Pancakes

Pancakes are another one of those wonderful foods that have sadly been confined to....THE MIX. You know, those dime-a-dozen instant mixes that you find in every grocery store. The irony of this is that homemade pancakes are just as simple to make from scratch, and even more inexpensive. You can whip out a batch of pancake batter in a little more than 5 minutes. Once you've had real homemade pancakes, extra fluffy and steaming hot, you'll never go back to the pancake-in-a-box.

Ingredients (makes enough to serve 2-4 people, depending on how much they love pancakes):
3/4 c. milk
2 tblsp. vinegar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbslp. melted butter or oil
1 c. flour
2 tbslp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Cooking spray, oil, or butter for greasing the pan.

In a good-sized mixing bowl, combine the milk with the vinegar and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes to sour/curdle. Don't worry, it won't make the pancakes sour! Whisk in the egg, melted butter and the vanilla, then add the all the dry ingredients. Stir until the lumps are gone. You may see the batter foam or get bubbly. That's a good thing; the extra foam gives the pancakes fluff.

Put a skillet over medium heat. Grease the skillet with the cooking spray, or brush lightly with oil or melted butter. Pour 1/4 c. of batter into the pan. When the edges of the pancake are firming and the top is bubbly, flip it over and cook the other side. Pancakes don't take very long to cook, maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. If your pancakes are turning very dark brown, your heat is too high. Turn it down.

Serve the pancakes hot. You can slather them with butter and syrup, strawberries, or whatever else strikes your fancy. I love them plain, served with fried eggs on top.