Sourdough Flapjacks and Family Memories

First I want to share with you the full moon I captured last night.  I went out at 11:30 pm and sat as still as I could in my rattan chair and snapped away.  My camera does not get the accuracy of some crazy spendy cameras but it gets a fairly good image of my beloved moon.

My grandson Caleb mentioned he'd like some sourdough pancakes like we made at camp so we rejuvenated the sourdough starter and I mixed up a big batch of batter and we had it for dinner the other night.  Have you ever had REAL sourdough pancakes?  My friends, it's pretty amazing.  Did you know you can make your own sourdough starter?  I did a long time ago, you can google how.  Better yet is get a bit of a friend's starter that has been going a while.  Mine is from my brother Rob who got it from a friend who got his from his family and it's about 150 years old!  I'll add the recipe at the bottom of this post.

Caleb has decided he didn't want to take piano lessons any longer.. I was disappointed.. but then Kristi told the piano teacher she'd like to take over his lesson time.  AND.. Travis will start lessons too!  I'm so excited!  Hearing Kristi learn and practice gave me the push to practice the songs I taught myself so long ago.  I've been enjoying brushing up on the songs, Shenandoah is the last one I played last night.  I'm so happy that my beloved antique baby grand piano is getting used by the family.  I can't tell you how many times people have told me I should sell it and free up the space in the living room.  I steadfastly refused and now my stubbornness is being vindicated.  :-)

I was looking for a specific photo in the family photo album I put together years ago and used my iPhone to snap a few photos to share with my relatives on Facebook and here on my blog.  This is my mom on the right with me as a baby and in the middle is my aunt Wilma who was married to my uncle Pierce and their first baby Nancy, on the left is aunt Helyn, married to Uncle Harold and their first child Steve.  

Little me standing by the water pump on the porch of the farmhouse where my grandparents lived in the countryside of Watonga, Oklahoma.  The old house where all my uncles and one aunt were born.  The house where I rescued the old kitchen queen cabinet and 5 legged oak table currently in use in our farmhouse here in Oregon.  :-)

My parents moved all 4 of us children to Oregon when I was 4 1/2.  On the right is me and my younger sister Denise and on the left are cousins Anita and Mona who obviously were brought out to visit us from Oklahoma.  Their mama was my dad's only sister, Mary Ann.  Our mother's always dressed us up like dolls.  :-)

Leaping forward to Dayle and I dressed up for his Senior Prom.  Mom again made my dress for me in emerald green satin and picked out the black gloves and black, a black beaded bag and high heels, diamond costume jewelry and got my hair done by a hairdresser.  I was 16 and Dayle was 17.

Another leap forward in time, this is the photo I was looking for.  My daughter Amy and her family recently went on a vacation to Florida and I wanted to share with her this photo of when we were young parents and we took her on a trip to Florida, to Panama City, where we camped in the VW camp-mobile that we bought as my car.  :-)

Oh how I loved that VW bus!  We'd gone to the VW dealership to look at a 23 window VW bus but in the middle of the showroom floor was this sparkling new red 1970 VW bus opened up with the top popped up, the little sink, fridge, table, closet and I fell heart and soul in love with it.  Interestingly Amy began in this same spot on a trip there the year before.  :-)

Another leap forward to all three of our children with their baby goats.  I was such a idealistic hippie, I wanted goats so I could milk them so the children would be raised on home produced and healthy milk.  We also raised chickens so they'd see how food was made and participate in the care of the animals.  I'm still that hippie, but in the last years of my life here on this earth.  

While the children were young and growing up I took pottery classes at Mt. Hood Community College.  I really took to making my own bowls, mugs and things and set up a pottery studio on the garage with a Lockerbie kick wheel and Olympic kiln.  Here I am throwing a pot using earthenware clay.  I always kept my interests in crafting while the kids were growing up, I spun wool on a spinning wheel, knitted hats and mittens for them, did stained glass and took jewelry classes too.

I was the 4-H Dairy Goat leader for 5 years with my friend Diane.  The Oregonian newspaper even did this article about our group and this is Amy showing her goat!  Such memories!

I hope you didn't mind my walk down memory lane.  Below is a photo of the Hollyhock in a pot on our deck, I swear it's like 6 feet tall!  Isn't the bloom pretty?

SOURDOUGH FLAPJACK RECIPE

(For 2 people, use this recipe.  For 4 people, double it, for 6, triple it.)

Night before - mix 1 cup flour (I recommend 1/4 cup wheat and 3/4 cup white) with enough warm water to make a nice thick batter (like cake mix consistency).

Stir that up good then add 1/2 cup sourdough starter - stir it in well but don't beat it too much.

Next morning, stir together 1/4 cup milk, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 beaten egg, 1/6 cup oil, and stir these ingredients into the batter you made the night before.

When the griddle is hot, brush it with cooking oil.  

Then add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in a bit of warm water and add this to the batter just before cooking, stir it in, don't beat it too hard.

NOTE:  Never use metal spoons or measuring devices or bowls when using the sourdough. Use wooden or silicone spoons for mixing and rubber spatulas for scraping.

Batter will be fairly thin - use ladle and put about 1/2 cup of batter for each flapjack.

(NOTE: YOU WILL HAVE TO EXPERIMENT WITH HOW HOT THE PAN OR GRIDDLE IS AS YOU COOK THEM.  I HAD TO LOWER MINE OR ELSE THEY GOT TOO BROWN TOO FAST.  YOU WANT THEM TO BE GOLDEN BROWN.)

Cook till brown on one side, then flip over and brown the other side.  Serve with butter on top and maple syrup.

Feed sourdough batter with a batter of about a half cup of warm water and flour.  It will foam up when it's happy.  If you aren't going to use it for a while, put it in the fridge, and when you want to use it, take it out a few days ahead and feed it and keep it on the counter.

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OK, you get a gold star if you made it all through this post.  :-)

((hugs)), Teresa :-)