COOKING ADVENTURES #3: BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES
Good evening, readers.
Yes. You’ve assumed correctly. I managed to screw up buckwheat pancakes. I’m in no way proud of this. In fact, I’m beginning to get fed up. The recipe was practically idiot proof. And to my knowledge, I followed the instructions exactly. I’m not sure how it turned out so wrong.
I have a simple buckwheat mix that I got from a Menanite farm in Upstate New York. The directions told me to mix 3/4 a cup of the mix with a cup of water. The batter was supposed to be thin but lumpy. If it was thick, I was to add water. And I did. And the batter was the right consistency. I, then, poured the batter into the hot pan. I waited until the bubbles began to pop on the gooey top surface and went to flip it. It basically crumbled into tiny pieces. When I eventually ate it, it was like eating paper. Tasteless, dry, and boring.
The second pancake was thicker but unfortunately, I’d turned up the temperature in the pan so that it didn’t cook in the center. I was able to eat the edges of that one before hucking it in the garbage.
Pancake number 3? Haven’t tasted it. But when I’d finished cooking one side and flipped it, it basically looked like this:
Perhaps not as many craters as the moon but...
At the moment, I’ve shoved the thing into a plastic container in my fridge. Tomorrow morning, I’ll hopefully have the courage to eat it.
So far my cooking adventures don’t seem to be turning out so well. But, there is hope…
I made chili for dinner this evening. And while I used chile powder from a packet and canned tomatoes and black beans, I did manage to make a dinner for myself that was not a catastrophe. If I’d decided to try and make the chile with all natural ingredients and turn it into a big production with it being a “cooking adventure”, I think the chances of it to turn out alright would have been slim. So, in light of that one success for the day, I’ll put away my metaphorical chef’s hat for the evening, burned with several holes and covered in buckwheat batter, and rest easy for the night knowing that I am capable of producing some edible things in the kitchen.
I’m pretty sure that the stars weren’t properly aligned today or some such thing as well, because today was a disaster. I managed to lock myself out of my car with the engine running. Tricky, I know. But I did it. That, in addition to a few other mishaps, have stolen most of my thunder for the day. I’m off to bed to try and catch some z’s before the work day tomorrow.
Next week’s cooking adventure is (what I hope) will be a simple classic. Pizza. Homemade pizza. Can I do it without blowing up my kitchen or setting my oven on fire? Stay tuned for next Thursday.
~KSilva
The Kat At Night 