Malcolm and Pancakes: A Love Story

As I mentioned in one of my recent DWTS posts, I missed Lance Bass' fall during his dance routine because I was preoccupied with my preparation of some pancakes. Ever since my mother used to make them for us as a kid, I've had a love affair with flapjacks that continued into adulthood. A few years, I had an amicable parting of the ways with pancakes. During that time, there were a couple of quickies if I happened to be ordering breakfast at a restaurant. However, these brief encounters were the extent of our "relationship".

Earlier this fall I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Thoughtful Reflections (written by Jessica). In one of her posts, she linked to a previous one she had written about flapjacks. That was all it took for me to fully embrace my fixation once again. When I went grocery shopping shortly thereafter, I made sure I bought a box of pancake mix and a bottle of syrup. Once I got back to my apartment, I couldn't wait to fire up that skillet! When it comes to pancakes, I am a fairly basic guy. I don't need strawberries or whipped cream (however, those two items have me thinking about something else entirely). Anyway, back to the pancakes... as long as they are oozing with butter and syrup, I'm fine. Because I don't allow the time of day to dictate what I eat, I was having pancakes for dinner on some nights. It was getting to the point where I strongly considered hanging an IHOP sign above the entrance to my apartment.

As a kid, the only syrup I remember my mother buying was Alaga (the name is a combination of Alabama and Georgia, the home states of the company founder and his wife). Unfortunately, the grocery store in my area doesn't carry it. In early November, after doing my radio show one Friday night, I stopped by one of the Kroger locations in Flint hoping that they carried Alaga syrup. Kroger management didn't let me down. The original sugar cane flavor of Alaga is just the way I remembered it: sweet and so thick that when it dries around the mouth of the bottle, you can get a decent workout trying to unscrew the top.

I took me awhile, but I realized that I had to abandon my love once again. At the rate I was going, it wouldn't have been long before I'd be saying, "Hey, hey, hey" as I headed to the local junkyard to join my band and play bubblegum soul songs with a message. Even though I've bid farewell to flapjacks for now, I know that we will hook up again at some point in time. What's cool about our relationship is that there are no hard feelings. When I was in the pantry of my kitchen tonight, the bottle of Alaga temporarily morphed into Mrs. Butterworth and said to me, "It's OK Malcolm, I understand. You have to do what's best for you right now. Just know that whenever you want me, I'll be right down here waiting."

Are you a pancake lover? If so, what are your favorite toppings? To help put you in that pancake state of mind, check out a clip from the 1965 Chilly Willy cartoon titled Half-Baked Alaska. This scene features Chilly at a diner getting set to eat a stack of flapjacks.