Pumpkin is one of those ingredients that we go absolutely nuts for during the few months of the year when it’s available. These delectable, tender, buttery pancakes make excellent use of this seasonal specialty. The spiced maple syrup is just the icing on the (pan)cake! These are perfect for making a holiday breakfast truly special.
Frittatas are just about the easiest thing to make with eggs. When you have company, a nice frittata — hot from the oven — is an ideal egg dish to make for a crowd; it’s certainly more efficient than scrambling eggs, or worse, frying them up to order. But with a small pan or miniature skillet such as the one I’ve used when cooking for just myself, this is a dish that can be pared down to serve one without suffering in the slightest. This particular combination was inspired by a favorite item on the breakfast menu of the Walnut Avenue Cafe in Santa Cruz, about which you can read here in this article from The Tomboy’s Guide to California, part one in a three-part series detailing all my favorite things and places in the town where I’ve spent so much time, first as a day-tripper with my family growing up and then as a college student. That scramble introduced me to the idea of using zucchini in breakfast eggs, which, frankly, sounded really weird to me at first. But sliced thinly, the squash is tender and delicious and doesn’t dominate this dish. I’ve added Yukon Gold potatoes to make this even heartier, but you can really make a frittata using anything you’ve got in your fridge.