Everything is coming up Pumpkin

For those of you who do not know me, I love making pancakes. I have a pancake recipe for every day of the week. Some of my favorites include spicy ginger, oatmeal bran (for extra kick), and banana walnut. Along with fall, come all of the great foods and scents associated with it, pumpkin of course being the major one. Starbucks has a pumpkin latte, Dairy Queen has a pumpkin Blizzard, Dave buys cases of pumpkin beer, we burn pumpkin candles at home, and I usually make my pumpkin pancakes on the week-end. The only road block this year is that for the past 10 weeks I have not eaten anything except fresh fruit, vegetables, lean proteins and lots of water. All sugar, oil, preservatives, and most carbs were limited. In the next two weeks, I will have foods reintroduced into my diet. The first thing I will do at the end of November, will be to make my pumpkin pancakes. For those who are ready for them now, here is the recipe: (I think it originally came from Bon Appetit)
1 1/4C flour
3TBL sugar
2tsp. baking powder
3/4tsp. salt
1/2tsp. cinnamon
1/2tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/3C milk
3/4C canned pumpkin
4 eggs (separated)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4C butter (melted)

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Separately, mix the milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla. Mix wet with dry. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold into the batter. Heat the pan to about medium.

NOTE: For those of you that have never made pancakes, it is not necessary to oil, grease or spray your pan. There is enough butter in this recipe so that they should not stick. When the pancakes bubble across the top, it is time to flip. Also, you can use skim milk, whole milk or buttermilk, whatever you have in the fridge. And if you have a sweet tooth, sprinkling a couple of chocolate chips across the top before you flip is totally ok. And finally, only real maple syrup please.

P.S. Click on the link to the right, Michelle's Blog, to see her recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins that we used to love when living in Muncie, IN.