“Bisquick, your pants are on fire!” — my Dad

When I was growing up, my mom always had a box of Bisquick in the cupboard. She used it for biscuits, pancakes, and Shepherd’s Pie, and we loved it. I don’t remember how old I was the first time my dad made that joke, but you can bet your bottom dollar his dimple was showing. He had a superb poker face. The dimple was tiny and only appeared when he was trying really hard to keep a straight face. If you didn’t know him well enough to look for the dimple and the twinkle in his eyes, you couldn’t always be sure if he was teasing or serious. I’ll never forget the time we were at my aunt and uncle’s house when the phone rang. Dad picked it up, and in a gruff voice said, “Joe’s Pool Hall. Joe’s not here.” The contrast between the gruff voice and the dimple was priceless. That was another of his favorite jokes. We were used to him doing that at home, but that was the only time I remember him doing it at someone else’s house. The world could use more people like my dad: kind,  honorable, organized (some would say fastidious), and with a dry, slightly impish sense of humor. I never met anybody who didn’t like him. 

For years, I made my kids pancakes for breakfast every Sunday. I used Bisquick just like my mom did — she taught me to cook, after all. Once in a while, I’d make French toast or waffles just to change things up, but mostly it was pancakes. Then Bisquick — gasp! — changed the formulation. It just didn’t taste right. Nobody complained, but neither did they disagree when I said I didn’t like it as much. It’s so annoying when a company changes or discontinues a product you’re happy with, isn’t it? But, no offense to the nice folks at General Mills, it turned out to be a good move. Not for them, their customer base decreased by one; I haven’t bought a box since. But it was the kick in the pants I needed to start making my pancakes and biscuits from scratch, using this recipe from The Joy of Cooking (1980). We like them so much better than the mix. And what a pleasant surprise to discover just how quick and easy they are!

My Chief Taste Tester loves blueberries in his pancakes, as do I, although not all of our kids agree. Rather than dirty another bowl to split the batter in two — one with blueberries and one without — I sometimes would scoop some batter into the ladle, then stir a small handful of blueberries into it before pouring it onto the griddle. There’s nothing complicated about blueberry pancakes. You just stir in however many blueberries you like. They’ll take a couple minutes longer than plain pancakes, so you might want to use a slightly lower heat, but that’s really all there is to it.

 

Ingredients: 

1 cup (120 g) flour

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk

2 tablespoons butter

blueberries (optional)

Preparation:

1.) In a large bowl, whisk together four, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

2.) In a small bowl, briefly whisk the egg to break up the yolk. Add the buttermilk, whisking until smooth. 

3.) Heat the butter until just melted. Add it to the buttermilk and egg mixture; mix well.

4.) Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir or whisk to combine. Do not beat, and do not whisk long enough for the batter to become smooth — it needs to be a bit lumpy.

5.) Heat a griddle on medium if you prefer pale pancakes or if you’re adding blueberries, medium-high if you like them a bit browned like I do. Once the griddle is hot, spread a bit of butter.  Ladle the batter onto the hot griddle, leaving plenty of room for the pancakes to spread. Don’t try to flatten the mound of batter — it will do that all by itself.

6.) When bubbles appear in the middle and the edges begin to look a little drier and less shiny than when they started, it’s time to peek. Lift up just a corner to see if they’re brown enough for your taste. When they are, flip them with a spatula and continue to cook until done. Serve with real maple syrup.