Food & recipes 28 Jul 2005 05:27 am
Them Thar Pancakes…..
Yesterday was an interesting mish-mash of little things, that all things considered, could be added up to say it was a pretty fine day.
Breakfast was stellar, if I’m allowed to say so. Sure it could have been better on a Saturday morning, with poached eggs, thick peppered bacon, and a sweeping breezy view with uninteruppted conversation, but hey…this breakfast even without that stuff was pretty dang delicious.
Blueberry Buttermilk pancakes with blueberry sauce and fresh local butter. Hot coffee and cute little sleepy heads served on the side. Here’s the recipe:
For the sauce: 2-3 cups blueberries, a few tablespoons of sugar, and a little lemon juice. A little water (maybe 3 T). Simmer on the stove until the sugar melts and the berries start to break down and thicken. Set aside.
The pancakes: 2 c. flour, 1 t. soda, 1/2 t. salt, 2 T melted butter, 1 egg, 1.5-2 c. buttermilk.
Buttermilk is by far and wide the secret to good pancakes and waffles. The recipe I use calls for separating the egg and beating the egg whites to fold in, but that’s too fussy for me. Another secret is to have a stick of butter handy and to wipe it over the griddle before every pancake. Not for sticking purposes, but for the thin, slightly crunchy layer it adds to every golden surface.
Topped with little butter puddles and the sauce, this will make you lick your plate. Don’t worry, no one will be watching because thier noses will all be in thier plates too!
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Near disaster occurred after that. One of the kids had LICE. Now in order for the fear and trembling this caused in me to be understood, you’d have to have been there last year when we had it for an entire MONTH and spent over 500 dollars in getting it irradicated. That time, we suspected that whatever neighbor it came from wasn’t treating it. Reguardless of where it came from this time, I wasted no time in doing the drill: rx medicine to kill even the eggs, shaved heads for the boys, every item of clothing and bedding washed, entire house vaccumed. A LOT of work and very disheartening. I think I caught it early and quickly but I’ll be glad when it’s cold outside and the risk for getting it is way down.
Lice is like cock roaches in the south on a rainy day: it doesn’t matter how clean things are, they’ll still come. Getting rid of them is hard and there’s nothing else to make things feel dirtier. So why talk about it? Because maybe if we take the stigma off it people will get more aggressive about treating it rather than hiding it and my kids will get it less. grrrrrr…….
Onward. After that debacle we managed some time in the afternoon to swim. The coke man came for the machine, which thrilled two certain little boys to no end. They finally got to see the inner workings of it. I, on the other hand, was more interested in the two men working on it. Just listening to them talk: “You got yeh a cute one thar” and “them thar kids sure look like thar havin’ a good tahm.” These weren’t bumpkins; that’s just how the locals talk here! It’s a different kind of southern…
Speaking of southern. David spent another day driving with his manager. Most guys in the shop like classic rock, which pretty much means the Allman Brothers or Lynard Skynard. David said, “I’ve heard enough Allmon brothers to choke a horse.” Hmmmm.. Who’s sounding southern now? LOL.
The kids are all doing new things this week. Andrew has perfected flips into the pool, both front and back. Not a single time does he do them though, that my heart doesn’t stop, envisioning in clear detail how many ways this could potentially go wrong and his head somehow get injured. I should have put flips in the birth clause but then I’d be surely met with major resisitance: boys like Andrew simply have to have some element of danger in just about everything they do or they shrivel up into little depleted mama’s boys. I wonder though if that would be such a bad thing some days…what would be wrong, say, with Extreme Reading?
For those unfamiliar with the Birth Clause: there are a host of things I’m conditioning the kids to see as “off limits” by virtue of the fact that I gave birth to thier not so little selves. It’s stuff like jumping out of airplanes, hanging from ropes off of mountains and buildings, or otherwise being in an un-armoured state in various high places, and choosing careers where people may shoot at you. That such a clause even needs to exist gives you some idea of the kinds of things Andrew dreams about.
