Buttermilk Pancakes and "As Good as it Gets"

My grandpa passed down many things to me. His war medals, his knowledge, his classic jokes, and his love for "flap jacks". I'll take a short stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes morning, noon, or night! Add a side of crispy bacon or breakfast sausage and I am one happy camper folks! It was long after my grandfather passed away when I made my first batch of homemade buttermilk pancakes but I'm pretty sure they'd get his stamp of approval. They're quick and easy to make and are sure to please any man, woman, or child. I always get in the mood to have some pancakes when I see Jack Nicholson order his breakfast at the restaurant in one of my favorite movies "As Good as it Gets." We'll get into the movie more later, but first here is what you'll need cook up your pancakes before it's movie time.

2 cups of Buttermilk
3 Eggs
1 ½ Teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
2 Cups of flour
4 Tablespoons of Sugar
3 tablespoons of melted butter
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 ½teaspoons of baking powder

Measure out the buttermilk and whisk into it the 3 eggs, the vanilla, and the sugar until everything is combined. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Take you whisk and gently stir everything together so you break up any clumps of flour there might be. Next, pour the wet ingredients into the dry, add the melted butter, and stir everything together until it's completely incorporated and is a smooth batter (but don't over beat). Making sure it's a smooth batter is a key step, we don't want any clumps of flour when we are pouring the pancake batter into our pan.

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees Take a large skillet or griddle and preheat over medium heat. The best way to determine if your pan is ready to make your pancakes is splashing a little bit of water onto the surface of the pan. If the water does nothing at first, your pan isn't warm enough and you need to increase the heat slightly. If your water immediately begins to sizzle and evaporate away your pan is too hot and you need to lower the heat slightly. When you splash the water on the pan, it should pop and "dance" around and evaporate over a few seconds time then your pan is at the perfect heat for pancake making.

Melt a little butter into the pan and pour the pancake batter evenly onto the pan. There are plenty of tools out there that claim to pour the perfect pancake but they don't work any better than a good old fashion soup ladle. Just be sure when you are pouring to keep pouring in one spot - Let the batter spread out on it's own. When you see air pockets rising to the top of pancake and the sides start to get golden brown, it's time to flip the pancake. Allow the pancake to cook for a few more minutes on the other side, about 3-5 minutes depending on the size you're making them. My grandfather had a rule that his pancakes had to be a big as the skillet he was cooking them in! Serve your pancake right from the griddle to the plate or your can keep them warm in the oven until you've cooked them all. Serve with some butter and warm maple syrup and breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snack is served!

As I said earlier, this weeks films is the 1997 academy award winning movie "As Good as it Gets". Starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, who both received the academy awards for best actor and actress, this a film about a hard working single mother and the miserable man she's ever served breakfast to. Nicholson plays Melvin Udall, a writer living in New York City who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder and is in need of a major attitude adjustment. Helen Hunt is the lucky waitress named Carol Connelly who gets the pleasure of serving Melvin breakfast every morning. Greg Kinnear plays Melvin's neighbor, Simon Bishop who always seems to receive Mr. Udall's worst. However with Simon is victim of a brutal attack in his home and Melvin learns or Carol's sick son, Melvin Udall shows that he's not immune to being kind. Cuba Gooding  Jr. and an adorable Griffon Bruxellois co-star."As Good as it Gets" is truly one of my favorite films. Jack Nicholson's character is so mean at times you can't help but laugh and Helen Hunt gives by far her best performance as an actress. If this is a film you missed or overlooked, I can't urge you enough to make it a point to see this movie as soon as possible - here is the trailer for "As Good as it Gets".