Pancakes (and Parentheses)

I haven’t cooked that much this week due to a looming deadline I foolishly thought I’d be up for.  (Note to self: Get your life in order first.  You have all the time in the world for this kind of stuff later.  Maybe.) 

Happily, Husband made his famous Eat Local blueberry pancakes (along with Codman Farm bacon) for dinner last night, or “brinner” as the First Grader likes to call it.  I always find the act of eating pancakes to be not only delicious but therapeutic.  My ritual has been the same for as long as I can remember:

Place pat of butter on top of each warm pancake, preferably on a stack three high, to induce at least partial melting (soft, partially melted butter is always better than fully melted butter; cold, hard butter is unacceptable).  Pour maple syrup over the stack, making sure most of it drips down the sides forming pools for dipping.  Gravity has never let me down so far. (Over the years, I’ve settled on the dipping strategy because dry pancakes with the syrup already soaked in might as well have no syrup at all.  You can keep pouring more syrup on top, but it’s just going to keep soaking in.  How big is your maple syrup budget?  My rule of thumb is, if the piece of pancake I’m about to eat doesn’t shine with syrup, then there’s not enough syrup.  (Hence the dipping.)). 

One side of the stack at a time, cut off the edges, dip them, etc. (I tend to cut them into smaller pieces to make the process last as long as possible).  That leaves me with a square stack of interior pancakes soaked with maximum butter, which gets cut into four equal squares (NOT triangles) to mop up the syrup until it’s gone.  Add more syrup to finish off squares.  Note remaining syrup.  Get more pancakes to finish off syrup.  Repeat.  (Pancake-to-syrup ratio is similar to the milk-to-cereal ratio discussed in previous guest post.)

You could analyze this all sorts of different ways, about saving the best for last or trying to exert some control over one’s environment, but I think it’s just that I really like butter and maple syrup.  Needless to say, my manner of pancake consumption drives Husband crazy.  For me, it’s comforting because it reminds me of who I am.  This becomes increasingly important the less physically recognizable I become.  And, who I am, apparently, is someone who likes to subject herself to alternately stressful and euphoric manic writing binges with unreasonable deadlines. 

(And pancakes.)

 

Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

I’m reprising this recipe from a post a few years ago, it’s such a favorite.

4 eggs
2 cups milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1¼ cup whole wheat flour
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. maple sugar
1 tsp. salt
1½ cups frozen blueberries, defrosted

Beat eggs in a large bowl until light and foamy.  Add milk, oil, and butter, and whisk to blend.  Sift dry ingredients over wet ingredients in bowl, and whisk until combined.

Heat nonstick frying pan over medium heat until hot (test by flicking some water into the pan; the water droplets should sizzle vigorously and disappear).  Pour batter into pan in the size you prefer, and sprinkle blueberries over the batter.  Let the pancakes get some color, then flip.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Apply butter and maple syrup, and you’re good to go.

Local Sources:

Eggs, bacon: Codman Farm, Lincoln, MA

Milk: Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, NH

Butter: Cabot, Cabot, VT

Whole wheat flour: Wood Prairie Farm, Bridgewater, ME (mail order)

Maple sugar: The Warren Farm & Sugarhouse, North Brookfield, MA (Waltham Farmer’s Market)

Blueberries: Wyman’s, Milbridge, ME

Maple syrup: Butternut Mountain Farm, Morrisville, VT

Comments

[MidLifeMama]

I think you think too hard about eating pancakes. But everyone has their thing. Now I want pancakes.

[Julia]

I love how you can source everything from New England! That's awesome.

[aimee]

That looks like a good recipe. I'm afraid I'm a "buy a decent pancake mix and dress it up" pancake person. I like to start with Krusteaz (Sp?) which isn't too sweet. Then I have two directions I can go in" cornmeal, or buckwheat. If I add cornmeal, I also like to add blueberries. If I add buckwheat, I like to add yogurt. Just a weird preference thing, I guess. Oh I also insist on pure maple syrup, which has recently gotten so expensive it cuts into our pancake schedule. Pure honey is an acceptable substitute, but nothing else.

[Amy]

True story: three years before my grandmother died (at age 94), Paul and I are joined her for breakfast. She reached for the maple syrup and proceeded to pour 3/4 of the container (I am not kidding) onto her pancakes. Paul, looking at her in shock and total amusement, said, "Nan, you like maple syrup, huh?" And she said, "Oh, yes Dear. Yes."

I miss her terribly. And never have maple syrup without thinking of her.

[Word Nerd]

I agree with MidLifeMama. Where is the Blueberry Pancake Fairy when I need him/her? I realize it's 11pm on a weeknight, but still...

[melch]

Partially melted butter is the best. I feel the same way about butter as you do about syrup. If the butter is already absorbed into the pancake, it might as well not be there. I haven't found the best way to keep the butter only partially melted and still have warm pancakes, though. I will have to try the dipping method.

[giovanna]

I love brinner!!! We have it a lot at my house. I think I'll try them for my mom. She has Alzheimers and I take care of her during the week, my sisters on the weekend.

Anyway I make her pancakes every morning and EVERY morning she says "pancakes I love them I haven't had them in ages"! It always kind of horrify's me and makes me laugh at the same time. This would be good to mix in up a little.

[Barry Foy]

Your method of eating pancakes is evil and wrong, and you should be ashamed.

[adele]

I like your pancake-eating strategy. I agree that pancakes do soak up syrup a little too quickly - like eggplant and oil, really.

[Free]

Oh S%^& maple syrup is SO Unlocal here in Belgium. Should I move ??

[Tammy]

Free: That's a tough call--I hear the Belgian mussels and pommes frites are nothing to sneeze at. Though, last I checked, we have mussels and potatoes here, too!

adele: YES. Exactly like eggplant and oil. I don't know whether to curse or bless eggplant for that reason.

Barry: Wait until you hear how I eat my waffles.

giovanna: You're such a good daughter. Just think about how many times you get to surprise her with something she loves. It's like Christmas every morning!

melch: I know, it IS hard to achieve that partially melted state. I don't have any tricks beyond blind luck, believe it or not, but it's such a treat when it does happen.

Word Nerd: Would that there were such a fairy...

Amy: So awesome. I think after 90, you're entitled to eat as much maple syrup as you want. You've earned it.

aimee: I like your variations. I could really go for a cornmeal pancake actually. And I agree about the pure maple syrup wholeheartedly.

Julia: Almost everything. This recipe I love because it evolved through trying to eat locally and the substitutions we made just made it better.

MidLifeMama: Actually, I never thought about it at all until I wrote the post. I'm just a creature of habit. (And pancakes.)