By Kayleigh Schnare
You are 7, Your eyes are sticky with sleep, and a dryness backs your throat. You slowly push yourself up, and pull yourself from the warm bed. Your hair tangles around you and your cheeks are sticky from the night before. You hear your grandparents hushed conversation, they stand in the kitchen of the trailer. You creep your way toward them, pulling back the curtain that separates your bed from the rest of the camper.
The warm sunlight beams on your face as your grandparents greet you with sweet good mornings. Your grandfather sits on the couch, and your grandmother on the chair of a table positioned to the right. You pull yourself up to sit next to your grandfather, and he turns to face you. With a light voice, he asks a simple question “What’s for breakfast?” You don't respond because there really is no question -- we both know it’s going to be your Grampy’s pancakes.
When your stomach begins to rumble, you know it’s time to wake your sister so you can begin the cooking. When your sister finally drags herself out of bed, You carefully gather the ingredients from the cupboards, trying your best not to step on each other in the tight space. You start by pouring in the flour. Then your sister gently pours the fine white sugar into the bowl, while you toss in the brown sugar. Your grandfather adds the baking powder; he always adds extra, so you watch as the mountain of dust crumbles into the mixture. You take turns with your sister mixing until the ingredients become homogeneous. Once it's time for the wet ingredients, you and your sister each grab an egg; excited to be able to break something on purpose. You finish with a bit of oil and two cups of cold milk to smooth the mixture. Watch as the batter transitions from chunks of clumped flour to an easy-whipped mixture with a golden tinge.
You watch as your Grampy takes out the portable stove and covers the whole counter with it. Your grandmother, partly to make space and partly because she couldn't stand the sight of dirty counters, begins to clean the dishes immediately. Once the stove has warmed significantly; your grandfather takes a thick chunk of golden butter and begins to spread it across the heated stainless steel. You're too young to help with the cooking and you're too short to reach the sink of dishes, so you wait. But you don't go far.
You eye the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips sitting next to the bowl of batter. Both your grandparents never liked anything in their pancakes, however, you and your sister are young so if the pancakes aren't slathered in chocolate you probably won't eat it. You get called over, your Nanny pours some chocolate chips into your hands, then into your sister’s. You take turns creating shapes within the pancakes with the tiny dew-dropped chocolates. When the pancakes finish, you crowd around the tiny table and enjoy the company and tasty food. You talk about the exciting day ahead, as you savour each bite and revel in the warmth of your grandparents' love.
You are 7, Your eyes are sticky with sleep, and a dryness backs your throat. You slowly push yourself up, and pull yourself from the warm bed. Your hair tangles around you and your cheeks are sticky from the night before. You hear your grandparents hushed conversation, they stand in the kitchen of the trailer. You creep your way toward them, pulling back the curtain that separates your bed from the rest of the camper.
The warm sunlight beams on your face as your grandparents greet you with sweet good mornings. Your grandfather sits on the couch, and your grandmother on the chair of a table positioned to the right. You pull yourself up to sit next to your grandfather, and he turns to face you. With a light voice, he asks a simple question “What’s for breakfast?” You don't respond because there really is no question -- we both know it’s going to be your Grampy’s pancakes.
When your stomach begins to rumble, you know it’s time to wake your sister so you can begin the cooking. When your sister finally drags herself out of bed, You carefully gather the ingredients from the cupboards, trying your best not to step on each other in the tight space. You start by pouring in the flour. Then your sister gently pours the fine white sugar into the bowl, while you toss in the brown sugar. Your grandfather adds the baking powder; he always adds extra, so you watch as the mountain of dust crumbles into the mixture. You take turns with your sister mixing until the ingredients become homogeneous. Once it's time for the wet ingredients, you and your sister each grab an egg; excited to be able to break something on purpose. You finish with a bit of oil and two cups of cold milk to smooth the mixture. Watch as the batter transitions from chunks of clumped flour to an easy-whipped mixture with a golden tinge.
You watch as your Grampy takes out the portable stove and covers the whole counter with it. Your grandmother, partly to make space and partly because she couldn't stand the sight of dirty counters, begins to clean the dishes immediately. Once the stove has warmed significantly; your grandfather takes a thick chunk of golden butter and begins to spread it across the heated stainless steel. You're too young to help with the cooking and you're too short to reach the sink of dishes, so you wait. But you don't go far.
You eye the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips sitting next to the bowl of batter. Both your grandparents never liked anything in their pancakes, however, you and your sister are young so if the pancakes aren't slathered in chocolate you probably won't eat it. You get called over, your Nanny pours some chocolate chips into your hands, then into your sister’s. You take turns creating shapes within the pancakes with the tiny dew-dropped chocolates. When the pancakes finish, you crowd around the tiny table and enjoy the company and tasty food. You talk about the exciting day ahead, as you savour each bite and revel in the warmth of your grandparents' love.
Ingredients
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Steps |
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2 cups of flour
1 heaping tbsp baking powder 2 tbsp brown sugar 1.5 tbsp oil 2 eggs 2 cups of milk |
Start by adding the flour and sugar. My grandfather usually just used just brown sugar but would occasionally do half refinned half brown sugar to mix it up, so I recommend doing that if you want to try a different flavour.
Next add the table spoon of baking powder. Remember: The more you add the fluffier the pancake so don't be too reserved with it. After you add all the dry ingredients, you want to mix thoroughly until the mixture becomes homogeneous. Now add the milk, oil and eggs. (if you have more than two siblings; it's recommended you make them fight for who gets to crack the eggs) After adding the wet ingredients, mix until the batter is smooth. (DO NOT ADD TOPPINGS AT THIS POINT) You want to put the stove on low to medium heat. let the pancakes cook on one side for a minute or until bubbles that formed on top begin to pop, then flip and cook until desired hue of brown. You may also add toppings at this point: Recommend to add chocolate chips or Craisins. |