You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself. – Anonymous
image courtesy of allrecipes.com
We had a new puppy we were trying to house-train, I had just started a new job, and our two boys were in school and also playing sports. To say I was regularly fatigued would have been an understatement. Try comatose on 2 legs. But I still committed myself to being the Mom who did it all and did it fabulously. Mixing up pancakes one school morning, I clearly remember stirring in the sugar, flour, and baking powder.
The youngest arrived at the table with his crazy bed-head hair, plopped into his seat and liberally poured syrup over a serving of hot, fresh pancakes.
Smiling, he took a big ‘ole bite and immediately spat them out.
“These don’t taste right Mom,” he said.
“What? They’re fine .. eat up. You’re gonna miss your bus!”
“No … you don’t understand … there’s something wrong with these. Here – you taste them!”
And so I did.
And I immediately spit them out, too.
Geez.
I clearly remembered stirring in the sugar .. except I hadn’t. In retracing my steps, I had clearly stirred in … salt. UGH!
The two of us locked eyes and I started giggling. And as soon as he saw me do that, he knew it was safe for him to join in …. and we both enjoyed a twenty minute belly laugh about salt pancakes. Dad and older brother showed up, wondering what all the commotion was about, and why we were eating Eggos.
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone trips & falls.
Some get up. Some keep going.
And some look back and laugh.
And we still laugh about the day we nearly had Salt Pancakes for breakfast.
* * * *
Here’s my go-to recipe for Super Fluffy Pancakes:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, egg and oil. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix lightly until all dry ingredients are mixed in with the wet; let sit for 5 minutes; the pancakes will rise and become fluffy (once they are fluffy, do not stir again). Pour into greased skillet and turn pancakes when bubbles appear. Only turn once. Makes 8 – 10 small pancakes. This recipe is easily doubled and extra pancakes can be frozen in zip-lock bags for later use.
Funny family story! I’ve never had a recipe for pancakes…only boxes of mix…and sometimes I run out. This is definitely a keeper. Thank you!
It’s super easy to make .. and you can add more or lessen the sugar .. just make sure it’s sugar and not salt!
Cheers MJ
Too funny! I’ll try your recipe for fluffy pancakes though I’ll try to remember to leave out the salt.
there you go – if you follow as described, they are super fluffy and super good! Cheers — MJ
Great post! Isn’t it true that when you’re trying to do too much, the world has a way of telling us to slow down? In your case, it was salt pancakes. I “try” to make pancakes every other weekend. I’ll try your recipe soon.
Yes indeed, Leah. Life has a way of slowing us down and in my case … it took an 8 year old eating salt pancakes and commenting that something’s not right for me to “get” it.
Enjoy! MJ
I love hearing about other mother’s screw-ups!! I did the same thing with apple crisp and my daughter spit it our and told me that it was disgusting, while my sweet son just said, “well, it’s not as good as it usually is.”
What a sweet son! 🙂 Cheers, MJ
i’ve done something similar…left the baking soda out of chocolate chip cookies…a tad flat and gooey…and not in a good way.
good pancake recipe…mine’s a little different but basically the same (i use buttermilk, more flour and baking powder as well as soda). will have to give yours a spin…
Oh Coop I have done, that, too and ended up with one big cookie (the individuals melted together into a big gloppy cookie pie).
I can attest this is a “tried & true” recipe b/c the page it’s on is stained … with pancake batter :). Cheers! MJ
always the true test!!!!!
That reminds me of the time Laura Ingalls Wilder used salt instead of sugar for rhubarb pie..ughhh. I’m glad you were able to teach a good lesson to your family. “Paradox again: to take ourselves seriously enough to take ourselves lightly.” Madeleine L’Engle
Ooh! Rhubarb pie w/o sugar? Talk about poker face 🙂
Wonderful quote – thank you for sharing … MJ
One of the first things I made for my son when he got out of the military was banana oatmeal pancakes. Smashed bananas, quick oats, eggs and baking powder. Sounds like it wouldn’t work but they DO and they are great for people who can’t handle wheat. Thanks for your version of a mom and son moment.
mmm … anything with bananas sounds delish in my world. Thanks, Lissa, for your comments. MJ
Well, you’re definitely very cool to burst into giggles rather than tears! A moment like this could easily go both ways y’know 😉
I like that your recipe calls for vegetable oil….and you can whisk it by hand 🙂 Must try tomorrow!!
Well .. .thank you for your sweet words. It could have gone that way I suppose but I’m more likely to laugh at my inner dork than anything else. And .. it’s good for the boys to see that we all do goofy things .. especially when we’re trying to do too much (( nothing gets done right!!))
Enjoy the recipe – it’s easy and simple to double if you have requests for more. Cheers! MJ
Well, I just tried out the recipe and OMG!! These were the best pancakes EVER!! Thank you so much MJ, you have contributed to my life in a HUGE way! 😀
p.s my daughter loves you!
You made me grin with your comments here, thank you, and I’m glad your daughter likes the pancake recipe. It’s an “oldie but a goodie.” Cheers!! MJ
I’m sure I’ve had cooking disasters too, but can’t recall any right this minute. My husband, however, made a grilled cheese sandwich once and forgot to take the cellophane off the sliced cheese.
And he also made an impossible coconut pie once – halving the recipe, since it made two. He halved everything except the shortening…
Now you know why I don’t allow him in the kitchen.
That is great, Dianna!! (( halved everything except the shortening … oops)).
I’ve had my share … more than anything, I want the boys to know that it’s OK to mess up (because they will) and it’s especially OK to laugh about it.
Cheers! MJ
Dear MJ,
I love reading your blog, so I would love to share my recently acquired “Versatile Blogger Award” with you. Check out my post about it for more info if you’ve never heard of it. Kind of a fun way to share our favorite blogs with our readers
http://georgettesullins.wordpress.com/
Congrats and thanks for your great writing!
Why, thank you, Georgette. That is really lovely of you to share that with me :). I will pass it on .. thanks again!! MJ
What a great story! Just the kind of thing that kids remember forever, and the stuff of family legends. That’s the good stuff that keeps a family bonded, imho, the stuff that goes wrong or keeps you laughing even years later. I particularly think that things that become your own unique “buzz words” have a unifying and identity producing effect. Thanks for sharing!
And thanks for the real pancake recipe. I’ll take your word for it that you have to spit out salt pancakes!
Sheila
That’s it exactly, Sheila. We can look at each other and whisper “salt pancakes” and erupt in to fits of laughter even now. And yes, please take my word for it, they were awful but the recipe makes for some really good ones — all you have to do is follow it. 🙂 Cheers! MJ
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