M.C. Austin's Pancake Dinner

Every once in a while my grandma, the one, the only, Marie C. Austin, used to make my brother and I pancakes for dinner. It was a real ritual. They had to be served pipping hot and she would make them only a couple at a time. No making up a big batch and putting them in the oven for her. She also used this amazing old electric griddle that seemed to be capable of evenly applying the perfect amount of heat.

So at Zoe's request (once again introducing the idea that she really is Marie come back for seconds) last night I whupped up some pancakes for dinner. Living in Espanya means many things, including no access to Aunt Jemima. Nope it's pancakes from scratch or nada. And considering how easy "from scratch" is I wonder how Aunt Jemima stays in business.

It's "falling off a log simple". Beat one egg with one teaspoon of vegetable oil and a cup of milk.

Sift twice 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt and and 1 tablespoon of baking powder. You can leave out the sugar if you want to.

Using a whisk or a hand mixer (hey, a whisk is easier, there is little clean up and it is good exersize) gradually combine the dry ingredients with the liquids.

You have now completed the batter phase of this project.

Preheat a griddle or a skillet to medium low. Melt a tiny bit of butter in the pan and coat it as evenly as possible.

Using a ladle or a 1/2 cup measuring cup pour the batter into the pan. Use one ladle or measuring cup per pancake. When bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes it's time to flip 'em. So flip 'em. I have a nice commercial spatula. Peek at the other side and when
it's nice and golden brown that's it. Serve with butter and heated maple syrup.

I sometimes add frozen berries to the uncooked pancakes right after I ladle them on to the skillet. Small berries work better than big fist sized strawberries.

Also last night, in place of maple syrup I tried a some of my brother-in-law's liquidy blackberry jam that didn't set (obviously he is not reading the valuable information about making jam that is presented in this blog). Oh man, I love maple syrup but Francois' runny great tasting mistake won hands down.