| This post originally appeared on the Nimble Blog, April 26th, 2013: By Our Recipes Shall Ye Know Us |
Pancakes for Breakfast!
I remember, fondly, my father making breakfast when I was a kid. So it’s natural I’d want to make breakfast in my house, for my kids. It’s what I’m known for now, especially my pancakes. It’s true I also make waffles, French toast and eggs — scrambled, fried or omelette’d. But I’m known for my pancakes.
It’s not that I can’t make other meals. I can. I’ve been known to make some mean desserts and even some dinner-type foods or something on the barbecue. But what I really do is make breakfast. And my favorite breakfast to make is … pancakes.
Quite simply, I love breakfast foods. I get excited about them. I get my kids excited about them. There’s many a weekend morning (or even on school days) where I’ll tell my girls I’m going to make pancakes, eagerly anticipating the squeals of glee.
They get so excited they tell their friends about it. And they don’t just tell their friends that I make breakfast, they tell their friends about my pancakes.
So, it’s what I’m known for.
From a business point of view there are a lot of things I understand and a lot of things I know how to do. Sales, marketing, technology, business strategy — I’ve worn many hats in my day. There’s a lot I can say about what it is I do, but that’s where I need to be careful. It’s not bad to be able to do many things. It just makes it harder for people to understand…and remember.
Even more important, it’s tough to get people excited about too many things at once. What I have found, though, is people remember the things that make ME the most excited.
Sound familiar? So I try to keep it simple. When it comes to food, I make breakfast. And for breakfast, I make pancakes.
My (sneaky-nutritious-don’t-tell-your-kids) pancake recipe:
Dry ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour for smoother texture and taste)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar (or 2 tbsp Agave Nectar) (optional)
2 tbsp wheat germ (optional)
1 tbsp ground flax seed (optional)
Wet ingredients:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk (add a little more if you add wheat germ and flax seeds)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Method:
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
- Lightly mix wet ingredients in a small bowl.
- Lightly mix wet and dry together in bowl. Batter should have some small lumps. (If you mix it until there are no lumps at all, the pancakes may be tough, so don’t overmix.)
- Cook pancakes on a preheated griddle (375 degrees), or on a skillet over a medium flame. The pan is hot enough when drops of water “dance” across the hot pan. Pancakes are ready to be flipped when the top side shows lots of bubbles on the surface.
Makes about a dozen palm-sized pancakes. Enjoy!
Image courtesy of Alan Berkson and the breakfast gang
