and now, for something just a little different....

BANANA PANCAKES

Maybe this entry is too late...but I made these the day before a mini vacation and I'm actually posting from the beautiful Appalachian mountains. You can decide if you should dock me a letter grade for being 8 hours late or if I get bonus points for posting while on vacation.

At any rate, I just wanted to share my favorite pancakes with you. This recipe (or one very similar to it) actually comes to us by way of a man who lived in one of the group homes where we used to work. We'll call him Ron. He always insisted on having banana pancakes. "I don't know how to make banana pancakes," I would protest. "Just make pancakes and stick a banana in it!" Ron would say. One day, Pat did it for him and came home raving. He made them for me and I had to agree that they are...really good.

So here is my typical pancake recipe, from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook:


I do this (sometimes I substitute 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, but I was out when I made these) and add in one mashed banana. Just one. If you add more, it starts getting funky.



I quintupled this recipe and made them as brunch for a group of school kids.


I usually add chopped walnuts (at which point, they are so good no syrup is required), but was afraid of nut allergies for the kids, so here they are in their simplicity. Ron and Pat like them with peanut butter and syrup. I tried to do a strawberry syrup (strawberries and sugar reduction) but learned that two pints of strawberries do not go far among so much greatness. I had to add Aldi syrup to make it stretch. It was still good. Here was my final version, topped with the strawberry syrup, walnuts, and a little powdered sugar.


They got great reviews from the kids. I ate the left-overs plain and cold on my drive down to Appalachia, which is a GREAT travel idea.