Resolved

My New Years resolution this year was to eat more pancakes. I didn’t set a goal or a number of pancakes that I had to eat. Just more than last year. In 2020, I probably had pancakes two or three times, so it was not a difficult resolution to keep.

I remember when we were first married, and when we lived in Philadelphia, we used to have pancakes every Saturday. It was a fun tradition, aided by Aunt Jemima and Mrs Buttersworth. I remember when I was pregnant, late 2nd trimester, and being so hungry…I gobbled down my pancakes, and then I eyed Ted’s pancakes and he sighed and gave me the rest of his. We kept that tradition up until Ted’s tummy started rebelling and made him suffer every time we had pancakes. So we stopped.

This year, I decided that I like pancakes. Sometimes when I make them, Maya will have some, sometimes she won’t. Ted dare not. So having pancakes means that sometimes batter goes down the sink. I hate wasting food, but you know what? I can live with that.

I have a dear friend, Marilee, who does not like to cook, but her husband does. They moved from San Francisco to upstate New York a few years ago, to help care for family there. I miss them, and sometimes the easiest way to keep in touch is with an easy text. It’s good because they can look at it when it is convenient, they don’t have to be available right that moment. Handy when you’re in different time zones. So I started texting her and telling her about my pancake resolution. I guess I inspired them, and they started having pancakes too. Paul has a lovely pancake recipe, and he is also a wonderful photographer, so here are some pictures of their pancakes.

Paul is a dedicated cook, he likes to work on recipes for awhile and then when he has them just right, he puts them in a notebook. I tried his pancake recipe, and I think it is my favorite ever. Then I tried his French Toast Recipe (which totally counts towards my NY Resolution, btw) and it was a revelation to me. I have had issues with French Toast in the past, too eggy. Looking at his recipe, which he does not consider to be finished, it is not yet in his notebook, the main issue is that I have cooked mine too hot and fast, so it ends up tasting like bread with fried egg on it. Blah. But the recipe he gave me, cooked over medium or even medium low heat, is luscious and fluffy and delicious. My favorite bread for that is a Sourdough Batard. So good. Oh, and obviously, I have graduated to pure maple syrup or really good raspberry jam. Sorry Mrs. Buttersworth.

Paul’s Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp melted unsalted butter
• 1 large egg

Preheat oven to 200F to keep cakes warm, and preheat griddle or cast iron pan.
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl, whisk.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, but do not over mix, lumps are good to have.
Spoon out about 1/4 cup batter, per pancake, onto your griddle. When the pancake has holes and is starting to look dry around the edges, flip.

You can add more milk and flour to this recipe, up to 1/2 cup more, without altering the remaining ingredients, just make sure you keep the flour to milk ratio the same. If you want fluffier pancakes, then use more flour, if you want them thinner like crepes, use more milk.

Variations:
1) replace milk with buttermilk and add 1/2 tsp baking soda
2) replace milk with 1 cup yogurt and add 1/2 tsp baking soda

Paul’s French Toast Recipe

Ingredients

• Bread – I like thickly sliced sourdough, day old is good
• 4 or 5 eggs (depending on size)
• About 1/2 cup of milk and/or cream depending how rich you want them.
• 1/4 – 3/4 cup brown sugar. Depends on whether you are using syrup or jam or whatever. I used 1/2 cup.

Mix eggs, milk/cream, and brown sugar to make a batter. Whip the batter for a minute or so, until it thickens up and becomes the viscosity of melted ice cream.

Soak the bread so that it gets water logged with the batter, that’s why fresh bread is not ideal, it will fall apart if it soaks too much. Cook on medium heat, even low/med (depending on pans, stove, etc.) Because of the brown sugar, keep an eye on the heat otherwise the outside can get burned while not fully cooked inside. Flip when the first side is nicely browned, and cook on the second side.

Optional: Add a dash of vanilla extract or a sprinkle of cinnamon.

As with most New Year’s Resolutions, I have fallen off the wagon. I started strong, having pancakes (or the occasional French Toast) every weekend or two, and then at some point I decided on oatmeal or eggs or whatever. But I’m back at it, trying maybe for not every weekend as when I started, but maybe at least once a month. It’s a delicious resolution. I’ve mostly done pancakes, but I think soon it will be time for more French Toast.