This has been such a long held belief of mine that I’m amazed the only famous person I could find credited with the idea is Debbie Allen. It seems so universally true I was hoping for (da Vinci?)

No basil for pesto? Use parsley and/or carrot tops. No peanut butter for cookies? Use almond butter or tahini. No white wine for risotto? Use red, or vermouth…. Necessity often pushes us in culinary directions we would otherwise not entertain.

Anyway, limitations proved inspirational again when Gus and Nick met us in Utah last week for a couple of days of skiing. Our accommodations had a nice, but sparely equipped kitchen. Knowing this in advance we stopped at Whole Foods for provisions for breakfast for the four mornings we’d be there, including  Pamela’s Baking Mix, still one of the best, most user friendly GF products available. Our marketing list also included almond milk, half a dozen eggs, maple syrup, granola, strawberries, greek yogurt, almonds, walnuts, and some dried fruit, plus extra virgin olive oil, cilantro, and lemons to make guacamole to go with cheddar omelettes. The next morning Nick added an orange from his backpack. We had no sugar, butter, bacon, salt, pepper, cinnamon…. The jazzed-up Pamela’s pancakes we made with what we had were so successful they were on the breakfast menu each morning.

Look for the recipe on Wednesday.