Pancakes And Eggs Over Easy . . .

I have never liked pancakes or eggs over easy.  Matter of fact, the only way I have ever liked eggs has been in brownies or cake or cheesecake, eggnog, you get the picture.

First the eggs over easy story . . . a very long time ago, my mother wanted to help a friend out and she, as always, involved me.  She was my best friend.  I loved being involved in everything with her.  What good times we had! We worked a 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift at a small restaurant of one of her friends on Friday and Saturday nights. I say helped out, but we did get paid for the shifts. Saturday nights were easier on me as I worked all day Friday at my regular job.  I was the waitress and she was the grill cook.  We mainly had a lot of breakfast orders due to the time of the shift.

One night late, my mother had stepped out for something, I think she had to run home,  and had been gone for quite awhile.  A customer came in and wanted eggs over easy.  Since I do not like eggs, I do not cook them.  I told him she would be back shortly and he said he did not mind the wait.  For some reason, she did not return as soon as I expected  and I finally had to agree to make the breakfast.  He said he wanted his eggs over easy.  Uh oh!  Well, everything went okay until time to flip the eggs “over easy”.  I chased those eggs all over that griddle but could not get the spatula under them!  You know that little hole (actually it is a rectangular square) at the back of the griddle, the drain,  where the grease is scraped off the griddle and in to?  They slid right into the hole and out of sight.  I turned around and the customer was watching my every move.  His look on his face is one I will not forget.  Haha.  Embarrassed, I finally sort of half smiled and said to him, “well, they went over easy”.  We both laughed and about that time, my mother, my hero, came in the door and saved the day!

Since having children I have had to make eggs. There are two ways that I cook them for them, scrambled and fried!  I, to this day, cannot make them over easy.  Oh Wait!!! I can boil eggs!  I can even get them to peel perfectly!!!! I guess there are 3 ways I can make eggs.  Go me!

Story number two  . . . pancakes.  I do not like pancakes either and never have.  I liked them once when my mother made a new recipe called Souffle Pancakes.  They were so light and fluffy!  Yummers!  That is the only time though, and she really did not make them often that way.

When I married Wes, he considered his specialty to be pancakes. (I think of Uncle Buck, the movie starring John Candy, here.  When Uncle Buck is cooking some sort of thing, Miles says that he is cooking their garbage and Uncle Buck says that it is his specialty!) Well, old Wessie was right.  It is his specialty and I now love pancakes, BUT only when Wes makes them. He does something different to the recipe, I do not know what, but they are so smooth and fluffy!   I have tried to make those for the children as well. He would save me some of his batter so that they would be just as good.

I have about as much luck with them as I do the eggs.   I would try to flip them too soon and have a pile of goop.  Wes showed me how to wait for the bubbles and for the edges to brown before I flipped them.  BUT . . . my pancakes tend to look like the State of Illinois or Oklahoma or something like that.  It never matters how “round” I seem to pour them, they turn into Illinois!  I have to cook so many to even get a small stack that is even worth eating.  Haha.  The children were always good sports about it though. It was a great day for me when I found the pancakes in a bag at the store that only needed to be put in the microwave!

Do not take any of this the wrong way, I CAN cook.  Some people think I am a great cook,  I just have issues with pancakes and eggs over easy.  Looks like I will always make eggs the same 3 ways and just leave the pancakes to Wessie, unless someone does a project for school where they need a replica of the State of Illinois made out of something unusual.  Just let me know if you need me!