Slipping down the stairs I hear cheering and squealing from Grandboy, who is sitting on the kitchen counter alert and leaning forward to witness . . .
"They're touching! They're touching! I get to pinch you!"
"Ohhhhhhh, noooooooo. You get to pinch me. LAST time, I got to pinch YOU!" Pinching and giggling ensues.Next time, they DON'T touch and it's Grandpa's turn to pinch.
"Where do I want to pinch. hmmmmmmm. How about HERE?" and little ticklish thighs get squoze and so many peals of laughter ring out, you think that boy is a giggle bell!
This goes on for fully 20 minutes!
What is it it that's touching or not touching that allows this pinching??? Pancakes on the griddle. If they touch, Luke gets to pinch Papa. If they don't touch, the pinch privilege is in Papa's strong fingers.
Papa has to pull his pinches as he might pull a punch in a mock fight or this would not be fun. But as it is, Papa knows just how and where to pinch, and pancakes are squoze into a little boy's memory where they will be warm and ready to serve to his own children, perhaps, someday.
My part in this play is to keep the container of pancake mix filled up, and this morning Papa has used up the last of it, so I get out my ingredients and my giant bowl and my apron, because THERE WILL BE FLOUR FLYING!
You can use whole wheat or all-purpose flour, rye flour, cornmeal or corn flour, etc. Here's my recipe. Tweak away. Make it your own. Play with the spices. Mix it up! And use a really big bowl because it can be messy with flour and whatnot floofing up as you stir:
10 cups whole wheat flour
10 cups cornmeal 1 1/4 cup sugar or to taste.
7 tbsp. baking powder
7 tbsp. ground cinnamon, if desired
3 1/2 tbsp. salt
3 1/2 tbsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. ground nutmeg, if desired
6 2/3 cups dried milk powder if you have it, if not leave it out and add the milk in when you make the pancakes.
Mix all this dry stuff up, turning it over and over in the bowl until all is well blended. Store in the freezer in an airtight container or two.
To make a batch of 4 to 6 pancakes, measure out 1 cup of mix, and for every cup of dry mix add 1 egg, 1 tbsp. of oil, and 3/4 cup of water if you added dried milk to the mix, or 3/4 cup of milk if you didn't. You need the milk to help react with the leavening so the pancakes will rise.
The amount of water or milk you add will vary somewhat with the grains you use. I like to make my batter a little bit on the thin side, because as we are making the pancakes, the batter in the bowl will thicken up as the cornmeal continues to absorb liquid. So REMEMBER! You will need to experiment with the quantity of milk or water you use.
If you did not add dried milk to the mix, that cup of mix will make a bit more pancake.
Cook them on a med-high heat on a greased griddle. When they begin to bubble and the sides start to look dry, flip them over and finish cook them.
I love them with the sweet spices added. I do not add butter or syrup to mine very often as I think they taste like slightly sweet cake donuts, which I can say nothing evil about!
Anyway, they'll do in a pinch!
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