February 2021 $5.00 SPECIAL EDITION PRINT COPY TheWee Voice Newsletter WHY PANCAKES ARE THE SECRET TO INNER PEACE If you’re stressed out, concentrating on something OurOur MissionMission small and simple can be a really “To follow Jesus by sharing God’s good way to focus your brain and find your happy place. unconditional love as Practice makes perfect and what the Spirit empowers us.” better thing to practice on than making pancakes. Even the most artistically challenged pancake tastes delicious, and a basic OurOur VisionVision recipe uses only a few readily We will follow Jesus... available ingredients, all mixed By being a local Christian church within the United together – as easy as 1, 2, 3! Church of Canada; a community anchor for spiritual Having confidence in the exploration and growth where life, worship, kitchen with basic ingredients can lead to all kinds of tasty knowledge, service and song all contribute to our creations that use up what’s in larger story. the fridge and help you forget By welcoming people of diverse faith, ethnicities, the frustrations of the day. Be ages and stages of life, physical and mental abilities, mindful and have a go at ‘dolloping’ out that calming economic situations, sexual orientation and gender circle of batter today. identities. If your family or room mates By caring for all members with compassion, empathy can never agree on what to cook and joy. then don’t worry, there’s a By acts of service we will reach out to engage and pancake combo for everyone. support our community, the country and the world. Sweet or savoury? Chocolate vs lemon? Pancakes can be By building bridges within our community, as a personalised to suit even the congregation in the most diverse city in the world. fussiest of eater without too much kerfuffle or falling out. By using our facilities for religious, social, cultural, Why not try something new educational or other programs that reflect our today? values. Our worldwide love of pancakes is just one example of the way that food can break We are an AFFIRMING down barriers and bring us all together. Take comfort in our Congregation common appreciation of a quality pancake and why not try one of these recipes, tried and tested by your fiends? COVER PHOTO “Fluffy Homemade Pancakes” ENJOY !! Pancakes from Scratch Jemima pancake mixes and syrup; WHAT A TIME THE ‘50's General Mills made Bisquik. Pancakes MUST HAVE BEEN!! were revolutionized! For many of us these are the pancakes we Food shortages were easing up, more grew up on, and to be honest, I thought they consumer goods were hitting the market, and were pretty good! I didn’t even complain about companies were “hell bent” on making things Aunt Jemima syrup, never having tasted real “easier and faster”. Electric appliances - new maple syrup. stoves, dishwashers, refrigerators, washing machines, not to mention electric fry pans, Somewhere in the last 40 years or so, we electric kettles.......were showing up in homes. started to realise we could do better! We have been exposed to more cultures, we have And food preparation!!!! Weekly magazines available so many more ingredients to work - Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Chatelaine - with. And just maybe our taste buds wanted a were filled with recipes to make cooking easy! little more!! Quaker Oats company launched Aunt I hope, in reading the following pages you will be tempted to explore something a little BISQUIK different. ENJOY!! PANCAKES AUNT JEMIMA INGREDIENTS: 2 cups Bisquik PANCAKES 1 cup Milk INGREDIENTS: 2 Eggs 1 cups Aunt Jemima, Original 3 INSTRUCTIONS: / 4 cup Milk 1 tbs Oil Grease or spray griddle or skillet. Heat over 1 Egg medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375°F. Stir all ingredients until blended. Pour slightly OR less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until AUNT JEMIMA golden. PANCAKES Top with Beehive corn syrup, and enjoy!! INGREDIENTS: VIKKI’S APPLE 2 cups Aunt Jemima, Complete PANCAKES 1½ cups Cold Water Vikki INSTRUCTIONS: INGREDIENTS: Martinez Heat skillet over medium-low heat or electric 1 cups Aunt Jemima, Complete griddle to 375° F. 1 cup Fresh Apple Juice (NOT canned or Combine all ingredients and stir until large tetrapak.) lumps disappear (do not beat or over mix). (if fresh apple juice is not available, replace Let stand 3-4 minutes to thicken.. with ½ cup water and ½ cup apple butter - I Pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter for each use Wellesley brand apple butter because pancake onto lightly greased skillet. it is pure apple. Adjust to desired Turn when pancakes bubble and bottoms are consistency) golden brown. Top with Aunt Jemima syrup , and enjoy!! INSTRUCTIONS: Follow the instructions on the box. PANNUKAKKU INSTRUCTIONS: (FINNISH PANCAKES) Preheat oven to 425oF. Lightly grease an 8" Great Food Fast. My family does