PANCAKES

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1 egg
2 Tblsp vegetable oil
1 cup milk

Stir together to make a smooth, thick batter. Preheat a griddle & grease lightly, if it is not non_stick. When a drop of water skips & sizzles on the griddle, it is hot enough to drop the pancakes by spoonfuls. Turn them when bubbles form over the surface & the bottom is golden. If the bottoms brown too quickly, while the tops are still liquid, reduce the heat slightly. The second side will brown almost instantly. remove from the griddle & keep warm while you cook the rest of the batter, and serve warm with butter, honey, syrup, jam, applesauce, etc.

There, these are basic ones, but as you know, the variations are infinite. For corn meal & rice & applesauce pancakes vary the basic recipe a little. When you add 1/2 cup applesauce, you decrease the baking powder to 1 teaspoon & add 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Same if you add 1 mashed, ripe banana. With cornmeal pancakes you precook 1/3 cup corn meal in 1 cup water until thick (this is very quick & easy in a microwave & a pain in the neck on a regular stove), then stir in 2 tablespoons margarine, in stead of oil, add milk & then 2 eggs, the flour & other dry ingredients. This makes about twice as many pancakes, but thinner ones. For rice pancakes, to about 1/2-1 cup cold cooked rice, add 1 cup hot milk, 2 egg yolks, the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites until stiff & fold into the batter. With any of the recipes here, you may have to add a little more milk to get batter of a good consistency for pouring. Any of them should taste better than Aunt Jemima's. Nobody around our house eats pancakes anymore anyway

CORN MEAL PANCAKES

1/3 cup cornmeal
1 cup cold water
Stir together in a mixing bowl that can go into the microwave. Microwave, stirring ever minute, until you have a thick cornmeal mush (this is polenta)

1 or 2 Tablespoons butter
Stir in and melt. Depending on how "sticky" your frying pan, you may add another 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil.

Measure one cup milk or reconstitute dry milk to make one cup, and add half a cup of this to the hot mush.
Beat in 2 eggs.
Sift together 1 cup flour, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder,
1/2 teaspoon salt.
Stir dry ingredients into mush & eggs, adding enough milk to make pancake batter. Poppi Eddie liked them very thin. I like them a bit thicker. Cook them on a hot griddle & enjoy.

NOTE: If you use 3 eggs, separate them & mix the yolks into the mush, then fold stiffly beaten whites into the final batter, you have a nice waffle batter.

The basic pancake recipe I use for blueberry pancakes is from the Betty Crocker cookbook.
For two people, you won't need more than a cup of flour's worth of pancakes at a time:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons oil
2 Tablespoons sugar (optional)
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Add half a cup of blue berries. You might increase the sugar a bit, if you do.

To make applesauce or banana pancakes, make basic pancakes and use a mushed banana or half a cup of applesauce for a cup of flour as part of the liquid.
You will probably not need as much milk. Reduce the baking powder by half a teaspoon per cup of flour & add half a teaspoon of baking soda instead.