Oven pancakes

I've seen these called German or Dutch pancakes.  I call them "Ned's birthday pancakes" in honor of Yalie Kate/Ned O'Brien, who introduced me to them on her birthday.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
a pinch of salt
a pinch of vanilla extract
butter
lemon juice
confectionary sugar

Preheat oven and cast-iron skillet to 400 degrees. Beat eggs lightly in a bowl; add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk, salt, vanilla extract and mix together.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the cast iron skillet, and add the whole mixture (if it's a large skillet) or half the mixture (if it's small or medium). Cook for 10-15 minutes, until it is puffy and the top is golden. Drizzle with lemon juice and sugar. Repeat if using small skillet. This serves two people (unless they're very hungry.)

Zucchini Pasta

This is a very simple but tasty recipe I swiped from my former Italian flatmate, who inherited it from his mother.

Ingredients:

1-2 onions chopped into thin slices
around 6 zucchinis chopped into thin slices
olive oil
dried thyme
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
pasta

Saute the onions for a few minutes in a generous amount of olive oil on medium heat, and then add all the chopped zucchinis. You'll need a big pan, but the zucchini will shrink, so don't be alarmed. Add salt, pepper, and lots of dried thyme, and cook for a long time, stirring occasionally. You want to cook it until the zucchini are falling apart and all mushy (not just sauteed) -- this will take at least 30 minutes. It gets a lot tastier once the zucchini are falling apart, so be patient!

Serve with pasta. Top with lots of parmesan and more olive oil if you're feeling Italian.