K.I.S.S.

My grade 10 English teacher gave us the best piece of advice ever, and even though it was meant to help us become better writers, it relates to most things in my life. Keep it simple. Don’t try to impress anyone. I have a feeling that our group of keeners was trying to impress one of our favourite teachers (he was awesome) with complicated terms and confusing (impressive?) sentences in our essays.

Now that grade 10 English class is but a foggy memory, his advice still pops up in my mind every now and then. Today was one of those days — not that I was making things complicated but because I found myself completely immersed in the simple crafts and activities we chose to enjoy this week. Ethan just finished his first year of classes and has a week before tech session begins so he and his girlfriend, Maria, decided to join us for a week of relaxation and fun.

I love making pancakes in the morning. They’re so tasty and they’re Ethan’s favourite thing to eat for breakfast so of course I had to make some!

I mixed equal parts of Carnation milk & 2% milk in this recipe and it made a big difference in the taste of the pancakes! There’s something about the combination of canned milk and the smell of vanilla together that made pancake prep so satisfying.

Here’s the recipe in case you’d like to try it out:

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine:

1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. milk (I used half milk, half Carnation milk)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Stir the wet & dry ingredients together, spoon onto a hot frying pan and serve up with your favourite toppings! (yum)

We enjoyed our slow morning with full bellies while we crafted and listened to old CDs. Gordon Lightfoot’s smooth vocals played in the living room while we finished a few friendship bracelets and crocheted a few more granny squares. We should have lit a few candles to make it a true hygge experience!