Mayonaise Pancakes

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Give this post a chance. Don't look like the lama.

To say my mother was frugal is an understatement. Granted during the hard times after WWII she had to be. There was no other choice. Every crumb was eaten. We didn't have a fridge. So, to test whether something was too far gone to eat, you simply smelled it, or looked at it to see if it started to grow fuzz.

Even after we came to this country in 1955, she continued to "re-issue" various leftovers. She would create whole new meals. Most of them having no gourmet title, but were simply called hash.

Mother also saved the grease. Every drop of frying lard wound up in a crock that had its permanent spot on the back of the stove. It didn't matter if chicken was fried or fish. She also poured the bacon grease in that crock.

To make a cake, most recipes call for either butter or lard, or other shortening. To mother grease is grease. She made a walnut/raisin cake using the abundant stash in the crock. To say the least, the cake tasted like bacon.

Now my theory.

I always thought the "sell by date" stamped on everything is a marketing ploy. For instance, how can buttermilk get out of date when it takes sharp cheddar cheese two years to get good? Duh . . . the cheese stars with buttermilk curds!

The same thing with blue cheese salad dressing. Even tin cans have a date on them. Remember, milk was good until it smelled blinky? Someone didn't have to tell us.

Well, the mayonaise in our fridge was over half full, but two months "out of date." It didn't smell bad. It had no mold. Therefore good to eat.

I wanted pancakes for breakfast. My wife said, "We have no milk or buttermilk in the house."
"Oh but we have mayonaise!" I said.
"I'm not eating any of them," she said. "Not if you're thinking of using that outdated stuff."

Into the bowl went: one egg, 1/2 cup of mayo, 1 1/2 cups of self rising flour, a pinch of salt, a dash of vanilla extract, a flat teaspoon of baking powder, a spoon of sugar, a teaspoon of "fiber", and fresh black coffee to get the proper consistency.

I tell you what. I could not tell the difference from any other pancakes I ever made before. Maple syrup over them . . . yum, yum!

I often think of hungry people rummaging on rubbish heaps, looking for morsels to eat. I see children with hollow eyes and swollen bellies. I know it is a sin to waste food. I'm determined to consume what the Lord has provided before it becomes waste.
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