Pancakes and bacon make everything better

I imagine that every family has a few recipes they think of as theirs.  The recipes that are made for every get together.  The foods that have become traditions.

My family has many of these recipes, we like our food.  A lot of them probably aren't even original.  I know for a fact that our Grandma's tv mix recipe is just a slightly modified version of the original Chex Mix recipe from the 70s, but that's okay, it's still delicious and it's still Grandma's tv mix.  It tastes best when you're sat in the hammock over-looking the lake, outside the cabin she and Grandpa built in the 1950s.

Another cabin classic are her buttermilk pancakes.  I found an early copy of the recipe and there's a note that the recipe came from one of her sisters.  I don't know any history past that.  We have these pancakes every time the family is together at the cabin and it's now spread to other holidays in other place.

Despite my love for these pancakes, I had never actually made them myself.  Maybe I was afraid to mess with all the memories, maybe I was afraid to just mess up.  Maybe we just rarely have a morning with enough time and motivation to make pancakes from scratch.  (Though they are good for dinner too, I learned that when staying with my brother whilst he was in college.  They were also good for lunch, and breakfast.  Turns out it was the only thing he could cook at the time - I was okay with that!)

While cleaning out the fridge earlier this week, we found a bottle of buttermilk, unopened, with an 8/2/10 expiration date.  We both had the morning of 8/1/10 off.  It seemed like a sign.  A big neon "MAKE PANCAKES NOW!" sign.  So we did.

Using a little cast iron skillet was tough.  Mom uses an electric griddle that actually has pancake shaped marks on it from the spatula over the years.  I'll have to grab a pic of it some time.  Our skillet only fit two at a time and most of our early ones were just too big, which made flipping tough.  They weren't all pretty, but they were all tasty!

Tweaks I'll make next time include cutting back on salt - I think Mom usually does a double batch with a single amount of salt, meaning my single batch had a bit too much.  Also, though the recipe calls for canola oil, I'm guessing she uses Crisco.

It was a tasty and filling breakfast, and I'm glad I finally tried the recipe all by myself.  Thank goodness we don't eat like this EVERY morning!!


Buttermilk Pancake Recipe
Ingredients:
1 c flour
1 1/4 c buttermilk
1 t baking soda
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c canola oil
1 T sugar
1 t baking powder


1) Mix flour, buttermilk, soda, egg, salt, and oil.
2) Add sugar and baking powder just before cooking (when griddle is hot).
3) Spoon or ladle on to hot griddle.  (I found a scant 1/4 cup to be perfect)

Buttermilk