Pancakes!

Did you realize that today is NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY? Did you realize that even such a thing exists?

Mmmmm, mmmmm. Yes, it’s an official pancake holiday. Your neighborhood IHOP restaurant will even give out free stacks of the things today, if you ask nicely and can tolerate their rude service.

Pancakes are a regular part of our weekend at the Gressel household. They’re quick, they’re easy, and they’re relatively bonehead simple. Pancake mix, a little water, a drop of vanilla to mask that preservative taste, and voila – slap your mama and call it breakfast.

Unlike a lot of people, I like lots of junk in my pancakes – blueberries are always good, but wild blackberries also rock, and I’m a fan of bananas and pecans, too. Mrs. G. is a purist – plain or blueberry, if you please, which is good, too. I’ve also been known to top mine with jam, apple butter, peanut butter, strawberries, or other exotic toppings – Aunt Jemima be damned.

I’ll admit right here and now that The Lovely Mrs. G. makes much better pancakes than I do. With mine they either break (because I made them way too large – you need a snow shovel to flip ‘em), or they’re still gunky in the middle (because I put too much stuff in them). Mrs. G. has the ability to control her pancakes and keep them human sized and cooked through. Mine? You’ll take your chances. Maybe they’ll be good – maybe they’ll be a disaster. It’s the Russian Roulette of flapjacks.

I tried to find online statistics of how many pancakes are served every year, or how tall the stack would be if you put them all on one plate (someone has to know, right), but alas – I wasn’t able to find any details off hand, and quite frankly it was making me hungry, so I abandoned that plan and went back to my pink grapefruit in lite syrup.

Still, if you happen to be in Gressel-town next Sunday, feel free to drop by for a short stack. It’ll be B.Y.O.M.S. – Bring Your Own Maple Syrup. And if you want to splurge on some sausages or a pound of bacon, then by all means.

I’ll try to flip you some fully cooked ones.