“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?” J. B. Priestley
Snowpocalypse in Austin, Texas.
It snowed in Austin, which is crazy, considering it almost never snows here. The city of Austin was definitely not prepared for it. A few days before, a drop in temperature caused blackouts throughout the city and water pipes to burst. While many schools in Texas closed due to the freeze, the University of Texas remained open until last minute at 5am to let us have a day off on Friday.
Around 3am, I was so excited and yelled “OMG it’s snowing,” but it was actually only raining. Keep in mind, I’ve never seen snow fall from the sky. About 30 minutes later, it really did start snowing. I spent about a hour outside running around until I was soaking wet. West campus turned into a major snow party. College students sledded down the roads with lids from plastic bins, trash cans, even a janitor’s mop bucket. The crazier sled from roofs.
The next morning, not only were we were greeted with a ‘Christmas morning’ but also sunshine and blue skies. It was breathtaking. Ice or no ice on the roads, I didn’t care. I grabbed my camera and rushed to campus.
- Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.
- Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form.
- Combine buttermilk, egg yolks, and melted butter in another bowl.
- Add dry mixture to the buttermilk mixture in 2 parts. Mix until slightly incorporated, you don’t want to over mix.
- Gently fold in egg whites. You don’t want the batter to deflate.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat and lightly coat with butter or nonstick spray. Ladle the batter into the heated pan and cook until browned. Flip and cook until the other side is nicely browned.
Being in the snow all day inspired me to add a dusting of powdered sugar on top of the pancakes. Added to essence of winter wonderland!
And to give a burst of color, I topped the powdered sugar with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds.
I even left some pomegranate seeds on the snow for any hungry birds, which left some beautiful red stains in contrast to the white.
