Mmm, pancakes

I whipped up a batch of American-style pancakes tonight, the first time I've made pancakes in years (except for when I tried a British pancake mix recently, and they came out gross and gooey). I found a recipe for American pancakes using spelt flour, which is supposedly healthier than the regular ol' white flour (I also used skim milk instead of the suggested soy milk). We smothered them in low-cal syrup that my hubby brought back from his recent trip to the States, needed because the only syrup we can find here is pure maple. Which equals way too strong for more, and way too expensive, too. The stuff here costs about $4 for a 3.5 ounce bottle, compared to the 24-ounce American bottle that cost $1.29 at Wal-Mart.

Man, they were good! Brought me right back to the days of sitting at Waffle House in Alabama at 2 a.m. after dancing all night, often seated with people I hadn't known more than a few hours. Mmm, mmm, just sitting there, eating a pecan waffle while the guy across from me was having hash browns (smothered and covered, natch), and maybe someone else had bacon and eggs or some other variety of fried, fatty food that was oh so good and cost about two bucks. I'd just sit there, eating and laughing and watching the place fill up with people as the bars closed.

The most crowded I ever saw a Waffle House was on a Christmas Day after my mother and I had made a four-hour drive coming back from visiting relatives. It seemed like a good idea to head to Waffle House for some reason, and we sat at the "bar" in the only open seats and had a good (if unhealthy), cheap meal. It was a lot of fun, and I still enjoy saying I had Christmas dinner at Waffle House one year.