sugar free pancake syrup over the top, with two slices of ham off the bone.
I also don’t put my blueberries in until I put the batter in the pan, that way your batter doesn’t get all blue.
Light, fluffy, not overly sweet. You’ll notice there isn’t even any sugar in the batter! My boss LOVED these, and I think these will be in regular rotation.
Knowing my breakfast was going to be pretty high in carbs, I took half the amount of insulin so that my numbers would be in the low 200s before working out. Imagine my surprise when I checked it at noon, and I was a perfect 123! Fudge. So I ate a 120 calorie bag of individual pretzels. Checked 20 minutes later, I was only up to 149. I then drank a 10 ounce orange juice and that did the trick – 20 minutes after that I was at 219. Damn diabetes though.
I ended up swimming for 30 minutes. It really helped my sore muscles from that 100 workout I did on Monday. There was a senior citizen in the lane next to me. I can’t say she was actually swimming, more like floating. Until she got to the shallower end and she would do a handstand each time! Maybe reliving her youth? Seemed a bit odd to me.
By the time I got back to the office it was nearly 2:00. I ended up having 1.25 cups of leftover shrimp fried rice, and since I had to eat the pretzels and orange juice before my workout, ditched the egg roll. My other boss loved the egg rolls – she had two!
I ended up making meatloaf for dinner – it’s one of Tony’s favorites, and a leftover he’ll actually eat as a sandwich. I didn’t put enough ketchup on for his taste, but I followed this recipe – except I used Italian bread crumbs instead of the crackers, and I mixed 2 parts ketchup with 1 part balsamic vinegar for the top. And my store sells a meatloaf “mix” which is one part ground pork, one part ground veal and one part ground beef.
Guess what? I loved it – I ate everything on my plate. Raise your hands if you look cooked carrots! Tony’s not a fan, he can only eat them raw, but I love them tossed in just a tiny bit of butter and salt and pepper.
Of course, after that picture was taken above, I did the Biz thing and doused it with Buffalo Tabasco. Ah, much better!
Tony brought the mail in earlier and as I was putting dinner together, he said “did you see this came in the mail?” It was a card from our vet. We opened it and saw this.
On the inside it said:
…Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you . . . I loved you so – ‘twas Heaven here with you.”
We cried right there a bit. And then our vet hand wrote:
I wish to express my sincere sympathy over the loss of your pet, Ed.
I am not sure we’ll ever be ready for another dog, but we definitely would use this vet again.
But let’s end this post on a high note, shall we? I HAVE TODAY OFF FROM WORK!
Hannah has been working so much, 35 hours a week, PLUS going to school full time. I haven’t seen here in nearly a month! I told her to let me know the next day she has off and we’d get together. As luck would have it, my Mom will be in Forest Park bowling, my sister works in Oak Park so we are meeting at my sisters office, going to lunch at Flat Top Grill, and then going thrift shopping and who knows what else.
I can’t wait! And its already 43 degrees and sunny – I know lots of walking will happen, as that most likely will be my exercise for the day.
Make it a great day!
I never heard about a baby being hidden in cake, how funny! The shrimp fried rice looks sooo good. I’m drooling over here 😉 Love the card from the vet, so nice to go that extra mile. Have an awesome day with Hannah, your sister and your Mom! As soon as I seen thrift shopping it reminded me of that song. I love that damn song woman!! Oh, it’s my ringtone too. (On Zedge, it’s free if you want it 🙂 ).
OMG, I never thought to set that as my ring tone – I need to fix that – stat! I popped some tags though yesterday! 😀
We went to a Mardi Gras party last night, complete with the baby IN the cake. Sadly, none of us got it, which is a shame, because I could use some luck.
I can’t believe they don’t hide the baby in the cake anymore, sheesh 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful day with your family!!
Pancakes look delicious, must try that recipe and make waffles, would that work??? I like to boil my potatoes with carrots then mash them together with a dab of butter and salt and pepper. Then my husband does not realize he is eating carrots, which is hard to get into his mouth….hahaha.
