Create: Mmm, Pancakes

This is my favorite pancake recipe.  It cooks up nice and fluffy and light.  It is also great for freezing and popping in the toaster for a quick breakfast.  I always double the recipe and split the flour between whole wheat and regular flour.  The one I have shared with you is the original recipe.

The recipe was found on AllRecipes.com, under the name Fluffy Pancakes.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
2 tbs white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbs white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tbs butter, multed
Cooking spray

Directions:
1.  Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour."

2.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk.  Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

3.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray.  Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface.  Flip with a spatula and cook until brown on the other side.

Tips and Tricks:  The cooking spray is what let me make pancakes.  I was forever burning them and adding more grease to the pan.  One light spray before you put down your first pancake will do it and will last through the entire batch or double batch.  I never have to respray the pan. 

When I was out of spray the other weekend, I put a bit of Crisco into the pan  and swirled it around so it coated the bottom.  That was all I needed.  a

For freezing, I set out a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and lay my newly finished pancakes on it.  Once I am done cooking, I toss my cookie sheet into the freezer for awhile so they harden up.  Once frozen, I take the pancakes off the cookie sheet and put them in a freezer bag and back into the freezer they go. 

Enjoy your comfort food this weekend!

Write: To My Pancakes

Prompt:  What makes you happy?  What can cheer you up when you are down?  What brings peace to your life?  Write a letter/poem to it.

Pancakes,
Oh, pancakes.
Light and fluffy,
you ease my load.
Sweet and sticky,
you guide me home.
Take my troubles,
wash them away
with maple or boysenberry,
raspberry or apple.
Melt them under your butter.

*I never said it had to be a serious letter...*

Inspire: The Healing Power of Pancakes

Well, this was scheduled to be posted on Monday.  I hit all the right buttons and set it up to automatically post.  Guess I should have checked it.  Sorry, guys!

Ah.  Pancakes.  I came across this idea when I was sitting down to dinner with my son one night when we had made breakfast for dinner.  We had had a rough day and we both cheered up greatly with a pancake or two in us.  My son said:  "Pancakes always make things better, don't they?"

I couldn't agree more.

I don't know what it is about them, but they seem to bring healing and relaxation with every fluffy, sticky bite.  It doens't matter if they are covered in syrup, fruit, or have chocolate chips.  They are just yummy.

I was ecstatic when I finally learned how to properly make pancakes earlier this year.  Before that, they tended to end up burnt and flat.  So Pancake Day (free pancakes for the 4th of July, all you can eat pancakes for $5 at VEISHEA, etc) was a Big Deal.

Pancake Day is still a big deal, but that might be because of friends and toppings.  But now I've got it down and I end up making them just about every weekend.  I make a double batch so that they can be frozen and popped in the toaster for a quick breakfast.

Mmm, pancakes.

What is your comfort food?