Pancakes

[poliphilo]

I remember this TV play.

Charles Gray was a gourmet who had eaten everything including human leg. The only thing he had never eaten was a ghost.

So he set a ghost trap, caught his ghost and flambed it in brandy.

The damp little gobs of fried ectoplasm we saw him wolfing down looked a lot like the pancakes I made yesterday.

I blame the soy milk. The pancakes just wouldn't set. I soused them in lemon juice and sugar and ate them out of a sense of duty, but I wasn't happy.

Pancakes are a Shrove Tuesday tradition. Shrove Tuesday? That's Mardi Gras to you guys.

The rest of the world has carnival and public nudity and drag queens in mile high feathers and we Brits think, hmm, lets really push the boat out and eat some pancakes.

And Gray, what happened to him? I don't remember exactly. How do you end a story like that- except lamely? Perhaps he was haunted by the ghost of the ghost, or turned into a ghost or was eaten by a ghost. Who cares?

But I'll bet he had the most terrible indigestion.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Kate has an amazingly unhurtable recipe that calls for only one-quarter of a cup of milk, which isn't much.

This recipe, which she used last night to make our own Shrove Tuesday pancakes, uses corn meal and regular flour.

If you would like it, I'll send it along. It's simple and foolproof.

We're pretty much over pancakes here, and you may well be, too.

As for eating ghosts: that's fascinating.

You know, I know next to nothing about ectoplasm. Is it a real thing? Have people actually gotten some and tested it? Looked at it in a microscope? Is it protein or what?

If there is such a thing, it might be important!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A fool-proof pancake recipe sounds good. Yes, please.

I don't know whether ectoplasm has ever been tested in the lab. Victorian mediums used to fake it using cheesecloth, but that's not to say it's not a real substance.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Here it is:

Cornmeal pancakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn meal (yellow or white)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup corn oil or any veg. oil
1 egg

--

Grease skillet lightly. Mix it all up. Drop a serving spoonful at a time--not a huge dollop; these are rather small and will cook quickly.

--

As for ectoplasm, I am going to go sleuthing today.

I'm reading still about Lily Dale, where the town talks to the dead...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recipe.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about Lily Dale.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Pervy pancake eaters. I'll stick to wholesome public nudity, thank you very much.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, much more wholesome. Let it all hang out!

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

just goes to show...soy milk is bad for pancakes...

i've never eaten a ghost...or even a ghost of a pancake.

ghost is a funny looking word...where did the "h" come from?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the "h".

But I think "ghost" just looks a whole lot creepier that "gost".

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

From an online etymology dictionary:

The gh- spelling appeared c.1425 in Caxton, influenced by Flem. and M.Du. gheest, but was rare in Eng. before c.1550.

I obviously have WAY too much time on my hands today.

[morrison-maiden.livejournal.com]

Lol, sorry your pancakes weren't the greatest. I make some damn good ones from scratch, but I use regular low-fat milk :\

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the soy milk that's the problem, I think.