Pancake Project #5

Do you know what I like? Toast.

Toast is so multifaceted and dreamy. These may be some strange adjectives to describe a piece of bread with a slab of butter oozing into its pores and dripping off its crusty edge. But allow me to explain...

Toast is the sick person’s best friend and the well person’s comfort food. Toast dazzles its fans with its utter simplicity and draws you into your childhood memories of the days when your mom would make that well-rounded breakfast that you could smell all the way from your bedroom. And, suddenly, hopping out of bed at the sound of your alarm wasn’t as painstaking as it was yesterday. Why? Because of that heavenly scent of freshly scrambled eggs, greasy seared bacon, hot-off-the-stove sausage…and warm, buttery toast.

One of the things I remember most about my Grandpa O’Rourke was his love of toast. But not just any toast—milk toast. Soggy, icky, milky milk toast. I asked my mom at least a dozen times to explain to me why Grandpa loved this mushy snack, but I think a plausible explanation was even out of my mother’s superb capability to have the answer to all of my diverse questions as a little girl. But while I sat on Grandpa’s lap in the old kitchen on Shelburne Road in Burlington, Vermont, watching Grandpa joyfully stomach this unusual concoction of carbohydrates and dairy, I loved him all the more.

The biggest toast enthusiast in my life today? My mom—most definitely. I am certain she got this love of toasty fresh bread from my Grandpa, though I am thankful that she didn’t let the milk part of the tasty treat pass down to her like Grandpa’s genetics did. My mom’s favorite toast buddy—without question—is good ‘ol butter.
It’s back-to-basics day on When Life Gives You Pancakes. Time to relish the beautiful simplicity of the pancake’s version of toast and butter: pancake and butter.

My plan: Take a break from the insanity of my spaghetti pancakes, macaroni and cheese pancakes, omelet pancakes, and hamburger pancakes and enjoy everything that’s best about the simple pancake. How will I do that? By topping it with the carbohydrate’s favorite fatty companion: butter.

My method: Make the pancake batter. Use any kind of batter recipe you like—buttermilk, whole wheat, whole wheat buttermilk…I recommend your absolute, mouth-watering favorite. Cook the pancake in your fry pan, flipping when deliciously golden brown. When you’ve cooked your simple little pancake, finish it off with a slab of butter.


My verdict: What’s not to love? Pancake—good. Butter—better. Pancake and butter—mmm.

My personal side note: Butter is never a health food. But in an honest attempt to lighten up my delectable little pancake treat, I used a “natural buttery spread—made with olive oil!” If my mother knew this, she would surely roll her eyes at me, as a dedicated stick-butter shopper and eater. Oh well. I also hope you enjoy the baby version of the pancake I chose to photograph. This, I suppose, was my salute to the “snack” size.

~Happy Pancake Eating~

Pancake Project #4

Burger's up!

When I think of burgers, I think of two things: traditions and birthdays.
Since I was about four years old, I spent almost all of my “play time” with my same three partners in crime: my sister, Kimberly, and the "Glenn gals"—Whitney and Rachel—who lived across the street from the house I grew up in, a perfect 82 steps from one front door to the other. Almost every worthwhile tradition I can remember from my childhood was concocted among our devious foursome. The one I'd like to highlight today—which I will somehow relate to a pancake (as I always do)—is the April "double-birthday" celebration.

Kimberly's birthday falls on April 11th and Whitney's is on the 12th: a prime excuse for a doubly-exciting joint birthday celebration. Apparently, this yearly occurrence provided the ideal opportunity to bring our families together for a mutual dinner—at the exact same restaurant (and sometimes the exact same table, the “Elvis booth”) every single year: Fuddruckers. When we were ten, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, the best part of Fuddruckers was making the "suicide sodas" at the refreshment counter that we would carefully carry back to the table and then exchange sips to see who had the nastiest and tastiest blend of all the sodas provided in one pop dispenser. But as we grew older, we stuck to one flavored drink a piece, and stayed instead for the burgers on those sensationally buttery, oversized buns.















My plan: Salute America's good 'ol burger, as well as my fond memories of traditions and birthdays with the Glenn gals, while inviting an unusual counterpart to encompass my juicy patty: a pancake "bun."