Celia’s new thing is nice and calm, and true to her charcater, cute and imaginative: she gets her hair wet in the pool upside down and then flips it up around her face. She then gets everyone’s attention to see that “I’m George Washington!” Indeed, if one added some white powder, she’s got a good little immitation going. This idea was born from the Chick Fil A presidential Fan-Decks, of which they may have a full colleciton of. Lest anyone think I’m a carried away health-fruitcake, let me reassure you that my kids get an ample supply of junk food via my favorite comfort food: CFA.
Wheaton’s trick is also true to form: his sense of humor is highly sophisticated and often a little dark. Wheatie-Tom has taught himself to “dead man’s float” in the pool. This can be very scary to see a four year old do; heart stoppingly scary in ways flipping off the side just doesn’t do. *Especially in group situations*. Wheat though, clued in very quickly that doing this gets a reaction, and now does it quite intentionally, with that little gleam in his eye that has me very nervous about where his humor is going to take us once he’s old enough for….oh let’s just say flammables and explosives. I’m sure the men in his life will get a kick out of how freaked I get.
They are definately “all boy”. Which leads me to my little appendage, the one who would happily live attatched to my hip, at least for now: Baby Rowan.
His majesty’s latest joy is to flip and bolt. Broken down, it looks like this: I take his diaper off and as soon as I do he flips to his tummy and starts crawling away, fully nude and who cares if I’ve cleaned him yet? He’s FAST. And he thinks he’s being uproariously funny. He can’t quite crawl yet; it’s more of a combat crawl/floor swim thing. But at 8 months today (or was it yesterday?) it seems a little advanced. Wishful thinking that he’d stay small a bit longer I guess.
The ideal end to my day took shape in the form of a huge discovery: a new breading for my fried squash.
I remember the first time I tried fried yellow squash. It was at the Wednesday night suppers at First Baptist, while I was in high school. We sat at a large round table with Dan and Earlene Alvarez, Rosemary Watkins, and sometimes Todd and Gloria Alvarez. Years later Todd married David and I. I figured if I could like squash fried, then I could try it other ways. I think it was the first time I made a conscious effort to stop being such a picky eater, which would make it the first step in becoming the foodie and wine taster that I am today.
Fried squash is one of my favorites these days, and most especially my own. I found a few years ago that if the slices are soaked for an hour or so in buttermilk that they are sweeter. One persistant problem has been getting the flour/cornmeal breading to stick and last night I happily improved on this.
Out of cornmeal, I subb’d Matzo Meal! The breading not only stuck to the squash, but it got beautifully crispy and golden, as if it had been pressure fried. Think the breading on Houlihan’s Shrooms, for those familiar. PERFECT. Sweet and farm fresh (gotten yesterday from Jinger’s garden after berry picking), this squash (and fried green tomatoes done as well) was smack yourself good. I savored every single bite, as did the family. Incredibly wonderful; might make some more for lunch today. Definately the kind of thing one would like to eat often!
on 28 Jul 2005 at 8:44 pm 1.Cat said …
ooh, I have sqash in the fridge. Just grocery store stuff, but I think I’ll have to try that fried squash recipe! The ultimate test will be if James can choke it down (picky monster). I’ll have to let you know…
on 29 Jul 2005 at 11:52 am 2.TiaDavidandOurLittleChickens said …
slice your squash into 1/2 in. slices and soak in buttermilk, for about an hour before you cook it.
Then dredge it in half flour/half Matzo Meal. A good douse of salt and pepper and a shake or two of granualted garlic.
Have your oil deep and hot. I use about an inch of Canola in my cast iron skillet. Put the squash in when they immediately start to cook, turn once, and remove when they are golden.
They should be crispy on the outside and sweet and tender on the inside. Let me know how it turns out!! I wish I was coming to the border thing this weekend VERY BADLY!!!
on 16 May 2006 at 9:52 pm 3.Theon said …
Hi,
I must say “you’re making me hungry!” I have really enjoyed reading your website. I just stumbled upon it when searching for reviews for Los Amigos restaurant. I am glad I found you. I will put this on my favorites list. I pray that God will continue to bless you and your family. It is so very good to hear from women like yourself, such an inspiration.
Take care,
Theon
on 17 May 2006 at 12:39 pm 4.Tia said …
HI Theon! We love Maryville and we love Los Amigos! Glad you like my site!
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