Grace Frohock
Food Essay
ENG 110 H2
The Saturday Morning Treat
It is eleven a.m. on a Saturday morning. The sun is peeking through the hanging pink curtains in my room, waking me up from my much needed, restful sleep. The sun was my alarm clock on Saturday mornings. As I begin to wake up, I stretch my arms and remember all the “good” Saturday mornings bring. The rest of the week has been busy, with not even a moment to spare for a sit-down meal with my family. Trying to make it through the hectic week has taken all my energy, and the only cure is the Saturday morning breakfast ritual. I stare at the ceiling for a few moments because I have time to spare and there is nowhere to be, for once. As I lift myself out of my restful position in bed, I begin to smell something. It is a familiar smell, one that only comes on Saturdays. Is it French Toast? Waffles? or Eggs?… I ponder. I soon get a sudden burst of energy; I run down the creaky wooden stairs and into the kitchen to see a pleasant surprise.
The surprise was chocolate chip pancakes! This is my favorite breakfast and it is how all of my Saturday mornings start. When I reached the kitchen and saw the table neatly set, the warm syrup, the fresh glass of orange juice, and especially the large warm stack of chocolate chip pancakes; I only said one word, a subtle “yay”. My Dad was in the kitchen working on breakfast for my Mom and him. My parents usually have a cheese omelet with peppers, probably because they got sick of having pancakes all the time. My Dad told me to go get my brother for breakfast because he was playing Xbox in the basement. I usually lie to my brother and tell him that it’s french toast, which is his favorite breakfast. I do this so that he will stop playing video games and come upstairs to eat as a family. I think I am the only one who has not gotten sick of chocolate chip pancakes, but I find importance in sticking to tradition.
Once we are all gathered as a family upstairs in the brightly lit dining room, on a sunny morning, surrounded by a home-made breakfast; we begin to catch up and discuss our weeks because we are all so busy. Breakfast usually last for two hours on Saturday because we have so much to talk about, my brother and I usually talk about funny things that happened in school and my parents try to us about work but, Jordan and I get bored to fast. We all shove down our breakfast while chatting, and our bellies soon become full. While everyone is clearing their plates, I ask my mom, “So, what are we doing this weekend?” My mom always answers back “what do you want to do?” I am a very indecisive person, so she always ends up making the weekend plans. I guess me asking “what we are doing this weekend?” is apart of the ritual. We all then go back to our rooms and get ready for the day.
My Dad is the one who makes all of my family meals only because my Mom can’t cook. I interviewed my Dad and he also sees the importance of family meals, and that pancakes are a Saturday morning treat where the family catches up with one another. My father told me that “I think you like chocolate chip pancakes because they are chocolatey, but also because they represent an end to a busy week and time to spend with our family”. It is apparent that there is more meaning behind pancakes for my family because my Dad and I both have the same view. My Dad also said “ He like making chocolate chip pancakes for the family because they are easy to make and the ingredients are cheap”, “They require little effort, for such a meaningful outcome”. It was nice to hear my Dad also see the value in family meals. I asked my Dad if he had a similar tradition when he grew up. He was an only child with two divorced parents, so he had no “whole” family to share Saturday breakfast with. He said, “these breakfasts are important to me because I never had a tradition like this growing up, and I want you and Jordan to share and remember this family tradition.”
I’ve never really thought about it until now, but the family has always been really important to me. Saturday breakfast has been a way for me to stay in touch with my family, as the years go on we become busier and I’m afraid one day we won’t be as close.
Chocolate chips pancakes to me are more than a breakfast food. I never order pancakes at restaurants because, they symbolize family, tradition, connection. It is a meal I can only have surrounded by my family.
Being at college is difficult because there are no Saturday morning chocolate chip pancakes. On Saturday mornings in college, I think of an image of my head. This image is of my family sitting at my dinner table, talking about how their week was without me. I miss spending time with my family on weekends and hearing about their lives. I know we complain about how embarrassing and annoying families can be, but once that is taken away we wish we had cherished the time spent with our family, especially Saturday morning breakfast.
Ingredients:
Butter, Water, box buttermilk pancake mix
Pancakes: 6-9 … 12-18 … 18-27.
Mix: 1 cup … 2 cups … 3 cups.
Water: 2/3 cup … 1 1/3 cups … 2 cups.
Directions:
- Heat pancake skillet on medium-low heat or 375°F. Skillet is ready when butter sizzles, then disappear almost immediately.
- Combine mix and water in a bowl. Stir with a whisk until large lumps disappear. Don’t over mix!
- Pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto lightly buttered skillet.
- Turn when pancakes bubble and bottoms are golden brown.
