National Pancake Day

Happy National Pancake Day.....okay, I admit, it’s been a very long and colder than normal winter so…..cut me some slack.  This is the time when you need to look long and hard for reasons to get out of bed.  As I write this, there’s white out conditions outside……again.  You see, we live in a region that experiences what some loathsomely call LAKE EFFECT.  In the summer this can be a benefit as the temps are usually 5-10 degrees cooler than 15 miles inland. 

But for the better part of the winter, it rages.  And I mean RAGES.  So today I decided to find a reason to have happy thoughts.  And what brings happy thoughts out more than comfort food……hot off the griddle slathered with warm maple syrup old fashioned buttermilk pancakes.  None of those fluffy cakey like discs, real old European style pancakes.  Best part, they are fast and simple to make.

My mother called them German Pancakes, as they came from her immigrant grandmother who by strange coincidence was German.  But for today…..to avoid being politically incorrect or inciting a war over recipe ownership, I am calling them ‘old fashioned’.  Whoever wants to attach any other authorship to this old recipe, knock yourself out.  So here it goes…………..it doesn't get easier than this.

Old Fashion Buttermilk Pancakes

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup regular buttermilk, not low fat

Whisk egg and buttermilk in a medium size bowl

Sift dry ingredients into wet, mixing only until blended.  Don’t over-mix.  Mixture may seem lumpy

Spoon ½ cup of batter onto a hot greased griddle.

Flip when the edges are slightly golden and the steam bubbles begin to pop.

Cook on the second side until browned and steam stops.

Serve immediately with butter and warm maple syrup and your favorite sausage, bacon or ham.