Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Of Pancakes and Floods

In case you haven't heard on the national news, parts of Memphis are flooded since the Mississippi River has crested at its highest level since 1937. But the national coverage makes it look like the whole city is underwater! Not so, my vegan friends. Most of the city is not underwater. About 900 homes were expected to flood before the river crested today, but most are in northern parts of the county or on a little river island called Harbor Town. I hope those people are back in their homes soon and the damage is minimal.

I've had a few friends from out of town express concern, but I'm totally fine in my Midtown home — far away from the muddy Mississippi. And most of our tourist attractions — Graceland, Soulsville, Sun Studio, the National Civil Rights Museum — are high and dry. Only Mud Island River Park, which is on an island in the river, is underwater. Most of the city is situated on a bluff, positioned pretty high above the flood stage.

On Mother's Day, my mom, boyfriend, and I flocked downtown with the rest of the "flood tourists" to snap some photos of the rising water. Here are a few of my faves.

Okay, so I know I just said Beale Street wasn't flooded, but there is some flooding at the very end of the street by the river. The bars are up a hill and totally safe. This is a view of the corner of Beale and Riverside, which is near the water's edge. The river has risen up into the street there:

This crazy guy rode his bike right into the water at the foot of Beale and Riverside Drive:

The flooding is washing up snakes and other river critters onto the shore. This cute little water moccasin washed up a few feet from us as we photographed the waves from barge traffic. They're super poisonous, but he kept his distance. And he made his way back into the water as soon as he could:

All that water talk can really make a girl hungry. Thankfully, I have a few of Melody's White Bean Pancakes awaiting me in the fridge for tomorrow's breakfast:

I always make a whole batch of pancakes in one night and heat them up each day for breakfast. Melody's white bean pancakes are so tasty! When she posted them on her blog, I thought, "White beans?! In a pancake?! Weird! I must try it." So I did. The beans are blended with water, vanilla, and sweetener, and then mixed with the whole wheat flour and chickpea flour. You can't really taste the beans, but you can taste the distinct flavor of the chickpea flour, which I adore. They have almost the same consistency as a cornmeal pancake, but not so grainy.

I served my pancakes with a couple slices of my Tempeh Bacon — a recipe in my upcoming vegan Southern cookbook. It's due out in January of 2012, by the way. The publisher has nailed down a month!

Anyway, please try Melody's pancakes! And keep all the Memphis flood victims in your thoughts! They say our waters won't recede for several weeks, so some people may be displaced for awhile.

16 comments:

Erin said...

Glad to hear that you and your animal friends are okay! The pancakes look delicious.

The Health Sensei said...

white bean pancakes and tempeh bacon...it's days like these that i absolutely LOVE you, your blog, and crunk ass vegan food! :)

JohnP said...

i hope the water goes down quickly! what is the link to the pancake recipe?

VeganLinda said...

Glad you are okay abd so glad most of the area is not affected. My dad worked for over 30 years for the government as an engineer and specialized in flood management. Flooding is messy and very dangerous. I will keep the people of Memphis in my thoughts.

Jenny said...

Very excited about Jan. 2012! Well, I'm glad you guys aren't underwater, and I hope that I40 isn't underwater anymore because I must make it to Imagine soon!

I adore the taste of chickpea flour, too.

Anonymous said...

Based on all the coverage I've seen, I automatically assumed Memphis was flooded worse than Nashville was last year. I'm really happy to hear that isn't the case. I'm glad yall are getting national news coverage though, we didn't...crazy since our little city ended up with over a billion bucks in damage. Isn't it so heart-warming though, to see how the city just pulls together and helps everyone out? I cried so many times last year at the sheer kindness I witnessed.
Those white bean pancakes are on my to-make list now! I'm going to try using spelt+chickpea flour, I'll post the results. Let us all know when we can pre-order your book <3

Lindsay said...

Glad to hear you are okay! I hope things clear up for you soon!

Jess - The Domestic Vegan said...

"Cute little water moccasin"? Girrrrl, I don't think so. I guess you're more vegan than I am because I would never put "poisonous snake" in a sentence with "cute little." ;-)

ANYWAY, I'm so glad that you're safe & dry! I hope the water goes down very quickly.

Dianne said...

I can't believe how relaxed you sound about FLOODING in your own town! I'm sending good thoughts for everyone down there!

Leslie Richman said...

Thanks for the update- glad you are high and dry!

Jennifer said...

I'm glad everyone is okay. I'm so excited for your book to come out in January. That's my birthday month, so I know what will be on my list!

Melody Polakow Photography said...

I used to live in Iowa and we'd experience significant flooding every couple years or so.. I was lucky to never be affected.. but wow.. it's so intense to sit back and see it happen to so many people. Hang in there!

I'm glad you liked the pancakes!

Just Us said...

There's no way I would have been close enough to that snake to take his picture! :o)

I am so glad to hear that you are no where close to all the flooding!

Can't wait for Jan. to roll around!

Alan Roettinger said...

I have to admit, I was thinking of you as the terrorists--sorry, I mean the media--splashed their reports of disaster up on the TV. I'm glad you and most of Memphis are OK!

Your pancakes are picture-perfect!

misss_e said...

Glad to see you are alright!

vegan.in.brighton said...

I love chickpea flour in pancakes & those look great. I'll have to try out that recipe & see if I can taste the beans. I'm glad you're okay too!