Heirloom of the month: Grandma's Egg Pancakes

Heirloom of the Month

  Over the course of 3 years I have befriended some of the most unique and wonderful individuals. They might be chefs, farmers, writers or even students. It's been an honor and privilege to get to know each one of them because they truly inspire me. It would be selfish to keep these extraordinary friends all to my self so I decided to create a new feature on JC called "Heirloom of the Month" so I can share them with you. An heirloom (just like the tomato) is someone or something that is original and one of a kind. Each month I will ask a different friend that inspires me to write a guest post about someone that inspires them to cook, eat, grow, write or learn.
     The first HOTM is someone incredibly special. I met Ellen Brandt of Indigo Scones through an email she had sent to JeremyCooks, and we quickly became friends.  Ellen is a 17 year old baker with a passion for writing and the sweet life. As stated on her blog she is a gourmand and a connoisseur of all foods, sweet and savory but finds herself drawn to the lore of baking tarts, cookies, cakes, ect. When I asked Ellen to write a guest post about someone that inspires her she was quick to say her grandmother Edna would be that person. I'm pleased to introduce you all to Ellen, I know you'll fall in love with her writing and recipes just as I did. To see more by Ellen head over to www.IndigoScones.blogspot.com. 
        
               

Grandma's Egg Pancakes   

by Heirloom of the Month:

Ellen Brandt

The chirping of birds and the sound of a not-so-distant hen laying her morning's bounty permeated their way into my childish dreams.  I rolled over on the air mattress, and looked at the sunlight streaming through the window.
  Grandma's bed was made in a way that only an experienced nurse's hands could have done.  I vaguely remembered hearing her getting up a couple of hours ago.  I'd already spent many a night at that house, and I'd never been able to catch her sleeping in.

 

 I pushed back the covers and laid aside my mom's stuffed monkey, a toy I never went to an overnight without.  I did my best to make the makeshift bed appear somewhat like my Grandma's, fluffing the pillow and tucking the sheets like she had shown me.

 

 I'll admit, I wasn't too careful.  I knew what was in store downstairs.

 A quick glance at my grandpa's room in the hallway showed another made bed, I knew he was already at work on something or other on the farm.  My feet made their way down the steep staircase, my slightly bleary eyes causing me to take more caution than usual.

   I made my way to the kitchen, led by my nose more than anything.  I was greeted with the sight of my grandma by the stove, pouring batter and flipping the flimsy pancakes with an expert wrist .  The spongy, crepe-like circles were being gobbled up as fast as she could get them on plates.
   I joined my family at the table, buttering, sprinkling cinnamon sugar, spreading jam, dolloping whipped cream...everyone had a certain way they liked theirs.  But we all agreed on one thing, nobody could make egg pancakes like Grandma.

  You couldn't really call them pretty, to be honest.  They were rustic, speckled brown, and had ragged edges.  But they always got slipped onto your plate in one piece, and you never left that table hungry.
  Soon, this tradition ended.  My grandma got old, so did my grandpa.  After his stroke, the little farm they puttered about was sold, and they adjusted to life as town dwellers.  I said goodbye to the hammock, the sweet mutt of a dog called Heidi, the raspberry bushes and strawberry patch, the gorgeous garden, the chicken house, the cows, the trees, and the long driveway I often walked on with Grandma.

 Soon, my grandma had a hard time getting up at dawn.  A hard time sweeping floors, making beds, and whipping up egg pancakes.  She was repeating herself, and forgetting things.  I remember one time when she came to our house with my Uncle Bill and Auntie Becky for a birthday party.  When asked if she had made the plate of baked goods she was holding, she replied, "Well, I don't know, but Becky says I did," and laughed.  Circumstances never got the better of her.
  One day, she really did get tired.  Bodily pains kept her in bed, and soon ran her to the hospital, where her last breath was drawn.  It was a bittersweet blow, and the first deep sorrow I had ever felt.
  In the months of healing that followed, I pulled her recipe out of my mother's recipe box.  Scrawled in her almost indecipherable writing on one of the numerous notepads she always had lying around, was her egg pancake recipe.
 

  My mom saw what I was doing, and warned me that cooking those was not an easy task.  I went ahead anyway.
  The batter was decidedly lumpy, and my dad helped through the process of thoroughly beating.  It wasn't perfect, by any stretch, but I kept on.  The first bit of batter I poured on the hot skillet was too much, and a rather thick and browned pancake slid off.  My next one was better, but the thin quality made me scared of tearing, so I flipped it with two spatulas.
  After those, somehow the rest were a breeze.  I poured, spread the batter throughout the pan with the same quick wrist, flipped to brown the other side, and got a pancake that had Grandma written all over it.  My mom was impressed, and I think I saw some tears in my dad's eyes.
  I haven't been able to touch the recipe too much since that moment, but when Jeremy asked me to do this post, I pulled out the recipe and determined to make a foolproof method.  I've added my own touches, but these are still all the way a Grandma thing.
  I hope you try these, they are easy to whip up and with a few practice cakes, you'll get the method down in no time.  Share them with your loved ones, and if you've still got a grandma, definitely share them with her.

Grandma's Egg Pancakes
Yield: about 2 dozen pancakes (keep in mind, you'll eat several of these light babies)
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted- or oil, for greasing the pan
Fillings (cinnamon-sugar, butter, jelly, whipped cream, fresh fruit, Nutella...the options are endless)

Directions:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl.  In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until well-combined.  Sift the flour/salt mixture into the egg/milk mixture, and beat until well-combined, batter will be thin.  Keep the whisk handy, you may find some lumps have formed while the batter sits.  It's impossible to get it perfectly smooth, and that's okay.

Grease a skillet and heat over medium to medium-low heat, it may be necessary to decrease the heat as the pan gets hotter, to keep the pancakes from getting too brown.  Once the pan is fairly warm, pour a small portion of batter onto the skillet and immediately swirl the pan so it coats the entire bottom.  It will begin to cook immediately.  Cook until lightly browned, nudging up the sides to check on it.  Flip and cook the other side for a few seconds, until it's also lightly browned.  Immediately remove from pan, stacking the cooked pancakes on a nearby plate as you go.

Keep on Cooking!!