When we walk back inside, Charlie is at the stovetop flipping pancakes.

“Smells great,” I say.

He asks, “Will you make your fruit thing?”

“Sure.”

I takes me a moment to locate the cutting board and a knife.

I stand next to my son, peeling the apples and dicing them and adding the pieces to a saucepan filled with simmering maple syrup.

—Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

How do I even sum up the epicness that is Dark Matter? This was such a fun read and  was reminiscent of The Martian. Jason Dessen is a content family man, if not at times dissatisfied with his mediocre career as a physicist. When he’s dropped into an Odyssean adventure through the multiverse, Jason discovers just how far he’s willing to go to get back to hearth and home, middling career included.

I love Thursday nights.

They have a feel to them that’s outside of time.

It’s our tradition, just the three of us–family night.

—Dark Matter

I loved the novel’s emphasis on family life, especially traditions. I recently shared my dad’s “yummy waffles,” one of our family’s favorite traditional meals for special events. When Charlie asks his dad to make his “fruit thing,” it’s obvious it’s a family staple. And what perfect timing that a pancake recipe would coincide with another one of my very favorite family traditions, Pancake Day! (Otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday).

It’s usually a British thing, but it just so happens that my hometown celebrates it. And did we celebrate it. My mom was on the Pancake Day board, so we participated in the whole shebang — the pancake flipping contests, the pancake eating contests, the pancake day talent show…and the races.

 

I have the perfect recipe so that you can celebrate Pancake Day 2018!

Multiverse Apple Pecan Pancakes with Apple Cinnamon Maple Syrup

Apple Cinnamon Syrup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of butter

2 peeled and diced golden delicious apples

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 cup of maple syrup — the real stuff

Directions:

1. Melt the butter  in a medium saucepan over medium heat until slightly browned.
2. Stir in the cinnamon and salt and stir for a few seconds before adding the apples.
3. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes until apples are soft.
4. Add the maple syrup. Turn heat down to medium low and allow to simmer while you make the pancakes.

 

Pancake Recipe:

Makes appx. 12 pancakes

I followed this recipe from Smitten Kitchen with just a few changes.

Ingredients: 

DRY

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or slightly less table salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of cardamom

WET

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon of vanilla

 

For the apples and pecans

1 peeled and cored golden delicious apple, roughly grated

1 cup of pecans roughly chopped

Instructions:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl .
2. Whisk together the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Heat a frying pan on medium-low heat. The heat is IMPORTANT! You’re introducing extra moisture to your pancakes with the grated apples and you want the pancakes to cook all the way through.
5. Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto the skillet and sprinkle with apples and pecans, as pictured below.

6. Flip when your pancake is bubbly. Remember — don’t rush it. Give your pancakes adequate time to cook.

7. You can keep your pancakes warm in a preheated 200 degree Fahrenheit oven until it’s time to serve.