I Feel Cheated Somehow........

photo courtesy of Google

I was visiting Liz at Shortbread & Ginger and read her post about "Pancake Day".

Now.....

I have been a practicing Christian Protestant all my life.... attending Sunday School as a child, teaching Sunday School as an adult, singing in the choir, served on committees, etc...

and....

I'm sorry to say that at NO time do I ever recall any mention of the tradition of Pancake Day.....the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday!

So, of course......

I had to do some investigating and found lots of info here at Wikipedia see Shrove Tuesday and scroll down to the Traditions section.

I LOVE pancakes HOT off the griddle with lots of butter and warm syrup and occasionaly layered with applesauce inbetween!!

Although it may not be completely appropriate for Shrove Tuesday as I feel these are a bit more "gourmet", I would like to share my recipe for....

Banana Wheat Pancakes

1 cup wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tablespoon granulated white sugar

Sift together the above dry ingredients.

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg, fork beaten

1 cup milk or just a bit more if you find the batter too thick

Stir together the above wet ingredients in seperate bowl,

then whisk together with dry ingredients.

2 - 3 bananas, coarsely mashed

Fold banana into batter.

Ladle onto med-hot griddle, which was previously wiped with a buttered paper towel. When bubbles appear and cakes look dry around the edges, turn with slotted metal spatula. Remove when underside is golden.

Serving suggestion: Garnish with whipped cream, sliced banana, chopped pecans and ,of course, warm syrup....not that store-bought flavorless kind, rather.......

My Grandma's Homemade Pancake Syrup

makes approx. 1 cup syrup

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1 - 2 Tablespoons butter

Bring to a rolling boil and continue with a slightly gentler rolling boil for 1 - 2 minutes. Cooking too long will result in a sticky, stringy syrup. Remove from heat and ladle onto pancakes. Also works fine to make it in the microwave.

Note: If you're having blueberry pancakes, an accompanying syrup can be made by substituting juice from unsweetened canned blueberries for some of the water.

Enjoy!