not have square baking dish. Finnish roots but this recipe is a family favourite. Place apples and butter in pan; toss to coat. Serves two. I have also doubled and tripled Bake in preheated oven, this recipe for a bigger crowd. It can be made 5 minutes lactose free by using margarine or lactose- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together free butter and lactose-free milk. eggs, milk, flour, baking powder and salt until Andrea Sloan smooth. Set aside. INGREDIENTS: In another small bowl combine cinnamon and 2 cups Apples, peeled, cored sugar. Set aside. and thinly sliced 1 tbs Butter Pour egg mixture over cooked apples, sprinkle 3 Egg evenly with topping. Bake for 15 ~ 20 minutes or ½ cup Milk until pancake is puffed and golden brown. Serve 1 immediately with maple syrup or preserves.. / 3 cup All-purpose Flour 1 / 4 tsp Baking Powder NOTE. If doubling the recipe, suggest a 12" x 7" 1 / 8 tsp Salt dish. If trebling, suggest 13 x 9½”. For larger sizes you may have to cook longer, maybe 10 Topping: minutes. They are done when a knife comes out ½ tsp Cinnamon fairly clean. 1 tbs White Sugar For brunch with family, we usually serve this with bacon or sausages and fruit salad. BUTTERMILK INSTRUCTIONS: In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking PANCAKES powder, baking soda, and salt. If I perchance have some In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, buttermilk in the fridge sour cream, eggs, and melted butter. these invariably get made! Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients Tom Joyce and pour in wet ingredients; stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Let batter sit for INGREDIENTS: 10 minutes. 2 cups All-purpose Flour Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a large skillet (fry 2 tbs White Sugar pan) over medium heat until shimmering. Using 1 tsp Baking Powder paper towl carefully wipe out oil, leaving a thin ½ tsp Baking Soda film of oil on the bottom and sides of pan. ½ tsp Salt 2 cup Buttermilk Using a 1/4 cup dry measuring cup, portion 1 / 4 cup Sour Cream batter into pan in 4 places (1/4 cup each). Cook 2 Eggs, large until edges are set, and bubbles on surface are 3 tbs Butter, unsalted just beginning to break (about 2 ~ 3 minutes). melted and cooled 1 ~ 2 tsp Vegetable Oil Flip the pancakes and cook until second side is golden brown, about 1 ~ 2 minutes longer. The science of why these work is found in Cooks Illustrated Repeat with remaining batter. Serve and enjoy! Here’s a brief run-down of the FUN science THE SCIENCE of PANCAKES behind each ingredient of our favourite breakfast A meal that is so amazingly simple to put together heavyweight! with a little flour, an egg, some milk, a small amount oil and sugar, and a few pinches of baking powder Functions of the ingredients: and salt. Behind the simplicity of our favourite - Flour - needed for structure. When mixed with breakfast meal lies an incredible, scientific liquid, the starch gelatinizes and the proteins transformation. That’s right, each day millions of form gluten, both of which give structure. people across the globe start their day with a little - Liquid - needed for structure, as mentioned above, science! and also important for dissolving sugar and Have you ever wondered where the bubbles in baking powder. your pancakes come from? These incredible little - Eggs - when cooked, the proteins coagulate to bubbles are what bring the words “fluffy” and give structure, plus moisture that evaporate as “pancake” together as they were meant to be! In the pancake cooks creating bubbles that help it celebration of this most delicious holiday, we were rise. curious to investigate what is going on behind this - Fat (butter/oil) - acts as a tenderizer by preventing marvelous mixture and discover the scientific too much gluten from forming. purpose behind the various ingredients of the - Sugar - also acts as a tenderizer, and contributes incredible, edible pancake! to flavour and colour through caramelization. - Baking Soda - responds to the acid in buttermilk Pancakes, like every other recipe, hide a story of producing carbon dioxide gas that further aerates chemical reactions that create new flavours and the pancake. textures. With pancakes, the chemical reaction is - Baking powder - reacts to the heat of the pan to between a leavening agent - such as baking soda release more carbon dioxide. and baking powder - and an acidic ingredient - such as buttermilk - producing tiny bubbles of carbon How to make awesome pancakes: dioxide gas. These bubble form throughout the pancake, and are trapped as the batter cooks and - Don’t overstir - Overstirring can cause the batter solidifies. So instead of a leaden disk, you get a light to lose too much of the CO2 that is formed, which and fluffy pancake honeycombed with tiny air will make them soggy and dense! pockets.