Buttermilk Pancakes and a Special Hello!

Winter break from school is all about lazy mornings, no alarms and leisurely home-cooked breakfasts of scones, waffles or plain ole buttermilk pancakes.   Liv always loves white flour pancakes, but, preferring to fill her with more nutritious whole grains,  I don't make them for her all that often.  

Golden Flax Meal is my secret weapon here, nearly invisible in the pancakes and having no effect on the texture yet adding a touch of whole grain nutrition.  Light and fluffy with that nice buttermilk tang, these pancakes were a perfect start to our special day!

Yesterday was Mom's birthday, and to celebrate we had planned to take advantage of my husband's layover in San Diego to head to Buster's Beach House in Seaport Village.  Weather though, waved it's magic wand, blowing apart the flight schedules for those planes in the East.  Hence, my husband spent and extra day in Honolulu (can I tell you how jealous I was??) bringing us to San Diego's Lindbergh field a day later along with our own blustery, rainy day.

For years we have sat at the end of the runway watching endless flights arrive and depart as we wait for Daddy's plane.  Once we even got a full tour of the cockpit with my then 5 year old son popping himself into the Captain's seat, grabbing the control and exclaiming, "To Infinity and Beyond!" at the top of his little lungs.

Today brought another special treat for Mom's birthday.  With the weather blustery and rainy, many of the planes "waggled" back and forth as they popped below the cloud cover.  I kept telling Mom that they were "waving" at her for her as a birthday treat!  She had fun watching the little wiggles and we giggled as we teased that they were all for her.  Finally we saw the "Brown Tail"  pop through the clouds and tracking his progress we saw more of the blustery wiggles and then... the immense 767 dipped to the right and back to the left with a full Happy Birthday wave!  

Both Mom and Liv shrieked with glee as my Dad and I smiled.  My husband had planned this a few days ago and I knew that he wouldn't do it unless it was completely safe (he's been flying for 25 years from little fighter-type jets to military cargo planes, then on to Boeing 767's), but I can't even begin to explain the excitement bursting in my heart as I saw that jet dip!  As luck would have it the other pilot's wife was there watching our special treat as well.

Maybe not quite as exciting as our special 767 hello, our golden Buttermilk Pancakes (with the secret golden flax meal!) were a perfect start to our morning and the left-overs warmed beautifully after a few seconds in the microwave to provide a late evening snack.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Flax

Kim Kelly - Liv Life 

3/4 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup skim milk
1 egg
1 Tbs oil
3/4 cup All-Purpose flour
3 Tbs ground golden flax meal (or wheat germ)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

In a medium bowl mix together the buttermilk, milk, egg and oil.  Whisk to beat the egg and combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, flax, salt and baking soda.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just until incorporated.

Heat a non stick griddle or skillet over medium high heat.  Lightly butter the surface and ladle 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto the griddle.

Cook pancake until bubbles begin to pop on the top.  Flip and cook for a minute or so more until bottoms are browned.

Serve warm with syrup or any of your favorite pancake toppings.  Our favorites are bananas, raisins and walnuts!

Edited 1/3/11 - I had a comment on another site that a reader's pancakes turned out "runny".  I have used this recipe for years without issue, however, temperature and weather conditions may make more flour needed.  If you feel that your batter is too runny, add flour a few tablespoons at a time until you achieve a good pancake batter consistency. 
Enjoy!

Captain Liv!  (2001)