Tears again…….when my Hyko died the vet sent a post card and a white rose and, that rose lasted for over two weeks, the groomer sent a beautiful card….makes you want to cry cause they cared too!!!
Fat Tuesday……I never heard of Paczki’s until yesterday. There is a place in Green Bay that makes them and the filling is made with anything your heart desires…..their new filling is cream cheese…..mmmm sounded delicious. They said that people come up from Chicago just for these Paczki’s and here I just heard about them yesterday!!!!!! But maybe that is okay, if they are anything like Krispy Creams I would want to “overdose” so best to just stay away 🙂
That’s a good question Louise, I am not sure if they would work as waffles! My waffle iron broke and I never replaced it.
Yep, the bakery I used to get the paczki’s at had about a dozen different fillings – the apple was my favorite. 😀
I don’t know if you know it, but it’s common practice that whoever gets the baby in their piece of cake, has to buy the next cake. In some offices, they designate a specific day of the week, while in others, it’s a daily cake fest. I was so good at being able to figure out where the baby was in the cake, that I’d go years without getting it in my piece.
Anyhow, if you ever get the chance, order one of the filled cakes–I love the cream cheese and cherry.
That’s interesting!! So many different traditions. And, for the record, any cream cheese filled donut, coffee cake, etc. has already been deemed “insulin worthy” in my book!
Enjoy your day with family, Biz! And definitely koo-dohz for not eating any babies. 😉
Yay for not eating the king cake!! I was dying over all the pictures of king cake and paczi’s yesterday!!
Have fun today – I’m sure the thrift shopping will be fucking awesome. 🙂
I popped some tags and had $20 in my pocket! 😀
The day before Ash Wednesday is just “pancake day” around here. King cake and paczi are not common around these parts, but both foods are on my “eat before death” list! 🙂
OMG, your “eat before death” comment made me laugh out loud!
Enjoy your day off! I am off today too, recovering from jury duty before heading back to work.
your jury duty was brutal – sorry about that Jacky – can’t wait for our breakfast date next month!
Ive never had that cake!! Is it good? I love cooked carrots (i like carrots in every form). I havent made meatloaf in a while- putting it on the to make list. That card made me cry
It’s so overly sweet, I haven’t had it in years – it has a huge layer of thick frosting on top and many different colored sugar on top.
sorry to make you cry – only happy posts for a while, mkay?!
Enjoy your day off! Can you believe I’ve never had a king cake? Maybe I was too far, being in CA and all. Good for you for resisting!
What a great day! And your title made me look twice lol
If nothing, I am the queen of blog post titles! 😀
Enjoy your day off! I’m even seeing a peek-a-boo of sunshine at the moment. 🙂 I had my first positive experience with cooked carrots just recently (the roasted rainbow carrots I posted about). Not bad, not bad!
A few years ago, one of the students brought me in the baby from the cake and swore she didn’t bite it – it still sits on my desk to this day. Go figure! lol
I had to laugh because I actually had that baby taped to my monitor for years!
A couple of weeks ago I was at a knitting social when someone brought in a King Cake – she announced she was hiding the baby in the cake, so everyone who took a piece knew to be aware of it. Cute tradition!
Hope you have a blast with Hannah, your mom and Jenn!
I think putting objects into a cake is odd, especially babies, I forget how that tradition started! My sister’s dog was a black lab that looked just like that picture 🙁 What an awesome vet however. And I can’t eat cooked carrots either…only raw! Have a fun day off!
Sounds like you have a fun, fun day planned with Hannah! Enjoy every minute.
Cooked carrots are growing on me, I prefer them raw. I like them roasted and in soup though.
Those pancakes look GOOD.
Okay I must be out of it because I’ve never heard of Fat Tuesday. Ummmm did you say lunch and thrift shopping with your sister, mom and daughter, it’s like Christmas! Have such a fun day with all your loves.
I actually thought of you yesterday Marie – because we are like thrift store twins! I love the new chairs you got for your dining room – score!
koo-dohz to you! I probably would have had a piece of cake :0 Enjoy your day off…sounds like you will.