Happy Pancake Day! Also called Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, it's the day Catholics celebrate in preparation for Ash Wednesday and the sacrificial Lenten season. Catholics give up
things for Lent. Traditionally that meant abstaining from meat, dairy, eggs, fat and sugar for 40 days till Easter. So they would use up or "shrive" the house of those foods and make them into pancakes. A
house shriven (purged) of temptation symbolizes a soul purged of sin (Catholics also to confession before Lent to ready themselves for the penitential season). There are probably as many types of pancakes as cultures in the world. Here are good ole American pancake and waffle
recipes for Pancake Day. You can cheat and use pancake mix--the best is Kodiak or Krusteaz Honey Wheat with high protein goodness.
Flapple Jacks
Blend Kodiak buttermilk pancake mix with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, vanilla, milk, eggs and
applesauce. Add melted butter. Fry till golden brown. Top with sliced Michigan Macintosh apples,
whipped cream, butter and pure Michigan maple syrup. Serve with fresh breakfast sausage patties.
Indian Corn Pancakes
There's an old cafe in Muskegon, Michigan called Cherokee Restaurant. In the early 1970s, my mother
and I breakfasted there on Sundays after church. The Cherokee Restaurant was a pancake purveyor
long before IHOP. The specialty of the house was Indian Pancakes. Mix Krusteaz Honey Wheat pancake mix, eggs, corn meal, one can creamed corn, or whole kernel corn and melted butter. Cook bacon. Fry pancakes in bacon grease till browned. Serve with melted
butter and maple syrup. Top with bacon and eggs for a pancake sandwich!
Behemoth Belgian Berry Waffles
Mix into pancake batter, vanilla, lemon curd or lemon juice and granola. Fold in Fresh or frozen berries: blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, raspberries, strawberries or cherries. Top waffles with butter, cream cheese, fresh berries and syrup. Melt berry jam and pour over waffles. Garnish with whipped topping. Toss in a slab of ham or maple sausage.
Chocolate Cataclysm Pancakes
Add to Kodiak dark chocolate pancake mix, unsweetened cocoa powder, cold black coffee, vanilla, sugar and chocolate chips. Adjust to preferred level of sweetness. Blend with eggs, milk and oil. Fry in melted butter. Top with melted butter, maple and homemade chocolate syrup, and shaved dark chocolate and whipped cream. To make homemade chocolate sauce, blend half stick of butter with one cup sugar, dash of salt and 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa. Melt and blend with one can evaporated milk. Stir till heated and blended (add a little cornstarch to thicken if desired).
Bon Appetit!
