Day 17: Buttermilk Pancakes

It's a lazy Sunday morning, and what could be better than homemade buttermilk pancakes? Trouble is, we don't have buttermilk so I make Isabella put on some clothes and get in the car to go to Dominick's at 8 in the morning so that we can have a nice, relaxing breakfast on the back porch. (As RuPaul would say, "You better work!") Well, it was worth it because not only were the pancakes delicious (all ingredients measured by Isabella, who also cracked the eggs and stirred stuff together) but so too were the Johnsonville breakfast sausage links! We use a pancake recipe from this funny cookbook called "The Secrets of Success Cookbook," written by the dining critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Bauer; it's a compilation of the best recipes from Bay Area restaurants; look at it here. This pancake recipe is just about perfect -- the results are fluffy, lightly sweet -- and great because it does not ask you to separate eggs and whip the whites. Once you've committed the recipe to memory as I have, these flapjacks can be on the table in 15 minutes, start to finish.

Buttermilk Pancakes (from Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Combine the dry ingredients (from flour to salt) in a large mixing bowl.
2. Measure the milks and, if your measuring pitcher can accomodate the volume, add the eggs and beat them with the milks lightly to combine; add the melted butter and stir in. (Or, mix the buttermilk, milk, lightly beaten eggs, and butter in a bowl.)
3. Just before you are ready to make the pancakes, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stirring just enough to mix. The batter should be slightly lumpy.
4. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat (turn it down in the middle of your cooking because it will get too hot and start to overbrown your pancakes). Scoop batter onto hot pan and don't let the pancakes touch or they will be hard to flip. When bubbles cover the surface of the pancakes and the edges look dry and the underside is lightly browned, flip, about 2 minutes total. If you want, before flipping sprinkle nuts or berries on the pancakes. (If you want to eat together, rather than one person at a time as the pancakes are cooked, heat your oven to 200 degrees and hold them there.)

Serves 4; I find that the whole recipe is too much for four normal people (it would be the right amount for four adults and two kids) but half is too little (the half recipe reliably yields about 9 four-inch pancakes).

With our sweet Ellis blueberries sprinkled all over: YUMMY.

[NOTE FROM THE DEPT. OF CONTINUITY: There is a weird time lag thing going on right now. This post is actually from last week Sunday, but the "Day" designation is correct -- in other words, a post about today, Sunday, would be Day 24. Vanessa is pedalling furiously, trying to catch up. Please bear with her.]