pancakes

When I was around ten years old living in the switchboard house in the small, rural village, of Eagleville.  I walked to and from school which was maybe four blocks one way.  I'd always loved pancakes, and one morning asked Mother to make some.  She told me, "You could make pancakes yourself."

Now she had never tried to teach me to cook, so I wasn't sure how to make much of anything.  But fate led me to the kitchen cabinet where I noticed a box of Pillsbury Pancake Mix; I set it on the counter and read the directions on back of the box, and that's when I realized maybe I could make them myself.  Those directions instructed me not to smash pancakes while they were cooking, to use medium heat, and not to mix the batter too thoroughly, but leave some tiny lumps in it.  The only part of the directions I had a problem with this in this recipe was figuring out how high I should turn the flame for "medium" heat, but after a couple of times, I had it all down pat.

At this point, I decided to walk home from school every day and make myself some pancakes.  Boy, was that great!  I had never eaten in the school cafeteria... too many people around.  I either bought my lunch with the quarter my mom gave me, took a bag lunch, or ate at the little cafe on 69 highway where I could buy a hot dog, a Coke, and a Snickers bar with my quarter.  I do wonder about how I paid the taxes on that, but I remember nothing about that.  Was food taxed in 1952?  Or maybe I got a penny or two from a parent?  Oh well, back to the pancakes.  I had plenty of time to cook a couple pancakes and get back to school on time.  This lasted for a year or two, and then we moved to the city.

Our former daughter-in-law and our two grandchildren lived with us for extended periods of time in the 80's, and when I made pancakes she said they were the best she had ever tasted.  She still says that, and sometimes she and our granddaughter come over and have pancakes with us.  When both our kids had left home, I stopped buying pancake mix and started making pancakes from Bisquick, since I already kept it around for biscuits.  Later, when I began making biscuits from scratch, I decided to make pancakes from scratch too; it saved having so many boxes in the cupboard.

Ex-daughter-in-law and my granddaughter still swore my pancakes were the best.  All I knew was that I had gotten tired of pancakes.  Tastes change over time.  I almost never made pancakes unless the two of them visited.  Cliff was happy to join in with them, but I usually just cooked for them.

A couple of weeks ago, the closest Hy-Vee store had Aunt Jemima Original pancake mix for $1.00 a box, which is less than half the regular price.  I bought one box.  Later I kicked myself for not buying a some of them for the local food pantry, but that's life.  We've been wanting to go to the Knights of Columbus fish fry at Lexington, but I balked at it because neither of us eats much in the evening; our big meal is at noon.  Cliff really wanted to go, so I told him this week we'd just eat a big breakfast, no dinner, and then go to the fish fry when it first opens up at 4:30.  Today is the day, so I thought I'd treat him with sausage and pancakes.  I used that pancake mix, decided I'd eat the second one while he was working on the first, and bit right into a piece of heaven!  That pancake was so much more light and fluffy than my from-scratch mix, I couldn't believe it.  No wonder I had lost my taste for pancakes!

When we used to go camping, I would buy those pancake mixes which only need water added, but that was for convenience; they weren't as good as the other kind.  I don't know how many years I went without eating the original pancake mixes, but I assure you that's all I'm buying from now on. 

Wow, it took me a lot of paragraphs to tell such a simple story, didn't it?

What am I reading?  I just finished "The Maid", which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected.  There's humor in it, wrapped up in a mystery with interesting characters.  Now I've started on "The Last Flight" by Julie Clark, and it's already leaving me on the edge of my seat.  Whew!  

One more thing:  Cliff just told me there's an ad on my blog about how to wipe your butt.  If you ever see anything shady on my blog, please let me know what it is.  I don't see the ads myself, but since they pay me for having them, I've allowed the ads.  When I first started with the ads they gave me some choices of what I'd allow on my blog.  I may have to look that up, if I can, or else I'll get rid of ads entirely.