Buttermilk pancakes, cardamom pancakes, cinnamon applesauce pancakes, peanut butter-filled pancakes, speculoos-filled pancakes, candied bacon pancakes, lemon herbed goat cheese pancakes and postmodern pancakes. I ate all of them. In one sitting. Drenched in blood orange rhubarb syrup. In that order. After watching I Like Killing Flies, a documentary about the eccentric owner of Shopsin’s in New York, I’ve been thinking about pancakes an awful lot. Shopsin’s is famous for its insanely huge menu — over 900 items — and its many pancakes in particular. The cleverly named postmodern pancakes, for example, are essentially ripped up, cooked pancakes thrown back into pancake batter and cooked again — a texturally interesting result that makes me want to try recreating mac and cheese pancakes next. It’s easy to make all sorts of variations on pancakes in one sitting. Start with a basic pancake batter, scoop a few tablespoons into another bowl and add the special ingredients before hitting the griddle. For some, the other bowl isn’t even necessary. What should your special ingredients be? Anything... ...

With all the Thai restaurants in Davis, you are bound to hit a crossroads at least once when deciding which place to try out next. Sophia’s Thai Kitchen or Thai Nakorn? Fast like Thai Canteen, or a more formal setting such as KetMoRee? There are eight Thai restaurants in downtown alone. I can honestly say I’ve been to each and every one of them, and they are all unique in their own way. Each restaurant creates their own variation on popular dishes such as Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, Thai Fried Rice and various curries. Although I can’t pick a favorite restaurant, I can pick a favorite dish — green curry with prawns. The best part? Curry takes only 15 minutes to throw together — perfect for the college student who doesn’t want to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen. Plus, by making it at home, you get the benefit of having your house smell like curry for the rest of the night. Yum! Traditionally, curry is paired with... ...

Every week, my housemates and I endeavor to comfortably seat 14 people across four couches in our living room for as long as it takes us to discuss the week’s affairs. Meetings can involve anything from divvying up chores to planning camping trips to discussing why your shampoo seems to be magically disappearing between uses. Our most onerous discussions, however, are almost always centered on the food we’re currently buying. If it’s not a half-hour debate over whether to buy one stalk of celery or two, it’s a straw poll on whether or not we should be buying or making almond milk. These discussions are important, as we buy and consume this food together and must therefore agree not only upon what we eat but also what we support ethically. Most things shake out in the end. For now we buy two stalks of celery and almond milk — only if almonds are not on sale. One item we still haven’t figured out, though, is butter. Butter and milk are... ...

You’re strolling downtown after midnight on a Friday after hitting the bars — what sounds like the most satisfying morsel you can grab to fix your case of the munchies? Owner Jose Cortez of Taqueria El Burrito, which opened in November in the old Great Wall of China II location across from de Vere’s, was very bright in deciding to open a downtown spot that serves tasty, inexpensive Mexican food and is — punchline — open until 3 a.m. on weekend nights. El Burrito is more than just late-night craving satisfaction, though. Walking through the door, I noticed nothing short of the typical taqueria décor — Spanish-style tile floors, Corona and Bud Light neon signs in the windows, traditional brightly-colored woven fabric laid into the table tops, a refrigerator of Mexican popsicles by the door and Tapatío and habanero hot sauce bottles on every table. Aurally speaking, the Mariachi music playing in the background completes the taqueria experience. Another notable quality of El Burrito is its cleanliness — the continuously... ...

Now that we’ve hit week eight, I can’t wait for spring break. When I think of spring break, I think of warm sun, beaches and most importantly, no midterms, finals or lab reports! A couple years ago, we vacationed in Maui. I couldn’t help but reminisce in those memories while trying to avoid studying for my ochem midterm. One of my favorite things about Hawaii, besides obviously the beach, are the luaus. I’ve only been to one in my life, but that’s all it took to get me hooked. My favorite items at luaus were plantains — the less-than-sweet sister of bananas. The plantain is known for its “starchy,” firm texture. When plantains have a bright green exterior, the taste is totally bland and starchy. But as they ripen and get completely black on the outside (like bananas do) they become a bit sweeter. The main difference between a ripe plantain and ripe banana lies in the cooking process. If you’ve ever gotten your banana to the point where it’s... ...

Earlier this morning, beer connoisseurs lined up outside The Davis Beer Shoppe to get a taste of the infamous Pliny The Younger. And it’s not too late to get in on the action. Pliny The Younger — crafted by Santa Rosa’s Russian River Brewery — is frequently heralded as “the best beer in the world,” consistently topping the rankings and praised for its hops and balance. It’s a triple India Pale Ale, meaning it has triple the amount of hops as most IPAs. Russian River touts that it’s more expensive, more difficult and more time-consuming to make than other IPAs, and therefore, they don’t make it often. Every year the brewery puts Pliny The Younger on tap for the first two weeks of February, and fans line up for hours. They release a very limited number of kegs to local bars and restaurants, who typically try to keep it secret — mayhem has been known to ensue. Jeff Kessler, a second-year PhD student in energy and climate policy, got to... ...

If you’re like me and spend at least an hour every day on Pinterest, you know that spaghetti squash is a huge trend right now, as it’s an excellent low-carb, low-calorie alternative to pasta. I’ve been seeing recipes using this winter fruit all over Pinterest for some time and finally decided to see what all the fuss is about. Bombarded by an abundance of recipes featuring various ways to prepare spaghetti squash, I decided to put my trust in a culinary master — Martha Stewart. This recipe seemed simple and not too pricey, and it also offered an intriguing flavor combination. I bought all of the ingredients at the Davis Food Co-op. I highly encourage everyone to shop here; while it’s a little on the expensive side for a supermarket, it’s really fun to explore and find interesting, fresh products — most of which are from local companies. Since the majority of the ingredients for this recipe can be found in the produce section, you won’t be spending too much... ...

Fun facts: 1) Valentine’s Day was originally known as “The Feast of St. Valentine.” 2) Valentine’s Day was not associated with romantic love until Chaucer got his grubby paws on it at some point in the late fourteenth century. So, in the spirit of reclaiming the day, I’m here to discuss the importance of eating with all of your loved ones. Sharing a meal with someone is an oddly intimate thing to do. Ideally, it happens with people who will still think you’re cute when you have spinach in your teeth and won’t mind the smell of garlic on your breath — and for that reason, first dates over lunch or dinner have always struck me as profoundly strange. Growing up, most of us shared meals with our friends at lunch and our family at dinner. Many of us ate with the occasional significant other in high school, perhaps with roommates our first year at Davis. And then what? Who have you taken most of your meals with since your sophomore... ...