Mm. Waffles–and pancakes! What a delicious way to break your fast in the morning. But wait. This is an author blog. What have pancakes and waffles got to do with anything fantastical or historical or writer…ical? ‘Hem.
While neither pancakes nor waffles appear in THE GOBLETS IMMORTAL books, pancakes (at least) existed in that universe. Let me explain….
GOBLETS is set in a quasi-Medieval/Georgian mash-up of a pseudo-England. And pancakes have been around since at LEAST 600 BC. They first show up in Greece, and later make an appearance as the means to using up dairy before Lent fasting in 1100 AD. And need I mention pancake races of Olney, Buckinghamshire, UK circa 1445?
If you want to learn more about pancakes, click here to visit Betty Crocker’s proclaimed “Unofficial Happy History of Pancakes.”
Anyway, there is a very good chance that the Spinning Cup Inn whipped up a batch or five of some version of these fluffy breakfast treats to the fill the bellies of their lodgers every morning. It was probably nothing like the recipe that follows, but hey, I’m not one to complain.
For the pancakes/waffles batter, you will need:
- 1.5 C all purpose flour
- 1 C quick oats
- 1 T baking powder
- .5 t cinnamon
- .25 t salt
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1.5 C milk (I use 2%)
- 6 T butter (I use salted), melted
- 2 T brown sugar
Here’s what you do:
Take the dry ingredients and mix them together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir up the wet ingredients plus the brown sugar, and then add the wet to the dry. Fully combine the two. Sometimes, especially for pancakes, I let my batter sit in the fridge so the oats have the chance to absorb some of the moisture so the mixture isn’t so runny and easier to control.
PANCAKES: Heat up your skillet and lightly grease it (I use a bit of butter, but my mom likes to use bacon grease.) Put maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a cup in per pancake. Trick; you know to flip the cake when there’s a great increase of bubbles on the sides and in the center. And remember: the second side will cook much quicker than the second.
WAFFLES: Do what you normally do for these (I don’t operate the waffle iron in this family.) Makes about 12 waffles, six servings.
There you have it! I hope this post was informative and fun…and maybe whetted your appetite!
Keep your nose in a book,
Beth
Beth Overmyer 