Of all the food photos from my trip to Kelowna, I keep coming back to our pancake breakfast. Perhaps because Mr. ST hates pancakes so I never make them at home. Perhaps because I am the day to day cook in my household and this meal was made for us with love by Brother-in-law ST while the rest of us lounged around in our pyjamas watching the snow fall outside and swinging my nephew around the room listening to him squeal and squeak until our hearts wanted to explode with love. Yep, it was a good meal.
There have been numerous attempts on the internet to turn pancakes into a more energizing source of sustenance through the addition of buckwheat flour, flax and my most hated addition, protein powder. This is not what a pancake was meant to be. If you are looking for high-mileage fuel, cast your eyes away from pancakes. Please just let pancakes be breakfast cake, ok?
I always remember them as one the after-church, mid-afternoon Sunday meals my Dad used to make when we were kids. When you have nothing else to do with your day but spend it with the ones you love, or reading a book on the couch, or walking the dog or, or, or…..Pancakes are comfort food, people. Allow me to demonstrate.
I couldn’t help but set the table as a bit of a breakfast bar – I love customizing meals with my own toppings and watching others do the same. I love seeing what others come up with when they’re guided by their own bellies and creativity!
My first round was a fruity parfait mix of greek yogurt and fresh blueberries but I could not resist the salty sweet call of a bacon-syrup round as well.
Always humble and self-effacing, when I asked Brother-in-law ST for his tips on perfect pancakes, he cautioned that his technique is easily found on the internet in other recipes. However, his magic cannot be replicated. Here’s what he had to say when I asked:
“It’s far less secretive than you might think. Honestly, I downloaded the recipe from the first site I found when I went looking for a recipe that had this trick. Simply, when adding the eggs, you add the yolk to the wet mix, and whip the whites separately. After combining the wet and dry ingredients, you fold in the whipped egg whites. But you must be careful to only fold them in until they’re mostly mixed. Mixing them in too well will cause instant death.”
Note: pancake coma = good. Instant death = bad.
Looking for more options? Here are the pancakes in my bookmarks:
Eat, Live, Run’s Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Joy the Baker’s Carrot Cake Pancakes as made by Deb from SmittenKitchen. If you have not visited Joy or Deb’s blogs and you love to cook, I cannot recommend them enough. They are both witty and sweet and post no fail, unique recipes both savoury and sweet.
And of course, if you’ve made either of these recipes already, tell me they’re as yummy as they look! And then come over on Sunday and make them for me too?
