Young Mr. Grumpy

He didn't like it last week, he didn't like it two years ago.
We bribed him then as well.
Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.
Oh, wait! There's that smile I love so much!
Such cute kids of mine!
Just a little trip down memory lane for me.

Caleb's "Sour" Pancakes

Let's start by saying these pancakes are NOT sour, even though that's what Caleb named them. I made pancakes for Caleb three days in a row, and by the third day, we didn't have any more buttermilk. I told Karen it was still fine, we'd make our own by souring the milk with vinegar. Caleb picked up on the word "sour" and named the pancakes from that.

These take just a little more work than your "just add water" pancakes, but they're worth it.

You have to separate the egg whites from the yolks, and beat the whites. That's the most time consuming part of this operation.
Then you stir everything together...
Then Nana cooks the pancakes and...
Caleb eats them and eats them and eats them until...

they're gone!
Karen has NEVER liked pancakes. When she was little, if the rest of us were eating pancakes I'd make her "swiss toast." Instead of french toast where you dip the bread in egg, I'd dip her bread in pancake batter. I'm telling you this story because when she finished eating theses pancakes, she said "Those were really good!" I'd never heard those words from her in my entire life in regards to pancakes! So here you go- Really Good Pancakes.

Really Good Pancakes (aka Caleb's Sour Pancakes)

3 eggs, separated

2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Beat egg whites and sugar until they form soft peaks but will hold it's shape. Drizzle in melted butter until combined. In a separate bowl, add yolks, buttermilk, flour, salt and baking soda. Stir until just combined (don't over-stir). Fold in egg white mixture. If batter is too thick, add a little more buttermilk.

Cook pancakes on hot griddle and serve to some hungry people. This makes about 2 dozen pancakes.

Thanks for the recipe, Julie C.!

Mr. Grumpy and a Scary Chicken

Earlier in the day we'd taken Caleb to Jungle Jim's with lots of his second cousins (or however that works). After we finished there, we wemt to Wheeler Farm, since it was so close. I guess Caleb had enough of his picture being taken because this was all we were getting from him.
Grumpy.

We bribed him. It only worked a little.

We added Mommy to the picture. It helped a little.

Then Karen passed the camera over to Caleb and he was finally happy!

He took a trillion pictures of Karen.

This didn't turn out exactly as I wanted it too...maybe someday I'll learn how to use my camera.

This chicken scared me to death. It was standing right next to my car door and I couldn't get by it to get in the car. I kept telling Caleb and Karen that the chicken was going to eat me.

They said "chickens don't eat people, people eat chicken!" I wasn't so sure. Karen had to open my door from the inside so I could quickly scoot by this critter before it started pecking me to death. I just barely made it out alive to tell the tale.

Photography Lesson

A friend of mine gave me a new pancake recipe. Since I had a pancake-loving grandson around, I thought it was the perfect time to try out the recipe. But the recipe is not what this post is about. I took this picture. Karen saw it and grabbed the camera away from me. She'd said my picture was boring! I don't disagree!
Then she took the following pictures.



I have to admit, she took non-boring pictures! The closest I got to taking her picture was when she was washing the dishes. Again, back to boring (not the subject, just the technique).
I guess she'll just have to stick around so when I post a recipe, she can make sure the picture of it isn't boring.

No Mow Flat Cookies

I got yelled at yesterday. Someone was tired of seeing flat cookies on my blog. So no "mow" flat cookies. Instead, I'll show you what happened the other day. My husband had a lawn mowing helper.
Look what a good job they're doing.
It's never looked better.
Good job, boys!

No More Flat Cookies

Let me start off with a disclaimer. The cookies pictured above are NOT MINE. I didn't make them, and I didn't take the picture. I stole it off Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website.

Because I have a new book to read (do you read your cookbooks like a book?), on page 25 of "Pie in the Sky" it says:
"At high altitudes, cookies tend to overspread as they bake. The more they spread, the thinner and crisper (or tougher) they get. Also, because liquids evaporate faster at high altitudes, the dough loses moisture as it bakes, leaving behind a high concentration of sugar and fat that can alter the texture.
"To remedy these conditions and reduce spreading, strengthen the batter by reducing the sugar, leavening, and very occaionally, fat; sometimes you can also add a little flour (but too much makes cookies tough).
"To help cookies hold their shape, add a little solid shortening (which has a higher melting point than butter) along with the butter. To counter loss of moisture by evaporation in dry mountain air, add liquid.
"Sometimes you can also add a little corn syrup or honey, to improve browning and add moisture.
"Raising the baking temperatures by about 25 degrees often enables cookies to set faster before they spread and/or dry out, but you have to be sure the higher temperature doesn't simply cause overbrowning instead."

How do you know which thing to do though? Make 14 batches of the same recipe to figure it out? I didn't know a baker's a.k.a. was "scientist." By the way, do you know the elevation of where you live? I'm at 4380. Now my neighbors won't have to answer that question. You're welcome.