As I’ve thought and prayed about what I wanted to share this week, a number of things have come to mind.
I have a multitude of recipes tested and photographed and waiting in the wings.
I could do a follow-up on my earlier Lenten posts, one, two, and three. I could share the detox/cleansing diet I am currently on, Lent is all about “spring cleaning” after all; body, mind and spirit – but somehow that just seems to fall into the TMI/oversharing category. Truly, I already feel like I have said too much.
I could share the agony of the thousands of lunges the length of my back patio allows for; but honestly they are just to painful to speak of.
I could talk about the purging of every nook and cranny my home is undergoing – body, mind, spirit and craft room. My blog and family cookbook are now my creative outlet so every unfinished project and uncrafted craft must go.
I am so excited to share how God is leading me through the “One Thousand Gifts” devotionals from Anne Voskamp; but I am not quite ready. God is not tugging on those messages yet.
So, with all of that, what to talk about?
How about Breakfast. All week. Why breakfast? The only thing I can say is because I love it and keep thinking about it. It must be the resurgence of winter. And the cleanse. And the lunges. And the purging. Breakfast it is.
My mom was recently here with us for about a month, during which time we cooked our way through A LOT of family recipes. Another reason for the lunges and the cleanse. For something I didn’t want to talk about, cleansing and lunges sure seem to be coming up a lot. I am an over-sharer.
Anyway, one of the best and most interesting recipes we tried was for my grandmother’s pancakes; actually, hot cakes, as the recipe says.
These hot cakes are unlike any I have had before, in my adult life anyway as I had them all the time when I was a kid, I just didn’t appreciate them as much as I should have. They are unique with an unexpected but delicious twang. I’ll explain later.
Hot Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 1/4 Cup Vinegar (twang)
- 1 3/4 Cup Whole Milk
- 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 3/4 tsp. Salt
Directions
Combine (whisk together) the beaten eggs, vinegar, milk and oil. Combine in a separate mixing bowl the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix well, either sift together or whisk.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined and smooth but do not over-mix; some lumps are okay. If you over mix your batter, it will get rubbery and tough. We want light and fluffy!
Let the batter rest for a few minutes (about 10-15) to allow the baking powder time to form bubbles in the batter, which will make fluffier hot cakes. Don’t stir it again or you will deflate the bubbles.
After the batter has rested, use a 1/4 cup measure to ladle your batter onto a hot, buttered griddle (I just take a stick of butter, unwrap half the length of it and run it over the griddle). I set the temperature of my electric griddle between 325 and 350 degrees.
Once the batter starts to develop popping bubbles, it is time to flip. But be patient, don’t flip too early – popping bubbles. No one likes an ooey-gooey hot cake.
Sorry for the blurry photo. Cardinal rule … always take more than one picture. Yes, even when you have hoards of (three – trust me it feels like hoards) small, starving people staring at you for pancakes.
There, that’s better. Coating the griddle with butter before each batch of hot cakes will give them a golden, slightly crispy exterior and a lot of flavor – don’t skip it, you will eat oatmeal and berries the other six days of the week.
Fried eggs, a little bit of melting butter, warm maple syrup and bacon … Saturday morning perfection!
About that twang. The twang of the vinegar is interesting (deliciously so) and is definitely distinct. The flavor is offset by the sweet of the syrup and the combination makes for one heavenly stack of pancakes hot cakes.
As always, enjoy! And let me know what you think, I love hearing from you.
Welcome Company 
so nice you got to spend some cooking time w your mom…and i too am guilty of cleanse and lung pratice after i’ve had a few days of mom cooking time..i love the hot cakes recipes…sounds really interesting…lovely post..sarah
Thanks Sarah, it is always so nice to spend time with her, especially in the kitchen. Hope you try the hot cakes – I’m still working on trying the salmon patties. 🙂
OK, you’ve really made me so hungry for pancakes! These look perfect–tender and crispy around the edges. thanks for the pancake encouragement…
Go, go and make pancakes! Enjoy and be happy. Thanks for stopping back by Rhonda, I always love the sweet comments you leave. I have to stop back by your blog today and see what you’ve been “cookin’ up”. Enjoy your pancakes!
Oh num…we made these here in our military household (go Army!) on Saturday morning. The cider vinegar is a marvelous necessary touch, and we balanced it with 1t of real Mexican vanilla. The sides of smoky meat market bacon and crispy-edged fried medium eggs (just slightly creamy oozing) made for a hearty brunch that carried us all the way to roasted garlic/rosemary whole chicken and veg for dinner!
Go Army … 😉 – I let that one slide, we love our Army friends too! I’m so glad you made the pancakes. For me, they were like tasting a bit of the past. I loved the hint of vinegar too. I also added a splash of vanilla and have realized I showed it in the picture but didn’t put it in the recipe. My grandmother’s original didn’t call for it but like you, I thought it would add a nice balance. The bacon and eggs sound perfect and your dinner, YUM! Looking forward to “talking” with you again.