Pancake Stuff
Me (upon finding the box after Hiromi had gone shopping the day before) : You bought an electric griddle? I didn't know that. Nice.
Hiromi: I told you. You weren't listening.
Me: Sorry. I must have been reading something.
*************************
This morning, after I had assembled all the from-scratch dry ingredients for pancakes--to Hiromi, who was still in bed:
Me: Where's the buttermilk? I can't find it.
Hiromi: Buttermilk?
Me: Yeah. You told me you bought buttermilk the other day.
Hiromi: I did not.
Me: Yes you did. That's why I asked you yesterday morning if you wanted pancakes for breakfast--because I thought you were hinting, after you got home from town.
Hiromi: I got milk from Dwights, but I never even thought about buttermilk, and I sure didn't get any, and didn't tell you I got buttermilk.
Me: Now I remember what you said. You said "I got pancake stuff." (Pause to think.)
Me again: Oh. Were you talking about the griddle when you said you got pancake stuff?
Hiromi: Oh yeah. I guess I probably was.
Me: Well, I most certainly would not have called that "pancake stuff." Buttermilk is "pancake stuff" in my books.
***********************
Back to the kitchen to try to salvage the pancake idea. . . Let's see--more baking powder--can't take out the soda now--wonder how this will taste--soda without buttermilk--too late to change it--I'll have to separate the eggs and beat the whites--I'm feeling so rewarded for getting up early to fix a nice breakfast for my sleeping-in family, and so rewarded for taking the initial blame for not discerning promptly that Hiromi had bought an electric griddle.
Have I ever mentioned that we do not always communicate well at our house?
Hiromi: I told you. You weren't listening.
Me: Sorry. I must have been reading something.
*************************
This morning, after I had assembled all the from-scratch dry ingredients for pancakes--to Hiromi, who was still in bed:
Me: Where's the buttermilk? I can't find it.
Hiromi: Buttermilk?
Me: Yeah. You told me you bought buttermilk the other day.
Hiromi: I did not.
Me: Yes you did. That's why I asked you yesterday morning if you wanted pancakes for breakfast--because I thought you were hinting, after you got home from town.
Hiromi: I got milk from Dwights, but I never even thought about buttermilk, and I sure didn't get any, and didn't tell you I got buttermilk.
Me: Now I remember what you said. You said "I got pancake stuff." (Pause to think.)
Me again: Oh. Were you talking about the griddle when you said you got pancake stuff?
Hiromi: Oh yeah. I guess I probably was.
Me: Well, I most certainly would not have called that "pancake stuff." Buttermilk is "pancake stuff" in my books.
***********************
Back to the kitchen to try to salvage the pancake idea. . . Let's see--more baking powder--can't take out the soda now--wonder how this will taste--soda without buttermilk--too late to change it--I'll have to separate the eggs and beat the whites--I'm feeling so rewarded for getting up early to fix a nice breakfast for my sleeping-in family, and so rewarded for taking the initial blame for not discerning promptly that Hiromi had bought an electric griddle.
Have I ever mentioned that we do not always communicate well at our house?
posted by Mrs. I at
5:40 AM
3 Comments:
This is a comforting story.
By
Dorcas, at 1/21/2010
I always make pancakes by scratch, but usually with sour milk. And if I don't have any, I make it sour using milk with a little vinegar. My recipe uses both baking powder and soda. Your post made me realize I don't understand much about what those two ingredients actually do, or rather, how they work with buttermilk or it's absence. Teach me...
By
Unknown, at 1/27/2010
If you've ever mixed baking soda and vinegar together and watched the bubbling that results, you'll have an idea of the effect in sour milk or buttermilk pancakes. The acid in the sour milk reacts with the soda and helps the batter rise and get fluffy. Baking powder will do that all by itself, although I don't understand the mechanism. When I don't have sour milk or buttermilk, I also omit the baking soda, since there is no acid for it to react with. Then I add extra baking powder to make up for the lack of leavening with the acid/soda combination.
By
Mrs. I, at 1/27/2010
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