Once upon a time I went to film school. I spent four years studying the art of filmmaking and earning a rather questionable bachelor’s degree since our studio classes took extreme precedence over our regular humanities courses. Among the cast of characters I met along the way, my production professor was definitely the most memorable in the best way.

He had an enviable handlebar mustache, an unruly mop of charcoal grey hair, and was the type to wear sunglasses at night. He had a thick eastern European accent and was a goldmine of amazing yet basically untranslatable idioms. One of his classics was not to “confuse frogs with grandmothers” followed by “it rhymes in my language”. It tended to leave the majority of our class scratching our heads as he usually applied it any situation he felt it called for. I had an affinity for his sayings that had to do with food, for now obvious reasons. He always compared filmmaking to making soup. When he wanted you to think about something or work on something a little longer he would say, “let it simmer”. When adding to the conversation, he would “add bacon to the pan” but not because he liked bacon, but because “I just like the sizzle”.

Since starting this weird food writing journey, besides a brilliant piece of editing advice (“use the axe, not the tweezers”), the line I think of most happens to be about pancakes. When we were in film school, he was essentially applying it to first drafts of the screenplays, first takes of the shoot, first editing passes of the film. But now in my second life, I am applying his advice in the most literal manner.

Here’s what you need to know, and this is some deep shit, so get ready. It can be applied literally and figuratively as I’ve already pointed out. But basically, remember when making pancakes or anything else --- that “the first pancake is always bad”.

Oh man, it’s like the truest thing anyone has ever said. Legitimately changed my life. I think of it every.single.time. I make pancakes and never feel bad when the first one is terrible. Even these. Although I do have to say, practice can make perfect. I tend to over butter the first time around which kind of deep-frys the pancake. Sounds good in theory but that’s not what makes a perfect pancake. Low heat is important; the key to pancakes is patience. If the pan is too hot, the outside and the butter will burn, but the inside will be raw. So remember --- lower heat than you think, less butter than you think, more time than you think along with the most patience. And this, the best advice of all, remember that “the first pancake is always bad”.

Now just because I have no idea how to segue into this, can I let you in on a little secret? Not only are these pancakes so seasonal, made from mostly local ingredients, quite possibly organic and totally gluten free --- they’re also birthday pancakes. June 29th was sizzle & sass kitchen’s first birthday. Since my first post, every day behind the stove, the camera, and the keyboard in the pursuit of this site has never felt more right. This project has turned into a full-on passion and there’s really nothing I’d rather do with my days. Thank you to those of you who take the time to read these posts. Here’s to many more! Let’s toast with these pancakes.

Strawberry Cornmeal Pancakes

adapted from this smitten kitchen recipe

Ingredients:

¾ cup rice flour

¾ cup fresh milled organic fine ground corn flour

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey

2 eggs

3 tablespoons melted butter (plus extra for greasing griddle)

1 cup roughly chopped strawberries

Directions:

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix rice flour, corn flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a second bowl, whisk together buttermilk, maple syrup, and the two eggs. Lastly, whisk in the melted butter. Switch to a wooden spoon and gently stir in the strawberries.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and using the wooden spoon, gently fold the batter until it just comes together.

Heat a skillet over low to medium heat. Melt just enough butter to lightly coat the skillet. Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop a ¼ cup of batter onto the skillet. The batter is a bit thicker and doesn’t spread as easy so I found that I needed to flatten the batter a bit into a pancake with my fingers. Let it cook on the first side for about two minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Flip and cook until golden on the second side. Place in a 200 degree oven to keep warm, if desired. Continue with remaining batter.

Serve with whipped cream and maybe rhubarb sauce if you want to be annoyingly seasonal or plain ole’ maple syrup or overkill it with some homemade strawberry jam like I did the second these pictures were done.

Makes about 8 four-inch pancakes. If you're really awesome you could probably get 10. Serves 4 to 5.