Zucchini-Pumpkin Pancakes

We've already made a variation of this great chocolate-zucchini-pumpkin bread recipe three times this month after a search for a zucchini and pumpkin combo led to A Hippie with a Minivan. We turned it into muffins, though. And deleted the chocolate chips. And added some oil. You know how it goes. We thought of it like cupcakes plus vegetables and topped it with some dark chocolate and cream cheese frosting for a family dinner this summer.

Making do with what you have and getting done what you need to get done no matter what the weird circumstances are...those are our goals this week. We've had to get a little creative recently since our little kitchen pretty much went off the rails this week. It's so sad! We can handle one minor calamity at a time, no problem -- like when water from the kitchen faucet got ahold of a light electric charge one Friday afternoon a few months ago. Hand washing was very odd all of a sudden, not unlike an at-home nerve block. Got that mess fixed up right away.

But this week, in the space of a few days, it's one thing after another in the kitchen -- lighting, faucet, oven all going haywire -- sort of a lot at once. We're working on it and can't wait for normal to make its way back here.

When you're a healthy mix of stubborn and resourceful, though, in the face of some overwhelming broken-down-kitchen business, you find a way to make muffins anyway. And then you use the same basic batter to make Sunday morning pancakes. A surprise: they turned out even better the second way, and as a bonus, used up some summer zucchini.


Zucchini-Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour (we used half all-purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 heaping cup zucchini (grated)
olive oil margarine (for skillet)
blueberries and sliced bananas (optional)
maple syrup

Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. Whisk together pumpkin, canola, milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla; add zucchini. Combine this with flour mixture until just mixed. Heat a skillet to medium-low. Melt margarine in skillet and coat it once it's melted. Pour about half a cup of batter into skillet for each pancake. Don't turn them until you see some bubbles and some drying around the edges -- watch carefully! -- then flip them. Top with blueberries, bananas, and maple syrup. (Serves 4.)