Come and Get it
17/04/11 07:37
Every time I make pancakes these days I think of the camp at Lake George and gramps. The mornings in my youth when he would make pancakes and sausages for the kids on a Sunday morning. He'd give a yell and we'd come running from wherever we were. More often than not we were still in bed although you might have found me far from shore fishing in the still waters of Katskill Bay. I liked to get out on the lake before the morning winds came along and moved me off my favorite spots. That may have been a stone's throw off the Trout Pavilion dock or further along the shore maybe as far north as Elizabeth Island. By 10 in the morning, activity on the lake was stirring more vigorously and there were simply too many distractions to continue. Besides, everyone was probably up and sitting around the kitchen table back at camp and I'd miss breakfast if I didn't hurry. Gramps was willing to keep making the cakes as long as there were people willing and eager to consume them. The griddle crackled nonstop with bacon and or sausage and the smell of coffee was ever present. I had little interest in coffee as a child and that is probably true of most children. In fact, since it was an adult beverage and we children thought anything they did wasn't cool, drinking the darn stuff had even less appeal. All these years later I can close my eyes and smell the smells, hear the voices, and feel the love that we all felt on those idyllic mornings on the lake. The pancakes weren't bad either.
One thing I remember is that gramps always made pancakes with Bisquick and buttermilk. The secret was using curdled buttermilk if you happened to have it. Well, yesterday I just happened to have some. I thought to myself, this may be interesting. Ev is getting tired of eating oatmeal since he has that every morning of the week. Nan makes him baked oatmeal on weekends when she is so inclined and he certainly enjoys that dish. Who wouldn't? It is chock full of raisins, brown sugar, and everything you shouldn't ply your teenager with when he or she sits down to eat in the morning. And then there are eggs. He was on an eggs and toast kick for quite some time and that too got old. So when I got the idea to make some cakes for him I gladly grabbed the Bisquick, buttermilk, eggs, bowl and whisk and I was off and running. In the middle of assembling all of the parts, I decided that rather than just slicing bananas, apples, and raisins on to the pancakes as they neared perfection prior to being flipped, I would throw the fruit directly on to the griddle with a little butter and cinnamon and let them soften up and caramelize first. Then, and only then, was the mixture ready to be thrown on to the not-yet-cooked cakes. I gave the batter an extra bit of whipping just to introduce the right number of air bubbles to ensure fluffy and robust cakes and poured just enough to make 4 large cakes. As the bubbles appeared and multiplied the time was now or never for the introduction of the caramelized concoction. Those babies were just de-lish! With a few pats of butter thrown randomly across the expanse of the luscious cakes, they were ready to be served. Syrup was not necessary. A cold glass of milk, on the other hand, was. Rachel Ray, eat your heart out!
In retrospect, I'm glad we replaced our old refrigerator last year. The new one is quite a bit larger. So large, in fact, that I have trouble finding what I'm looking for from time to time. So large, that I will occasionally leave empty containers in there rather than leave them on the counter. So large that food that is out of sight sometimes goes bad and I only discover it when I put my hands into a drawer and find that items that used to be solid have turned soft or even gel-like. The refrigerator is so efficient and so cold that not even the most putrified of poultry, parsley, or parsnips come to our attention when the door is opened. One time, we had so many dirty dishes on the counter that I couldn't find a spot for one in-hand, I opened the refrigerator and in it went. It's a shame that Evan doesn't care for leftovers by and large since we have leftovers in spades just within reach inside the fridge. There are chicken enchilada's, real mashed potatoes, plenty of cottage cheese, sliced pineapple, and other things that he could readily consume if only he had the desire. But you have to love the LED lights, the doors that open left and right, and the freezer drawer that opens on the bottom half of the unit. Surprisingly, that took very little getting used to compared to our side-by-side refrigerator in days of old. We just didn't know what we were missing. That baby even dings when the door stays open too long. She sure is sweet.
One thing I remember is that gramps always made pancakes with Bisquick and buttermilk. The secret was using curdled buttermilk if you happened to have it. Well, yesterday I just happened to have some. I thought to myself, this may be interesting. Ev is getting tired of eating oatmeal since he has that every morning of the week. Nan makes him baked oatmeal on weekends when she is so inclined and he certainly enjoys that dish. Who wouldn't? It is chock full of raisins, brown sugar, and everything you shouldn't ply your teenager with when he or she sits down to eat in the morning. And then there are eggs. He was on an eggs and toast kick for quite some time and that too got old. So when I got the idea to make some cakes for him I gladly grabbed the Bisquick, buttermilk, eggs, bowl and whisk and I was off and running. In the middle of assembling all of the parts, I decided that rather than just slicing bananas, apples, and raisins on to the pancakes as they neared perfection prior to being flipped, I would throw the fruit directly on to the griddle with a little butter and cinnamon and let them soften up and caramelize first. Then, and only then, was the mixture ready to be thrown on to the not-yet-cooked cakes. I gave the batter an extra bit of whipping just to introduce the right number of air bubbles to ensure fluffy and robust cakes and poured just enough to make 4 large cakes. As the bubbles appeared and multiplied the time was now or never for the introduction of the caramelized concoction. Those babies were just de-lish! With a few pats of butter thrown randomly across the expanse of the luscious cakes, they were ready to be served. Syrup was not necessary. A cold glass of milk, on the other hand, was. Rachel Ray, eat your heart out!
In retrospect, I'm glad we replaced our old refrigerator last year. The new one is quite a bit larger. So large, in fact, that I have trouble finding what I'm looking for from time to time. So large, that I will occasionally leave empty containers in there rather than leave them on the counter. So large that food that is out of sight sometimes goes bad and I only discover it when I put my hands into a drawer and find that items that used to be solid have turned soft or even gel-like. The refrigerator is so efficient and so cold that not even the most putrified of poultry, parsley, or parsnips come to our attention when the door is opened. One time, we had so many dirty dishes on the counter that I couldn't find a spot for one in-hand, I opened the refrigerator and in it went. It's a shame that Evan doesn't care for leftovers by and large since we have leftovers in spades just within reach inside the fridge. There are chicken enchilada's, real mashed potatoes, plenty of cottage cheese, sliced pineapple, and other things that he could readily consume if only he had the desire. But you have to love the LED lights, the doors that open left and right, and the freezer drawer that opens on the bottom half of the unit. Surprisingly, that took very little getting used to compared to our side-by-side refrigerator in days of old. We just didn't know what we were missing. That baby even dings when the door stays open too long. She sure is sweet.