pancakes

I should know better.  All my talk of breakfast foods inspired me to make some pancakes last night.  Now, I grew up in a household where Bisquick was never used and we'd only settle for authentic buttermilk pancakes.  My dad would whip up the batter and my mom would heat up the electric griddle and they'd be thick and fluffy and wonderful.

Again, I am lazy and cheap.  I also don't really like buying buttermilk because I end up throwing most of it away after a few weeks because, sure, I can totally make some more biscuits/pancakes but I can't tell if it's gone bad because it smells so darn awful in the first place.  I originally went to the store to buy Bisquick for a recipe for imitation Red Lobster biscuits (yeah, that's right.) but ended up buying Jiffy mix because it was $2 cheaper and I'm taken in by its vintage-styled packaging and blue gingham tablecloth in the picture.  I love me some gingham.

I was quizzing my coworkers on what to make for dinner when I realized that I could make pancakes with this mix.  I really should know not to trust anything where every recipe on the back includes a few scoops of mix and a few cups of milk.  And that's it.  This same "recipe" could make me pancakes, waffles, biscuits, and the topping for some chicken casserole.  But I gave it a whirl anyway.

I wasn't discouraged when the first pancake turned out to be a disaster.  If I know anything about cooking, it is that the first pancake is always a mess and you end up throwing it away.  So I kept going.  The batter tended to rise up instead of out, so the outsides would burn before the insides even started cooking.  I tried spreading out the batter in the frying pan, but towards the end, the batter had already started to thicken and rise in the bowl.  I ended up with 5 or 6 burnt/raw biscuit-like discs.  All the maple syrup in the world couldn't make this alright.

surprise french toast

Sometimes I get so excited by ideas that I don't really think them through before embarking on them. I woke up late on Sunday morning and decided it would be really great if I packed up all the ingredients for french toast and surprised Ian at his apartment. Sort of like delivery, except I make a mess and leave all the dirty dishes. About three quarters of the way to his apartment, it comes to my attention that I don't know how to make french toast. Why did I think this was a good idea? What if his cell phone is turned off? What if he's already eaten?  What if he's not home??

Cut to the kitchen and I am pretending that I know what I am doing. I have only made french toast once before and that was three years ago. I am trying to remember what happened all the times my mom made me breakfast on the weekends and it dawns on me that I was probably reading a book at the kitchen table, waiting for food to be delivered to my waiting mouth. I was livin' the dream. Being an adult sucks.

Needless to say, I do not have a recipe. I am winging it. This is happening. I try to get Ian to go watch TV while I fumble around his kitchen, burning the butter in the pan and hoping he isn't noticing. Is there even butter in french toast? What am I doing?

Sunday Surprise (as in, Surprise!  I don't know what I'm doing) French Toast
makes 4 slices

• 4 pieces of bread (in my case, stale)
• 1 large/extra large egg
• quick slug of milk
• cinnamon, to taste
• teaspoon of sugar
• some butter for the pan
• maple syrup

Beat egg in in a bowl (ideally) large enough to place a slice of bread.  Pour in an unmeasured slug of milk.  I am not sure what good this does, and I used skim milk.  Beat again.  At this point, I put the sugar and the cinnamon straight into the egg/milk mixture.  I was cooking for someone who enjoys cinnamon, so feel free to be as liberal with the sugar and cinnamon as you'd like.  The cinnamon will just sit on the top of the liquid, so you might need to add extra sprinkles of cinnamon in between bread dunkings. 
Now would be a good time to get out a frying pan and throw some butter over medium-low heat.  Dunk both sides of one slice of bread until saturated and place it on the pan once you've gotten up to temperature.  Flip when one side reaches golden brown.  Repeat with the remaining slices, making sure to butter in between slices.  Serve warm with maple syrup.