Old Fashioned Johnny Cakes

I am not sure why, but I have always been a fan of historical things...antiques, old books, living history re-enactments, 1800's architecture, and so much more. I am beginning to plan my dream house, modeled after an 1800's plantation. While being wrapped up in staring at Google Images of restored older homes, my inability to focus for long periods of time, I seem to constantly end up going off on tangents to everything else from that time era. Lately my new "go to" tangent has been antique cook books. With the internet, you can get vintage cook books with a few simple clicks, ready for reading on an e-reader. Technology is a wonderful thing!

Last night, my attention wandered in the direction of breakfast foods in a 1908 cook book. While looking at the pancake recipe, I noticed a "Indian Fritter" recipe that I had to try out once I put a little effort into modernizing it. I believe they are also called Johnny Cakes in the south, which for modern day purposes and the need to be politically correct, is what I will be referring to them as.

Fried Polenta

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning. Maybe it was in anticipation of being able to fry up yesterday's left over Creamy Brown Sugar Vanilla Polenta. It definitely wasn't in anticipation of it being Monday. I like to hide from Mondays, hoping that it won't be able to find me if I just put my pillow over my head and lay in bed for just a little longer.

The thought of being able to make this fried polenta this morning was definitely the motivation I needed to remove the pillow from over my head and crawl out of bed. Take that you evil Monday!

Creamy Brown Sugar Vanilla Polenta

Simple Pleasures. It is something that I have done my entire life but never put a name to it until seeing a Hallmark movie a few years ago called The Wish List.

The lead in the movie reminds me of so many people who are part of my every day life. The lead character is all about organization and focusing strictly on her goals in life. Then she meets this man -a barista- who is the opposite of everything that she is. Fast foward. They fall in love and live happily ever after. Typical Hallmark movie. But there is a scene where she is disgusted as he bite into this sloppy, juicy burger. He explains to her that it is his "simple pleasure" for the day. Every day he allows himself to have one thing that he enjoys and he takes the time to truly enjoy it.

What a great concept right?

I often find myself swept up in the chaotic mess that is American society. Let's face it, we all want perfection in our lives. I, myself am a highly goal oriented person. I however always take a few moments each day to do something that I enjoy and just remove myself from the craziness that typically consumes my world.

Yesterday my simple pleasure was driving off Raleigh with a friend for sushi. This morning it was enjoying this porridge on my front porch watching the sun come up over the trees and warm the earth.

Cornmeal Molasses Pancakes

Hello. I'm Sarah. I have a problem. I'm addicted to pancakes.

I swear, I really do eat other foods. I even take pictures of the stuff I make. It just never seems to make its way onto here.

I guess I should work on that. Maybe this weekend I'll post something non-pancake.

I recently discovered Joy the Baker's Blog. She has tons of great recipes.

Joy was my inspiration for my breakfast this morning.

Cornmeal Molasses Pancakes with Blueberries


I love fruit in my pancakes. Blueberries happens to be what is in the freezer at the moment so they are getting used a lot.

1/2 C Cornmeal
1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Dash salt
3 Tbs Molasses
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
3 Tbs Unsalted Butter, melted (if you use salted, leave out the salt)
1 C Buttermilk

I'm lazy, I hate doing dishes, so I rarely use more than a bowl, a spoon, a skillet, and a spatula when cooking pancakes. If you've made as many as I have, it is not hard to skip the measuring steps. If not, at least I can tell you how to save on using extra bowls to whisk, sift, and otherwise combine wet and dry ingredients.

Begin with a medium sized mixing bowl, toss in all the dry ingredients. (Cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.) Stir these together with a spoon or whisk.

Make a "well" in the center. Otherwords, push all the floury stuff to the sides of the bowl. Crack the egg into this void. Poke at the egg with the spoon or whisk to break the yolk. Stir it around a little bit trying to avoid the flour mixture as much as possible.

Add the molasses, vanilla, and melted butter into this "well" also. Then start whisking the entire mixture together. Add the buttermilk in several parts. This helps to eliminate the lumps in the batter.

Allow the batter to set for a few minutes so that the acidity of the buttermilk can react with the baking soda and baking powder and make the batter fluff up. (I folded in a generous 1/2 C of blueberries before allowing the batter to rest.)

Cook these pancakes in a well-greased, pre-heated skillet over a low-medium heat. The moisture of the molasses causes these pancakes to cook slower and if the heat is too high you'll scorch the bottoms before they are set up enough to turn.