House of Pancakes
There’s just something about Saturday morning pancakes.
Maybe it’s the real maple syrup.
Or the butter that melts and seeps into each layer.
Or how the kids get excited over something rather simple.
Or maybe my love for pancakes has more to do with the memories attached with eating them. The mother who took the time to make them for her family. And search for the best recipe. And even add fresh blueberries or chopped pecans on request.
Maybe it’s my memories of Saturday mornings Up North at my parent’s house — the one held in by woods. And how my mother pours new batter on the griddle each time another child or grandchild wakes with sleepy eyes and pajamas after a long night of laughter followed by deep sleep.
It’s little moments like these that make a home a place where people want to be.
Our conversations on hospitality ought not only discuss the way we welcome others to share life with us. We must also consider how to be hospitable with those whom we dwell. Our spouse, our children, our roommate, our parents.
Sure, the same walls hold us, but do we know how to live together – really live together in a way that glorifies God? We cook and clean for our families, but do we feed and care for them in a way that brings about life and truth? We work and provide and pursue, but are we reinforcing the American dream or God’s story of redemption?
In a culture where homes are breaking and children are fleeing and husbands are leaving and wives are escaping — I want my home to be a place that holds us. A house of truth. A house of life. A house of pancakes — a home filled with the aroma of sweet memories of togetherness.
Hospitality: a heart that welcomes, a spirit that invites, and a life that is interruptible.
There’s a difference between parenting our children and inviting them to live life with us. There’s a difference between sharing a bed with your spouse and welcoming him to share in who you are and what you love.
Are we disturbed by our aging parents or our children or our children with young children or our roommate? or are we interruptable and available to them?
Learning how to be hospitable with those nearest us is central to knowing how to receive others. For the spirit in which you live and relate within your home, with those you live with, is the same spirit that others will see and know whether your home is a safe place to be.
Build a house that holds your family: Speak truth. Show love. Value equality. Make memories. Enjoy each other. Laugh. Encourage. Tear down boundaries. Limit the television. Put down the phone. Play games. Tell stories. Be spontaneous. Listen. Talk. Exercise together. Make pancakes.
My Mother’s Pancakes
1 ½ cups flour
1 T. sugar
2 T. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cups buttermilk
Fresh blueberries, pecan pieces or sliced bananas, optional
Preheat griddle (medium to medium high) and grease with solid Crisco.
Combine dry ingredients. Whip together eggs and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Batter will be lumpy. Add a little more buttermilk if mixture thickens too much while sitting. Serve with butter and real maple syrup (warmed). Makes 4-5 large pancakes.
I don’t make pancakes from scratch every time I make them. Here’s a good substitute for the real thing:
Krusteaz pancake mix.
It calls for only water to be added. To give them a more homemade taste, I substitute the amount of water with equal parts of water and buttermilk. And I’m sure to grease the skillet with crisco each time before pouring a new batch (just like my mother does!). This makes the edges crispy. And always ALWAYS use REAL maple syrup.
(Real maple syrup is more costly, but you don’t need to use as much and it actually has nutritional benefits. If you’re still feeding your family the artificial flavored corn syrup — STOP! It’s one way to stop supporting the artificial food industry that is feeding us high fructose corn syrup because its heap and mass produced. We prefer to buy our maple syrup locally, but the cheapest we have found it is at Sam’s Club).
