Happy Pancake Day/International Women's Day/Birthday!

On the phone with my parents this weekend, my Dad asked if I knew what was coming up this week. "Pancake Day?" I asked, enjoying the few seconds of silence as they tried to figure out if I was joking or not. I was, of course, because yesterday was my Mom's birthday.

But I'm rather proud of myself for remembering Shrove Tuesday, a holiday that isn't celebrated here in Japan so I tend to forget about. We did Breakfast For Dinner (actually Breakfast For Breakfast for Hideaki, who's on night shift), with pancakes and lazy strawberry compote (strawberries + sugar, mixed in the morning and left to sit all day). There was also bacon, and would have been eggs if I hadn't been overwhelmed by the amount of pancake batter I wound up with by following this recipe. I mean, just looking at the ingredient amounts I knew I was in for a big batch, but I was totally unprepared for the ridiculous amount of pancake batter I got. We ate until we were stuffed and then I filled the freezer with pancakes and there's still a bowl of the damned batter in the fridge to use in the next few days.

And what happens to old pancake batter? Will I end up with crepes? Won't be much different from these pancakes, which were much less fluffy than promised (not complaining- I like thin pancakes too, and these were very soft and light). I don't know what went wrong- did something get lost in translation when converting those ridiculous Imperial measurements into metric? Should I just admit that the homemade substitute is a pale imitation and stop using recipes that call for buttermilk?

Anyway. Happy Pancake Day, and Happy Birthday Mom, and also Happy Birthday Cuzzin Jen, Nephew Aaron, Friend Emi, and (oh shit who am I forgetting?) everyone else who has a birthday around now.

Also, speaking of holidays not celebrated in Japan, Happy International Women's Day!

 

Comments

[Pei]

I am not sure if you appreciate more than helpful readers of your blog :) But this is a fool proof recipe that turns out fluffy thick pancakes. I always buy the Japanese box pre-mix and ever since this recipe, I quit the habit. I use the metric conversions on the site. No buttermilk either which is expensive where I live.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/good-old-fashioned-pancakes/Detail.aspx

[Caitlin]

I buy buttermilk pancake mix when I'm in the mood to make pancake and add in just eggs and milk plus some smashed fruits into the batter. They turn out great.