Pancakes for Peter

The elusive "Twin Uncle" made his appearance in our neck of the woods last week. It was a rather spur-of-the-moment visit, but the children were so excited when they heard that Uncle Peter would be in town. "He can sleep in my bed!" Matthew cheerily volunteered.

"Ummm...hopefully not with you in it," Paul mumbled under his breath, always one to smirk at his son's innate generosity.

To Matthew's delight, we did put Peter up in his bedroom and made up a sleeping bag for Matthew on the floor of the baby room. This proved to be a bit of a mistake, for Matthew somehow interpreted this to mean that he would be permanently moving in with his baby sister. After I tucked him in for the night and headed downstairs to feed Lucy, I heard much commotion coming through the floorboards overhead. Chained to my nursing infant, I was unable to investigate immediately but at the first golden opportunity (aka when Lucy finally came up for air), I headed upstairs to find a sleeping Matthew curled up on the floor surrounded by 95% of his possessions that had been precariously transferred from his bedroom to Lucy's. This not only meant that Matthew had some major cleaning to do in the morning but also that I would most likely trip over something when the time came to lay Lucy in her crib for the night.

We very much enjoyed Peter's company for the weekend. Nothing momentous was planned, other than the annual Twin Dinner, a tradition that started a couple years ago during another visit. Basically, Peter and Paul plan something (usually fondue) to make for dinner and it almost always turns out a little less edible than planned. Thankfully, this time fondue was not on the menu. The twosome decided to try searing scallops on Paul's slab of Himalayan pink sea salt that he had received for Christmas. Basically, the salt block was heated for about 30 minutes on our gas stove in order to get it as hot as possible, and then Peter and Paul seared scallops and asparagus stalks to a perfect golden brown. It was pretty dang delicious and I was very thankful to be enjoying some awesome seafood rather than choking down curdled cheese.

Mounting excitement for the eating of the scallops.

Paul also made pancakes for Peter on Sunday...from scratch. Pancakes that do not emerge from a blue bag of Krusteaz are a foreign concept for our beloved California hippy, so Paul was eager to show off his standard pancake recipe that has become probably our family's favorite. The recipe is so incredibly foolproof because Paul has managed to churn out hockey pucks with every other pancake recipe we have used with the exception of this one. He has now made these no less than a dozen times and they have turned out perfectly light, fluffy, and buttery every single time. It's a keeper.

Give them a try for breakfast. Jazz them up for Valentine's Day by adding some red food coloring and chocolate chips. Fill with white chocolate and blueberries. Bananas and toasted walnuts. Pistachios and lemon zest. Grated carrot, walnuts, and raisins. Oh the delicious possibilities!

Paul's Foolproof Pancakes
from Allrecipes

1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.


Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.