The year seems to be off to a good start reading wise. I am thoroughly enjoying my first pick Oryx and Crake by Atwood. Pity the name of that book is so horribly unattractive and difficult to remember. Maybe I should start providing my service as a usability person to authors trying to help them come up with user friendly names? More on the book later though, I still have one fourth left.
It is freezing here in Norway these days (-16). The perfect excuse to cuddle up in bed with a book or to try Canadian comfort food. I put on 5 layers of clothing an practically rolled to the store and bought the ridiculously expensive (8 EUR) Maple Syrup last week. I figured I would rather try Canadian pancakes then what seems to be the national dish. Poutine: a mix of French fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy!?! I am not entirely sure there really is such a thing as Canadian pancakes but there were some recipes and mentions online that fluffy pancakes with buttermilk were Canadian. I found nothing that fit exactly that criteria so I ended up combining two recipes. Sad to say but I fear we have a new unhealthy, expensive, and environmentally unfriendly habit here. Pancakes with Canadian maple syrup are quite yummy. In case you wanna try I have included the recipe at the bottom.
Canadian Pancakes with Maple Syrup
After doing a round on Spotify with Canadian music I fear I will always connect Canada with sugary things. They seem to be the champions of sugary pop or maybe it was just Bryan Adams that “blinded” my ears… If you have Spotify (the greatest application on earth) you can try my playlist.
And couple of interesting facts about Canada:
Did you know the first European to discover what is now Canada was an Icelander? And the first kid born there had Icelandic parents? Felt like this was very important to mention…
4 3/4 dl flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
4 3/4 butter milk (kefir in Norway)
2 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Butter
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Stir in the buttermilk and egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff enough so they stay if you turn the bowl you beat them in upside down. Gradually stir the egg whites into the batter. Make sure they mix but don’t stir too much.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little bit of butter. Pour enough batter onto the pan so they are 1/2-1 cm thick. Cook until golden brown on each side.
Serve hot with maple syrup.
I checked out the Canadian playlist. Yikes.
You might check out the Cowboy Junkies (not so sugary). Maybe Lightning Dust. Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Kate’s son Rufus Wainwright. Kate’s daughter and Rufus’s sister, Martha Wainwright. I guess Sarah McLachlan is Canadian (did not see her on your playlist… but I would not want to listen to her anyway. Hehe). Feist. kd lang. Leonard Cohen. Sloan.
Yeah… there are many musical Canadians other than the Bryan Adams variety. Bryan Adams is just too offensive to listen to.
Good job on the reading, though. You are right. The weather is perfect for hiding under the blankets.
OMG! I cannot believe I forgot to include Sarah McLachlan. She is actually one of my favorite artists. You should hear her life!
The other ones I haven’t heard of with the exception of Leonard Cohen. Listened to some of them today but didn’t recognize them. Need to listen to some more to form an opinion. Thanks for the suggestions.
I agree about Bryan Adams. He is just too much even for me that tends to like embarrassingly sugary pop music!
I feel compelled to defend Bryan Adams! The 15 year old me loved him:) and there is some residual love remaining…
Don’t forget Neil Young and Alanis Morisette.
I might actually want to read these novels… you inspired me!
Good to hear Rijk
And Neil and Alanis both made it to the playlist!
Oh and sorry Divisha for picking on Bryan!
I will never accept the Bryan Adams thing no matter who likes him or liked him! Haha.
Actually this Indian place near where I used to work in Iceland was always playing The Best of Bryan Adams or Best of Phil Collins during lunch hours. How on earth this fit with Indian food I just don’t know. Leave it to Iceland to do something like that.
Oh, and I saw Sarah McLachlan live in … 1992 or maybe 1991 (cannot remember which). It is not that she is not talented. She is just annoying as a person somehow?!
Icelanders play the strangest music. I will never forget when I saw a young, hip guy driving an insanely expensive sports car downtown and blasting that Moldovan trashy pop song Dragostea Din Tei by O-zone. Anywhere else such a guy would rather have been shot then be seen in public play such a song.
I saw Sarah McLachlan few year ago here in Oslo. She felt very down to earth but I haven’t really watched her live at any other occasion. I just like her songs (especially from the Mirrorball CD).