Exploding Coffee, Pancakes, & Water for Elephants

It's been one of those mornings. You know the type, you want to go back to bed and try starting all over.

Life is kicking my ass. Couldn't sleep. At 4am Kit (my HIGHLY spoiled kitty) decided to have a one cat race through the house.

She ran. And she ran. And she ran over me. Then she attacked her toys. She picked out the only one that has a bell in it. She played with it for a good hour. I HATE that bell.

When I finally admitted defeat and realized I wasn't going to get any more sleep, I headed towards my favorite kitchen gadget. My Keurig coffee maker. A wonderful device that makes perfect coffee every time. Well almost every time. Today it kind of exploded.

Instead of coffee dripping out the hole at the bottom, it kind of sprayed out of the top. It takes talent to do that. A talent that only I possess.

At least the pancakes were a success. The perfect breakfast for a lousy, rainy day.

Today's pancakes came from Joy the Baker's Vegan Jam Swirled Pancakes. Absolutely delicious! However, mine aren't vegan.

Jam Pancakes
1 C All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Dash Salt
1 Egg
3/4 C Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbs Unsalted Butter, melted
2 heaping spoonfuls of your favorite jelly or jam

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg, part of the milk, vanilla extract, and the melted butter. Mix it together, adding remaining milk to help eliminate the lumps and bring the batter to the right consistency.

Add in 2 heaping spoonfuls of your favorite jam or jelly. I used FROG jam that is from a local fruit market by my parents house in Ohio.

I prefer a jam that has lumps of fruit in it to add more texture to the pancakes. However if it is a thicker jam, warm it slightly first so that it mixes into the batter easier.

Make sure your skillet is lightly greased, the melting jam in these pancakes will cause them to stick. Cook over low heat and flip the pancakes when the surface is dotted with bubbles.

Brown evenly on both sides.

Top with additional jam and/or syrup and enjoy!

Serves 3. It made 18 silver dollar sized pancakes for me.

I ate 15 of the pancakes. I blame the book. I was reading Water for Elephants (which I finished!) and just kept eating and eating. I lose track of things when I'm reading a good book.

For those who haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. Something about a masturbating midget is just hilarious and makes you keep reading the book to find out what other "surprise" scenes are going to pop up!