My method: Make the pancake batter. (See my previous three blogs for my thoughts on the batter. The repetition is annoying me.) Cook your burger and dress it up with your favorite toppings. (I used a veggie burger topped with onions and spinach…yum….) Pour half of your batter into the fry pan, where you have melted a little slab of butter to bring that scrumptious taste and pretty glisten to the outside of your pancake “bun,” and cook the batter about a minute before placing the burger (with toppings!) gently on top of the batter. Then, pour the other half of the batter on top of the burger. I know; it sounds weird. But let me tell you—it looks even weirder.

Flip the burger half way through the cooking process and wait until the second side is a saliva-generating golden brown. Plop your adventurous burger onto a plate and top with your favorite saucy condiment. I used honey mustard, and though I wished I could make the pictures dazzle with a ketchup-mustard crosshatch pattern, I simply could not. Why? Because my least favorite food item in the whole world is ketchup. To me, there is nothing—I repeat: nothing—nastier in texture, taste, consistency, you name it.

My verdict: My FAVORITE pancake yet. I devoured it in less than three minutes. ‘Nuff said.

I lied…I do have one more things to say: TRY THIS PANCAKE!

Until next time,

~Happy Pancake Eating~

Pancake Project #3

Hey…There’s an omelet in my pancake!

I love breakfast—obviously. I have an entire blog devoted to transforming pancakes (a decidedly breakfast food) into lunch, snack, and dinner masterpieces. So far, I have surprised the traditional pancake with garlic, spaghetti sauce, macaroni noodles, and cheese. But I decided to go back to the cozy breakfast comforts in this next pancake project. With that said, however, I couldn’t help but throw in a twist, because what would this blog be without one?

Whenever I go out for breakfast, I agonize over my meal choice—omelet or pancakes? Omelets come with potatoes, which I have never been a fan of, especially not with eggs. Pancakes can come with eggs, but only plain eggs, cooked one of a hundred ways (or so it seems when you are trying to decide how you like it). But I can’t order an omelet and pancakes. Apparently, something about those couple of extra ingredients cooked inside the eggs makes the omelet too classy to be paired with pancakes. This is really a shame if you think about it, because that match would make a truly outstanding morning feast.















So I decided to try something crazy. I decided to not just pair the protein-packed omelet with the tasty carb-loaded pancakes, but to put those eggs IN my pancakes. Genius, I know.

My plan: Make an omelet-stuffed pancake, combining several food groups into one deliciously balanced meal.

My method:

I made the pancake batter: As always, if you don’t have the time to make your own, you can easily use a store-bought mix with this recipe (organic is best)! Again, I use whole wheat batter and milk in place of water in the mix for that special fluffiness.

Then I made my omelet—crammed with veggies of course. But, naturally, you can get especially creative here. What about a bacon and sausage omelet? Talk about an all-in-one breakfast packed inside a single pancake! The possibilities are endless! (I love how cheesy this blog gets.)

Next, I spooned half of my pancake batter into the frying pan. I put my cooked omelet right on top of the uncooked batter and topped the veggie-loaded eggs with more pancake batter.

I allowed the pancake to cook through, flipping it right when it was looking brown and toasty on one side…I have to admit, this was the hungriest I have gotten while making my pancake creations. I think my appetite was wet for the traditional breakfast flavors.















I finished off my pancakes with what I thought would be a chic-looking asparagus bouquet. Once I looked at the pictures, I decided the topping was more of an ugly detriment to the photo than an elegant finish. Oh well!

My Verdict: Besides exciting all of my taste buds (c’mon, it was a pancake chock full of all of my favorite breakfast tastes), this pancake was unusually fun to make. Cutting the pancake open to see a whole omelet inside made me feel like a brilliant chef for combining the two morning starters into one compact bite of breakfast menu heaven!

What I would do differently: For the sake of full disclosure, I will honestly admit that my attempt to make a hollandaise sauce to accompany the omelet pancake failed miserably. My lack of attentiveness to its cooking process and the low-rate recipe I used made for a congealed mess of a topping that should have been a stellar ending to this beautiful pancake. I decided not to fret over my abysmal sauce, and instead topped the pancake with maple syrup—which I had been missing anyway.

I hope everyone celebrated National Pancake Day, Week, and Month a few weeks ago!

~Happy Pancake Eating~