If At First You Don’t Succeed…
I am not much of a cook. Ok, I don’t really cook at all. But I thought I’d challenge myself yesterday. I went to the store and bought the ingredients for whole-wheat pancakes. Yes, simple pancakes. I figured it would make a great addition to my limited repertoire of culinary offerings. Plus, I love pancakes. I can eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. No problem.
I looked up a recipe online, bought the ingredients, and gave it a try. I have a nonstick pan, so I didn’t think there was any need to use butter or oil in the pan. When I poured the mix into the pan, which seemed thicker than it should be, everything seemed ok. When I tried to flip the pancake absolute chaos ensued. A thin layer of the pancake was sticking a bit to the pan, and it just didn’t really flip. You can see the not so pretty result.
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- Starting Off.. Looking Good..
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- Browning.. Looking Good…
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- Something’s Not Right..
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- Disaster
Visually, these pancakes get a -5 out of 10. In taste, they got a 1.5 out of 10. This was partly not my fault, though. After reading the comments on the recipe webpage, I realized that the recipe listed table spoons when it meant teaspoons. Thus, the amount of baking powder and salt were completely out of proportion. They tasted so badly that I had to chase each bite with a spoonful of Nutella.
Not satisfied with this terrible result, I tried again today. This time, however, I put butter in the pan. I also used a spatula, which I bought today at a second-hand store. With a new spatula, butter, and the right amount of salt and baking powder, nothing could stop me now!
Pancake Success!
The results were wonderful. Visually, they get an 8 out of 10 and in taste they get a 7 out of 10. I don’t think I’ll ever make pancakes as good as my dad’s, but maybe with more practice and experimentation I could come close. Most of all, it was great to fail miserably at something simple, retry, and succeed. As already mentioned, challenging yourself to cook something is something you can do to gain confidence and be happier. Learning from failure builds character and helps you conquer life’s many challenges with more confidence. It is only through failure that we can taste the sweetness of success. And these pancakes tasted sweet!
Those are fantastic, I will try your recipe. Great Blog Adam.
D…………..
The second batch looked pretty yummy! I might have to look up a recipe for that myself…..that is unless you would like to share yours.
I too could eat them any time of the day.
Glad you tried it the second time around and didn’t give up.
Thanks for the comment! Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-pancakes/Detail.aspx
But check the comments. The TBSP should be TSP. 🙂