The Times goes pancake mad.

December 4, 2002 1:21 PM

The New York Times Dining section on pancakes. Not just for Sunday morning breakfast anymore (like we didn't know that already). (reg. req'd, etc.)
posted by PeteyStock (24 comments total)

My first pancake post -- please be gentle. Thank you!
posted by PeteyStock at 1:23 PM on December 4, 2002

I can't believe I just read an entire article on pancakes. I can't believe it was in the NYTimes. I can't believe they commissioned a pancake 'days of the week' illustration.
posted by Stan Chin at 1:25 PM on December 4, 2002

I can't believe that I confused 'Five', a boy's name, with 'five', a sensible number of pancakes.
posted by Pancake at 1:35 PM on December 4, 2002

Five is now a boy's name?
posted by pizzasub at 1:45 PM on December 4, 2002

I just want to point out that Pancake's been a MeFi member for well over a year and that was his or her first comment. We obviously need more pancake-related posts.
posted by languagehat at 1:45 PM on December 4, 2002

Maybe he's been busy with his Overlord.
posted by Stan Chin at 1:48 PM on December 4, 2002

Remember the kid named 5 who made a brief appearance in the Peanuts comic strip? And then he mentions his little sisters, 3 and 4, and Charlie Brown looks all embarrassed and finally says "Those are nice feminine names."

And then there was George Costanza wanting to name a future child Seven, but then that nasty couple stole the name for their own kid.
posted by GaelFC at 1:55 PM on December 4, 2002

Some of you may remember a certain man who wanted to name his child "7" in honor of a certain man.

On preview: Curse you GaelFC! :b
posted by blue_beetle at 2:01 PM on December 4, 2002

What's the deal with Pancake Overlord's nickname explanation (see Stan Chin's link above)? Is there an inside joke I'm not getting or is it just truly tasteless?

One of the key players in the football game I watched on Sunday was named Costanza. Poor kid. A perfectly good name ruined for all time.

/topic back on
posted by widdershins at 2:04 PM on December 4, 2002

Go rent The Big Lebowski, widdershins. You'll be a better person for it.
posted by Ufez Jones at 2:11 PM on December 4, 2002

It's a combination of the joke about pancakes and the joke about welcoming our new [X] overlords. I don't know what the rest of it means.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 2:16 PM on December 4, 2002

Oh good, relieved now. Thx, Ufez!
posted by widdershins at 2:18 PM on December 4, 2002

It's a quote from "The Big Lebowski."
posted by kindall at 2:23 PM on December 4, 2002

We knew if the pancakes from the box were that good, there had to be a from-scratch recipe that was better.

Grandmother Shepherd's Saturday Morning Special

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp corn meal (or 1/4 cup oat meal)
1/2 tsp table salt
2 cups milk (whole, 2%, skim, even soy)
1 egg
1/4 cup oleo margarine (vegetable oil)

(Here, there's lots of room for improvisation. I usually add a tbsp of vanilla extract. You can use brown sugar, fresh fruit, apple sauce, chocolate chips, Kahlua, anything, and it will usually work.)

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix it all together.
Cook over medium heat until you see lots of bubbles. Flip.
Cook on the other side until you see lots of steam. Remove.
Eat. I guarantee it beats the hell out of some Bisquick bullshit.

Every Saturday morning for 18 years. Probably had something to do with my *ahem* robust physique.
posted by mikrophon at 2:30 PM on December 4, 2002

Which I see someone else posted while I was dawdling. Sheesh.
posted by kindall at 2:30 PM on December 4, 2002

This also reminds me of one of my favorite Onion lines from "Area Man Consults Internet Whenever Possible."

"The Internet came in equally handy last Sunday, when Pamela suggested making pancakes for breakfast. "There was a good recipe on the side of the Bisquick box, but Larry insisted on getting on that AltaVista thing and searching for more," Pamela said.

After only 30 minutes of searching, Wisniewski came up with nearly 200 different pancake recipes. "Without the Internet," Larry said, "she would've been stuck with the one variety of pancakes available from the box."

"Let's face it," he added, 'Bisquick boxes are a dead medium.' "
posted by GaelFC at 2:58 PM on December 4, 2002

I notice the above recipe (as well as the cited "mississippi pancakes") uses milk. I've always found that milk-based pancakes are tougher than buttermilk-based. I think most people make their pancakes with milk simply because they don't usually have buttermilk on hand. However, buttermilk keeps very well. I buy a quart of low fat and use it in our weekly pancakes; I've never had it spoil.

Buttermilk Pancakes

serves 2

1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 TB sugar
1 egg
3/4 C buttermilk
1 TB melted butter (optional)

Whisk together dry ingredients, add wet and mix lightly.

I like to make these with whole wheat flour and chopped pecans. Ummmm, a good way to get your carbohydrates.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:21 PM on December 4, 2002

widdershins: The Overlord has explained it herself.
posted by languagehat at 3:39 PM on December 4, 2002

My favorite: Sweet potato pancakes with blueberries.
posted by quam at 4:04 PM on December 4, 2002

Here's an old thread with a funny and very workmanlike pancake recipe.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:14 PM on December 4, 2002

S_L_o_G: plain yog(h)urt or 2 parts yoghurt to 1 milk is a very acceptable substitute for buttermilk. It does taste different, but has the same acidy lactobacillus goodness.
posted by bonehead at 4:34 PM on December 4, 2002

Manhattan is home to the Royal Canadian Pancake House, a restaurant that's all pancakes, all the time. Their best is a stack of three 14-inch cornmeal pancakes with potatoes and cheddar cheese. mmm.
We saw the second string 'Home Alone' kid there when we went.
posted by putzface_dickman at 5:03 AM on December 5, 2002

for those of you in new york, don't get too excited. the RCPH closed a while back. i never made it there. but boy, those pancakes were supposed to be big. like this one.

i for one am glad to no longer be under the boot of our canadian overlords.
posted by elsar at 1:23 PM on December 5, 2002

Pancakes are very fine. Much useful pancake-related wisdom can be found at Whitey's site.
posted by Dan Brilliant at 1:53 PM on December 7, 2002