I'm a big fan of buttermilk pancakes. That special tang that balances the flavor and keeps the syrup from feeling overwhelmingly sweet... just delicious.

A little personal background, too---my blend of cooking is very much a blend of both of my parents' approaches. My mom is a utility and efficienty-minded cook, who is always happy to make a substitution to make thing ready for mealtime without adding to the grocery bill. She's always trying new things, and seeing what shortcuts work. My dad, on the other hand, has very discerning tastes, and will only do things The Best Way, to taste like his grandmother or great-aunts cooked.

My cooking style is a blend of both of these---I take shortcuts only if they result in a product that's as good as my great grandmother or great great aunt could have cooked---or I'm very flexible, as long as the result is good enough for a really picky eater.

These pancakes are a recipe originally from my dad from his eastern European immigrant relatives. But the one substitution I make is a result of my mom's clever "let's not drive to town and back before dinner" substitutions. So I feel like this recipe showcases my "cooking roots" really well---along with being fast and simple and delicious.

Whole wheat contains 10 of the essential amino acids that human bodies must consume because we can't produce them ourselves.
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I love buttermilk---and it's easy to always have some on hand, too. If you buy a fresh carton from the store (find out which day the milkman delivers) you actually get a pretty strong amount of live culture. You can heat some (half-gallon?) milk to 75F and add a quarter cup of your buttermilk, put it in a (sterilized) mason jar on your counter to culture for 12 hours or so. Pour this into icecube trays, and you have preserved the culture. If you want to make pancakes, just plunk an ice cube in an appropriate amount of milk the evening before.

Trivia:Hard red winter and spring wheats are ideal bread flours. while soft red wheats are best for biscuits or cakes. White winter and spring wheats are used in breakfast cereals, pastries, and crackers. All purpose flours are made of a blend of flours for neutral properties---if you want to make excellent cakes, buy cake flour with a finer grind a lower gluten content. If you want to make excellent bread, choose bread flour, or simply add some extra gluten to your all purpose flour. For pancakes, all purpose flour is just fine.
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I love buttermilk---and it's easy to always have some on hand, too. If you buy a fresh carton from the store (find out which day the milkman delivers) you actually get a pretty strong amount of live culture. You can heat some (half-gallon?) milk to 75F and add a quarter cup of your buttermilk, put it in a (sterilized) mason jar on your counter to culture for 12 hours or so. Pour this into icecube trays, and you have preserved the culture. If you want to make pancakes, just plunk an ice cube in an appropriate amount of milk the evening before.

Trivia:Hard red winter and spring wheats are ideal bread flours. while soft red wheats are best for biscuits or cakes. White winter and spring wheats are used in breakfast cereals, pastries, and crackers. All purpose flours are made of a blend of flours for neutral properties---if you want to make excellent cakes, buy cake flour with a finer grind a lower gluten content. If you want to make excellent bread, choose bread flour, or simply add some extra gluten to your all purpose flour. For pancakes, all purpose flour is just fine.
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