the arugula files

Avocado Toast (Plus, An Awesome Sunday Morning with Mindy Kaling and Josie)

Is it rude to say that I love daylight savings time? Like, hey guys, I'm not really sorry about that lost hour everyone is complaining about.  Isn't it worth it for the sun in the morning?  Do you hear the birds, people? Do you see the cherry blossom blooms out your window?  Spring is just around the corner.  Get up and face the day, as my mother used to say.

What a nice morning.  Josie and I ate our breakfast.  I had olive bread toast, with smashed avocados, crumbled pistachios, a pinch of sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil.  (The dish is inspired by Cork, a tiny restaurant on 14th street, where these little toasts and a glass of Muscadet can fill you up with happiness until it's brimming out of our pores).  Josie had milk, of course. Then she took a nap and I finished Mindy Kaling's book, which made me giggle out loud.  So much so that Marcus inquired about what I was reading.

Blueberry Pancakes (Plus, Can you Make Pancakes with a Stainless Steel Pan?)

After poring through a dozen recipes for blueberry pancakes, it all comes down to the million dollar question: can you use a stainless steel pan to make pancakes?  Every recipe I read called for a nonstick pan.  The problem for me is that I don't own a nonstick pan.  My husband, Marcus, thinks we will all die slowly of cancer if we use them.  This morning I set out to find out if stainless steel pans work (not if we would slowly die of cancer from using nonstick, a debatable topic in my house).  My conclusion: yes, you can in fact make pancakes with a stainless steel pan.  It all comes down to the fact that stainless steel pans eventually become "nonstick" if they get hot enough.  You just have to be patient and wait for the pan to "release" the pancakes from it's hold.  Of course, this means you have to use oil, but I think oil is necessary anyway for browned edges that give pancakes flavor and texture.  You end up with a crispy shell and soft pillow cake inside.