Shrove Tuesday...Pancake Day

"The laziest man I ever met put popcorn in his pancakes so they would turn over by themselves"

WC Fields

Considering that this is Shrove Tuesday and my husband Mr J, tells me that we should be eating pancakes today lol, I thought that this was an appropriate time to transfer one of my old posts across that had a recipe for Amish Pancakes.

For a couple of years I have followed the blog of a lady who lives a totally self-sufficent lifestyle in southern USA. To cut a long story short, they have goats for milk and wool, grow their own veges in an extensive garden, have an orchard for fruit trees, six sheep provide wool and at some stage..meat and provide their own power (wind and candlelight). She home schooled her children to senior high and sews, knits and crochets everything one could need in life, material-wise.

We ended up emailing almost each other often now and critique the writing and photos that both of us enjoy posting. Milly actually read 40plusers when it was open and she would have a chuckle at our Aussie-isms as she called them. Apparently there truly is a difference between Australian humour and American humour.

Nonetheless, two of her children grew up and married into the divisions of the Amish religion known as Mennonites. As a result I have learned little bits and pieces about the Amish.

For example, their church rules cover all aspects of day-to-day living including no power-line electricity, limited use of the telephone, many do not own or operate an automobile although a few do, and specifying the style of dress. Amish do not buy insurance nor accept government assistance of any kind. The Amish seek to limit contact with the outside world to protect their way of life and instead emphasise church and family relationships by living a rural life.

This woman's son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are permitted to visit the son's family though. All of that aside, they can be fascinating.

Milly often posts recipes that her daughter-in-law teaches her. When I first read them I took one look and thought "no way" I couldn't be bothered cooking from scratch however, she made a remark about how easy they are and how quickly they can be made . Now that caught my attention lol. I tried this one and loved it.

Amish Baked Apple Pancakes

Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter 1 Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices (naturally I used canned apple pie filling to save some time and was surprized at how flavoursome it was)

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup self raising flour

4 large eggs

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt Confectioners' sugar, for dusting if you want but I like them plain

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 230 degrees C. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or baking dish over moderate heat, put 2 tablespoons to a mixing bowl. Add apple slices to baking dish and cook, turning over once, until beginning to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. While apple is cooking, add milk, flour, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt to butter in mixing bowl and blend until smooth. You can use a whisk if that is easier. Pour batter over apple and transfer baking dish or skillet to oven. Bake in preheated oven until pancake is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar or add a bit of maple syrup, then serve immediately. Makes 2-4 servings. Note: in order to get a nice looking pancake that puffs up on the sides, make certain the skillet or baking dish is hot when you add the batter !

Some of the waratah flower photos were snapped at the Bowral Tulip Festival 2008. The later photos were snapped at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens October 2008 at our photography class photo shoot. I hope that you enjoy them.