Sunday, March 7, 2010

Another Sunday Morning At The Church Of The Batshit Crazy

It is Sunday morning here at the Church of the Batshit Crazy and that means one thing and you know what I'm talking about- pancakes.

Before I even had them mixed up, Jessie called from her bed in town to ask if maybe, perhaps, I was making pancakes this morning.
"I'm just about to start," I said.
"Really? Could I come and have some too?"

Oh my heart.

Nothing make me happier than a child-come-home for pancakes.

When I was a child, we, too, had pancakes on many Sunday mornings. Now, having said this, I wonder why in hell I do that too. Sundays were bad, bad mornings for me then and you'd think that pancakes would only remind me of that. However, the way I do pancakes and the way they were done in my childhood home is so different that it is hardly the same thing at all.
My mother, for some reason, decided that an electric skillet was the thing to cook her pancakes in. It was coated with Teflon, of course, so the spatula had to be that plastic kind which wouldn't dislodge the coating and the pancakes she made were begun with Bisquick and ended there, too. And despite the nonstick pan and despite the generous use of sausage grease to increase the nonstickiness, the pancakes always stuck.

But we ate them, we enjoyed them.

I start my pancakes with about 3/4 of a cup of self-rising flour. To this I add about 1/4 of a cup of ground flax seed and that much oat bran, at least. Then an egg or two, depending on whose eggs I use. If Betty's, I need two. If Carol's, I need one. To this I add about 1/8 of a cup of canola oil, little bit of sugar, about a teaspoon of baking soda and then, oh, I don't know. About a cup of buttermilk? Enough to make a nice liquidy batter. Then the fun begins. I grate an apple into the mix. I throw in a handful of blueberries. I smash a banana with a fork on a plate and scrape that in. I toss in some pecans. I mix it all up and spoon out three nice pancakes into my iron skillet which has been sprayed with Pam.
It looks like this:

They never stick. Never.

I have some venison sausage cooking in another skillet. It looks like this:


I keep the pancakes which are done on a plate in the oven heated to about 250 degrees. And when it's al done, if it's a beautiful morning, like it is this morning, we eat outside so we can watch the birds


and enjoy the sweet air. The dogs gather around, even hopeful that we'll toss them sausage (we do not) and we eat.

Jessie drove up right as we were about to pour the honey and syrup. She was wearing the overalls I gave her. The dogs were joyful to see her. So were her daddy and I.
She got a plate and joined us. It looked like this:


And she had brought camellias from her Aint Liz's house. They look like this:


and this:


No. Pancakes at the Moon house on Sunday morning are nothing like pancakes in the house I grew up in. At all.
Which is why it doesn't make me sad to make and eat them. No. It makes me happy.

Sunday morning at the Church of the Batshit Crazy and this is how we take our communion, how we glory in the day.

Grab a plate and pass the honey.

Amen, y'all.

23 comments:

  1. Thank you for always sharing the beauty and truth you find in this life.

    It's a gift, truly.

    Apples in batter? Brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Smile :)

    My mother made pancakes with yoghurt and she cooked them on the ring of the Aga, lots of little round ones...

    And I like ours with sweet potato and cinammon in, these days.

    Pancakes are joyful, alright.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nancy C- And cinnamon, too, if you want.

    Big Lou- Wish y'all were here to share. I really do. I thought of you when I was making those pancakes this morning. Love to you and Maxine. I miss you so.

    Jo- Yes! Sweet potatoes are wonderful in pancakes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my.

    the beauty and the love and the peace wafts right up out of those skillets and out of beautiful Jessie's smile

    happy sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my God in heaven, those Camellias!

    ReplyDelete
  6. yum, thanks for sharing. your pancakes sound like heaven, no wonder Jessie got herself over there. Could your family be any cuter? I think not.
    Lucky you. Lucky them.
    Enjoy your day MM.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ah, bloggers... how sweet would it be if Mary looked up one Sunday morning and saw us all advancing up the drive for pancakes....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just know that if I'm ever lucky enough to venture out of Missouri and drive on down to Florida (Lloyd, right?) for a vacation or something, I will e-mail you and harass you until you give me your address so I can come to eat at your place. You have posted so many photos of your food, it all looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  9. We, too, have pancakes every Sunday morning that The Husband makes. They're pretty incredible as well. So while you were worshiping on the east coast, we were doing the same on the west -- but we sure didn't have that delicious-looking venison sausage!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sunday is pancake or waffle mornings here too...my Love fixes them most times. We fix them different...I go for the creative side he for buttermilk pancakes...I add apple or blueberry and son Ryan wants mini-chocolate chips...oh and Swedish pancakes...because my Love is 1/2 Swedish and his mom did them when our girls were little...but they liked daddies better..

    Your morning outside looks so lovely and the blue checkered tablecloth would go with my blue and white dishes so well...because blue IS my favorite color. I miss Camellias. Here we have so many deer and they just don't do well...but to see your photos I can know their beauty and how they feel so soft..and oh that one photo under your table photo...is such a lovely color! So many petals! Have a glorious day today!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Church of the Batshit Crazy - can I open a branch here in Canberra, Australia??

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Church of Batshit Crazy - I'm going to open a branch here in Canberra, Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Church of Batshit Crazy - I'm going to open a branch here in Canberra, Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Church of Batshit Crazy - I'm going to open a branch here in Canberra, Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Michelle- And happy Sunday to you, my darling.

    Pretty Things- I think so too.

    Glimmer- Aren't they just heaven?

    Bethany- And happy day to you!

    Jo- I think I'd have to increase the amount of self-rising flour in that recipe.

    Rebecca- You won't have to harass me.

    Elizabeth- Wonderful! And I no longer will eat any sausage but that deer sausage. It is so good.

    Ellen- Post a recipe! Get your man to give it to you and then give it to us! And none of my dishes match. Maybe someday I'll be a real grown-up and have a real set of china. Until then...

    Nigel- You have my full permission.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Brings tears to my eyes, My Mom always made pancakes in a cast iron skillet. Comfort in the sight of a picture.
    I'm now a devout member the Church of the Batshit Crazy.
    Please accept me as I am.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sam- We would not have you any other way, darling.

    ReplyDelete
  18. YUM! Thanks for posting that recipe, Ms. Moon. I make killer crepes, but have no idea how to make pancakes from scratch.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love breakfast food, but we are more likely to do it at night.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wish I could have been there. What fun! What gorgeous pancakes!

    Love you all,

    SB

    ReplyDelete
  21. Those pancakes alone were worth the drive home and the labor I put in to help build that garden fence. :)

    Thanks again, Mama Mama.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.