Mother's Day Pancakes

Ty is my grandson.

 

Ty made pancakes for his mom on Mother's Day (with a little help). He also presented her with his first grade class's recipe book to which he had submitted the recipe. They were a hit! Here's his recipe, from his class's recipe book:

Pancakes

     By Ty Flansburgh

Skittles         chocolate chips

M&Ms         pancake mix

blueberries

1. Mix them all in a mixer.

2. Put them on the stove in a flat pan.

3. When there are lots of bubbles you flip them.

4. Sometimes you can eat them with syrup.

5. We don't like butter on them but you can do peanut butter.

6. Dad likes that!

Pretty good for a six year old! But since I'm not six, I need a little clarification. So here's my version of his recipe:

 

Pancakes

2 C whole wheat flour

2 T sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 C buttermilk (or 2 T vinegar + enough milk to make 2 C total)

2 eggs, beaten

¼ C Canola oil

A handful each of

chocolate chips

M&M's

Skittles (Go easy on these.)

blueberries

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and oil. Stir with a whisk just until smooth. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, M&M's, Skittles, and blueberries.

Heat griddle. To test griddle, sprinkle a few drops of water onto it. If the bubbles skitter around, the heat is just right.

Pour about 3 T of batter onto the hot griddle for each pancake. Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around the edges and bubbly in the center. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.

Yield: About 24 pancakes

 

Note: Ty asked me to publish his recipe on the Internet. He (and I) hope you enjoy it!

Wild Yeast Starter Grows!

My wild yeast starter is growing! It is very bubbly!

It is ready for Phase 3!

Bread Pans

 

These are my old bread pans:

  They were my mother's and my stepmother's bread pans. When I left for college … 40 years ago! … I took them with me. (Don't worry, my parents had bought a whole new set of pots and pans.) There are two different patterns, all Ovenex. I love them because they are really good bread pans, but even more because they remind me of my mom and my stepmom and good things that they baked, especially my mom's bread. They also remind me of family and friends for whom I have baked bread and other things over the years.

These are new bread pans that I just bought:

I used them yesterday and they work great. I looked lots of places in town and online for bread pans. They all cost a lot, between $9-$20 per pan. I did find a website of a restaurant supplier that would sell them for about $6 or $7 per pan if I bought 24 and paid a lot for shipping on top of that. Down the road I'm hoping I need a lot more bread pans. What to do?

I had to go to Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft for something, so I took a look. I was surprised that they had bread pans, that they appeared to be good quality, and that they were lots less expensive than anywhere else. The regular price was $4.99 each, but they were on sale for $3.74 each! They are Wilton brand, like all of their cake decorating stuff.

After that I went to Wegmans. I was in the baking aisle, so I looked and saw that they had bread pans. They had the exact same kind as the ones I had just bought, comparably priced!

So thank you, Jo-Ann's, and Wegmans proves again what an awesome store they are!

Years from now, what will be the memories that I associate with these bread pans?

New Horizons in Bread Baking

My nearly-90-year-old stove, where I bake my bread.

Today was a landmark day. I began the process of making bread using delayed fermentation. Think sourdough starter. Until now, I've always used dry active yeast. Long, slow fermentation initiates enzyme action in the dough to maximize the bread's flavor. There is also evidence that it aids the digestion of the whole grains. All I did today was mix a little whole wheat flour and water together, let it sit, and stir it a couple of times. Peter Reinhart, through his book Whole Grain Breads, is my teacher.