A Family Tradition - Breakfast For Dinner

Growing up, there was always one dinner that Lydia and I could look forward to - pancakes with all the fixings (and yes, I did say dinner).


I know that pancakes is the traditional fare for Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday), but from time to time we would have a full breakfast for dinner. When we did, we would have homemade pancakes (courteous of Jiffy Mix), bacon or Taylor's pork roll, Del Monte fruit cup (yuck!) and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup (super yuck!). Now that Mom and Dad have lived in Vermont, we eat nothing but real maple syrup and Del Monte has been replaced with fresh fruit - both are a very welcome improvement!

Basic Pancake Recipe

Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together in another bowl:
1 1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

1. Prepare and preheat the griddle by melting butter over medium heat (350 degrees).
2. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently stir them together, mixing just until combined.
3. Ladle or pour the batter on to the griddle.
4. When the top of the pancake is speckled with bubbles and the underside is golden, turn the pancake over.
5. Cook until the second side is lightly browned.
   

As a Mom, I am always looking for a meal that brings smiles (instead of screams) to the table and this meal is definitely a winner! The nice thing is, you can doctor the meal up anyway you like. Add eggs, add fruit to the pancake recipe, through in some veggies (shredded potatoes, carrots and zucchini hash), have some ham, etc. - it's all good!