Friday, January 09, 2009

Friday Five: Pancakes

Thanks, Sophia, for a fun Friday Five!

1. Scratch or mix? Buttermilk or plain?
Scratch, always. The Scientist is my pancake chef extraordinaire, and always consults a recipe from an old Southern Living cookbook called Southern Country Cooking. The combination griddle/waffle iron we received at a kitchen shower 26 years ago is still going strong, and it gets a good workout. We use buttermilk whenever we can, but yogurt (maybe thinned with a little milk) is an adequate substitute.

2. Pure and simple, or with additions cooked in?
The simplest is the best...unless we happen to have some fresh blueberries!

3. For breakfast or for dinner?
Our favorite time for pancakes is Saturday brunch. Not every Saturday is leisurely enough for such a lovely and civilized meal, so the Saturdays that are, are special.

4. Preferred syrup or other topping? How about the best side dish?
I prefer honey, while the Scientist likes Lousiana cane syrup. We usually have either sausage patties or very crisp bacon alongside.

5. Favorite pancake restaurant?
I may have to surrender my foodie credentials for saying so, but I love to go to IHOP!

Bonus: Any tasty recipes out there, for pancakes or other special breakfast dishes? Bring 'em on!
An outstanding recipe for banana-caramel pancakes appeared in Bon Appetit about three years ago and can be found here. It is basically buttermilk pancakes with a banana mashed into the batter, then a sumptious syrup is made with bananas and brown sugar. It's like Bananas Foster over pancakes, only without the rum. (Rum pancake syrup? Interesting thought.) These pancakes are so special, we only (and always) make them on Christmas morning. You may wish to indulge sooner!

P.S. The Scientist just walked by and innocently asked, "What do you want for breakfast tomorrow?" What do you suppose I said?

6 comments:

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

We usually reserve pancake making for Saturday too. Too busy other days!

Diane M. Roth said...

what a great friday five! I'm on vacation and I forgot it was friday! You are making me hungry for blueberry pancakes, which I make only on Certain Saturdays. :)

Dr. Laura Marie Grimes said...

Enjoy your pancakes today!

Lori said...

Nuthin' at all wrong with IHOP. Julia Stewart will be very glad you like it.

Those banana pancakes sound just wonderful! I want to try them.

Hope your wet wall sitch is better. As an unwilling expert in wet walls and floors, I feel your pain.

Stratoz said...

you blew it before IHOP... no maple syrup mentioned is far worse! ;')

zorra said...

Oh, no, Wayne--it's cane syrup for us. Maple syrup is Yankee food! ;)