I love the movie “Groundhog Day” and, oddly, for someone as given to talk as I am, I can’t really say why. I think it is because, in its own silly way, it is the perfect metaphor for cabin fever. I actually feel it is yesterday again, when I look out at the heavy gray sky that it seems we’ve been seeing in Baltimore for many yesterdays.

Groundhog Day is also Candlemas Day, in the Christian calendar or Imbolc. It was Brigid’s Day in the Christian and pagan world and marks the very middle of the winter season. We are equidistant now between Fall and Spring, halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Where we live, it is the midpoint of the dark time of the year.

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has become the Groundhog Day Celebration capital of the country. Its population of about 6,000 often grows to 40,000 celebrants. ( Some people will do anything to avoid cabin fever.) With bated breath they wait to see if the groundhog sees its shadow. If it does, six more weeks of winter.

An old Scottish rhyme declares: “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year. Same thing.

(This year, the telltale rodent apparently failed to see his shadow, signaling an early spring. The New York Times, meanwhile, found something both new and old to say about this perennial fluff story. Okay, we now return you to the food story already in progress.)

Crepes, Pancakes and round golden cakes of all sorts are traditional for Candlemas. Edible golden suns. My favorite is Pumpkin Pecan pancakes. And — just a thought — don’t have them for breakfast, but for dinner, so you can watch “Groundhog Day.”

Pumpkin Pancakes

Yield: 10 – 12 pancakes

Ingredients:

I 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons Canola Oil

¾ cup pureed pumpkin

½ cup pecans(optional)

Canola oil for cooking

Serve with:

Maple syrup

Ginger marmalade (optional)

method:

In a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl mix together the milk, vanilla, eggs and oil. Whisk Liquid into the flour mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin and pecans just until blended.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a layer of oil. Heat until a drop of water sputters when dropped into it.  Use approximately ¼ cup of batter to make the pancakes. Turn them gently as bubble start to form around the edges.

Serve with a light spread of ginger marmalade if you like and most certainly warm maple syrup.