Pepper Design Blog

Waiting…

The kitchen floors are clean (I can’t explain it, it’s just my thing). Baby clothes have been washed and sorted (oh my! they’re so small, I forget how small they are). Hospital bag is (sort of) packed. My outstanding projects for work are near wrapped up and prepped for maternity leave. Everything feels ready.

So now we are waiting.

Today is my due date, according to six years of charting, that is. According to the doctors it’s actually this Friday. Either way it’s a terrible waiting game!

Liv was eleven days over (11!) which would technically take us into July. But this one makes me feel like she is going to come at any moment (other moms out there, know what I mean?). The doctors have offered induction (so different now that I’m going the OB route vs midwife delivery like I did with Liv), but I’m trying to remind myself to wait, wait.

So now we continue playing the waiting game.

But of course that means more paint and more cleaning, more organizing, more work, work. Gotta keep busy. PS if I suddenly disappear, you know where I am! If you’d like, stay in the loop on Instagram: @morganspenla. Waiting is the hardest part.

Father’s Day & Dutch Pancakes

Happy belated Father’s Day to all of the wonderful dads out there! We had a really relaxing morning at our house with my dad and Kevin, and then a spontaneous trip to the beach for a little wind and sea.

Here are a few moments from our weekend, plus a recipe for delicious Dutch pancakes that I could eat every. morning.

I’ve had that fabric bunting hanging above our outdoor table since this event and I think I might keep it up for a while. It’s colorful and sweet and brings a little character to the outdoor space.

Speaking of the outdoor space, I can’t believe that this time last year it was in this state! We’ve been using it nonstop ever since the warm weather arrived. It’s especially perfect for brunch.

On to that delicious, melt-in-your-mouth recipe…

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Dutch Pancakes

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Pancake ingredients: 4 large eggs, 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c half & half, 1/2 t cinnamon, pinch salt, 4 T butter. Preheat oven to 450.

Peach, plum & blueberry brandy topping: 4 small peaches sliced, 4 small plums sliced, 1/2 c blueberries, 4 T butter, pinch of cinnamon, splash of brandy (you be the judge), 1-2 T sugar

Inspired by this recipe (but altered to include my favorite flavors and our specific oven temp times), I set out to create a favorite breakfast food by Kevin. I’ve heard of this fluffy guy referred to as both a Dutch and a German pancake, but the idea is that it’s one large pastry (though not too sweet – very much like a pancake) that rises and concaves in on itself to leave a soft, doughy center that is just delicious with fresh squeezed lemon and powdered sugar. Or in our case this weekend, fresh fruit!

Liv is my big kitchen helper so I tend to find that it’s easier to prep all of my ingredients in a couple of bowls so that she can pour, pinch and sprinkle without me panicking because she has just dumped an entire bag of flour or a heaping tablespoon of salt into a full mixing bowl. A few more dishes to clean up, but Liv gets to participate and LOVES it.

First up was slowly adding the flour, half & half, salt and cinnamon to the whipped eggs.

Keep on churning until the mixture is all liquid with no lumps (a mixer or handheld blender is optional here).

Meanwhile, heat your cast iron or oven-safe large pan in the oven until piping hot.

Add your 4T of butter directly to the hot pan and roll the butter around until it has completely melted and has coated the bottom and sides.

Immediately pour in your batter and close up that oven for approximately 15 minutes.

I’ve seen recipes call for as long as a baking time of 25 minutes and as short as 10-15, I found that our oven presents the perfectly puffed pancake somewhere between 15 and 20.

While baking the Dutch pancake, I prepped the fresh fruit sauce.

Heat a small sauce pan and add 4 T butter until melted, pour in sliced fruit (not the blueberries) and add a dash of cinnamon and sugar – and as much brandy as you dare.

Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until your pancake is ready to come out of the oven. Add blueberries for just a minute or two before pulling your syrupy fruit sauce off of the burner.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Liv and Nana have moved onto Father’s Day sugar cookies .

And Uncle Andy is busy squeezing fresh OJ.

Finally a yummy brunch is served.

Followed by a little relaxin’ at the beach! Was the perfect, blue-sky day.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, too.

Man-Wrapping

A huge thank you to Kirsten over at 6th Street Design School for featuring our home during her Feature Friday series! I love this girl’s style and I’m so honored to be included.

Father’s Day in the States is tomorrow (eek) and if you are like me you are wrapping up gifts and adding ‘bacon’ to your last-minute grocery list for brunch.

Guys don’t expect much in the way of wrapping paper (do they even notice?) but here’s my simple solution for man-wrapping!

This year for Dad’s Day, I found these neat handmade wooden iPad stands by Shuttenworks on Brickyard Buffalo (a daily deals site for Etsy-type stores… awesome!) for the Dads and Grandpas in our life.

Pretty cool, right? Nifty for watching/reading something on your iPad (like a recipe in the kitchen or scores to the game at your desk) while you’re preoccupied and don’t want to hold or prop it up.

But my real reason for this post is my shortcut for wrapping these guys (or anything for the Dads). So easy and very man-looking. I used a ‘Dad’ tag on all of these, but some are being changed to ‘Grandpa’ and the like.

1. Cut a large strip of construction paper to wrap around your gift. 2. Use double sided tape along one edge. 3-4. Wrap gift in tissue (optional) 5. Wrap construction strip around gift tube-style and adhere the edges using the tape already applied. 6. Cut extra strips of paper for decor and to close up the opposite (and now open ends). 7. Wrap them around the gift perpendicular to the first wrap to close up the loose ends. 8. Decorate with Dad tags!

To download the Dad labels that I created, open up this document and save the PDF to your computer. Happy wrapping!

And happy, happy Father’s Day!!