My daughters Laina and Whitney at a San Jose Sharks Hockey Game
On Saturday my sister Susie and I took my daughters to our annual San Jose Sharks game and I realized that Susie and I have been going to Sharks games for almost 18 years. I attended my first San Jose Sharks hockey game in 1995. I went to the game with my sisters and a busload of Wente Winery employees and their guests. The Sharks had been at the San Jose Arena for about two years and the arena was clean, modern, had gourmet food concessions and plenty of women’s restroom facilities (which was really great because you didn’t spend half of the sporting event waiting in line to use the restroom). And, because the Sharks play in the Silicon Valley, in those days it was a common sight to see Silicon Valley execs in suit and tie at the game and a few of the high profile CEOs and their possees cheering on the Sharks.
That bus trip to the arena and the game were pretty wild. Beer and wine were flowing in the bus on the way to the game and the partying continued at the game–for everyone but me. I happened to be nearly nine months pregnant when I attended that game. For weeks my husband and I had been trying to agree upon a name for our baby who would soon be making her debut. Finding a name that we would both like was constantly on my mind. That night as I watched the players swirling around on the ice, the name on the back of one player’s jersey caught my eye. Whitney. Ray Whitney was playing for the Sharks at the time. I liked that name, Whitney.
On the bus ride back to Livermore my sister Susie asked me if I had considered the name Whitney for the baby. As a matter of fact, I said, I had thought of that name for the baby. When I got home I ran the name by my husband and he liked it too. So, Whitney it was.
Whitney is seventeen years old now. She is very sweet, empathetic, considerate, and likes to attend San Jose Sharks Hockey games. She is polite to people when they ask if she was named after Whitney Houston.
A few months ago I was getting my hair cut and the gray “sparkles” removed when Whitney called and asked me when I was coming home. She said she was cooking something for me and she didn’t want it to get cold before I got home. What she made me was a honey cloud pancake. It was like a custard or flan, but also a bit like a soufflé. The honey cloud pancake was really very good. Just like the name, it was like eating a honey cloud. The recipe is below.
The honey cloud pancake
Honey Cloud Pancake
– 1 single serving pancake
Ingredients
- 1 large egg and 1 egg white
- 1/4 cup of warm milk
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons of honey and more for drizzling
- 1 dash of vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- Soft fruit, such as sliced strawberries, peaches pears, blue- or blackberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a small 6″ oven proof frying pan. In a small bowl whisk one egg white until it is white and peaky. In a medium bowl, mix the whole egg with flour, salt, honey, and vanilla then whisk in the warm milk. Gently fold the whipped egg into the batter with a metal spoon. Melt one tablespoon of butter in the hot pan. Pour the batter in and cook on the stove for a few minutes until the pancake starts to set at the edge. Sprinkle some fruit on top. Place the pan in the hot oven for 7 minutes until puffed up and golden. Drizzle with honey.
~merry~