Anniversary Pancakes

Today is my one year anniversary with Rick! (xoxo)  One of the things we have in common is our undying passion for food.  It seems only fitting that this day should be celebrated by creating some truly epic pancakes.  I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with chocolate pancakes, but maybe those of you reading this blog have never tried to make them. I think there comes a time in everyone's life when you need to have chocolate pancakes for breakfast.  And when that time comes, I hope you'll top them with peanut butter sauce, bananas, and real Canadian maple syrup.

I'd love to give you the recipe for these pancakes, except that I never use a recipe when I'm making pancakes.  I'll do my best to approximate, and you can go from there or just adapt your favourite pancake recipe to add chocolatey goodness. Be warned that this is in no way a precise recipe, but I've included approximate quantities for those of you who like to measure things.

Cocoa Pancakes
makes 2 generous servings
~ 1 cup flour
~ 2 tbsp sugar
~ 2 tsp baking powder
~ 3-4 tbsp cocoa
~ 1 tsp vanilla
enough non-dairy milk to reach desired pancake thickness
(I would also have added ~1/4 cup of minichips if I had some on hand)

Mix, fry, and top with bananas & peanut butter sauce (strawberries/raspberries & chocolate sauce would be pretty awesome too).

Peanut Butter Sauce is a staple in our house for pancakes and crepes because we're both obsessed with peanut butter.  Simply take a few good dollops of peanut butter and thin it out with some soy milk, a little at a time until you get a nice creamy sauce.  Add honey, maple syrup or agave nectar to sweeten to taste.  Yummmm!!!

Beavers and VeganTails

As I've told you before, the Rideau Canal is the world's largest skating rink, and a quintessentially Canadian experience.  In the spring, the snow melts to reveal bike paths that line the canal on both sides, meaning that skating the canal is not exclusively a winter activity.  I recently strapped on my roller blades and skated down the canal to the Tulip Festival (read more about my visit at my new nature blog!).  BeaverTail huts frequently appear at Ottawa festivals, and decided that a good skate always deserves some cinnamon-sugar goodness.  

Cinnamon-Sugar VeganTail!  Now with less guilt!

While awaiting our tails, Rick mentioned to the guy that I was vegan but I cheat for BeaverTails, to which he replies "We can make them without the butter, we make VeganTails all the time!"  As I mentioned in the post "A Tale of Tails and Zen", I e-mailed the nice people at BeaverTails to find out how vegan their products were.  They informed me that only the butter they brush on top right before adding the toppings is non-vegan.  The contents of the actual tail are fully vegan.  Now we can all request VeganTails and no longer make the tough choice between guilt and deprivation!  

While we were on our way home from Major's Hill Park that evening, we spotted this little guy touring the Rideau River in the Vanier area.  Don't worry buddy, I'm a vegan, your tail is safe with me.  :)