No Pre-Heat Popovers!

If you have flour, salt, milk and eggs, you can make popovers -- a perfect Father's Day breakfast treat -- in minutes. And with this recipe, you don't even need to preheat the pan or the oven (which, if you bake, is quite revolutionary, for one is instructed to always preheat for popover success).

Popovers -- basically just hollow rolls -- are an Americanized version of Yorkshire pudding, and get their name from the fact that they pop over the top of the tin. I made these once before, using a dedicated popover pan which you can see here. This new old recipe -- from the collection of a Texas estate -- is even easier and doesn't require any special equipment.

These couldn't be simpler to make -- the batter is mixed in a bowl with a spoon, definitely low-tech. And they are absolutely delicious, especially served with a pat of butter and jam on the side.

 Below is the mis en place -- all the ingredients you need.

Just break the eggs into the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.

Stir well to combine.

Fill the well-greased (don't skip this step!) muffin tins about 3/4 full.

Do not peek while baking.

Production notes: I followed this exactly. Because I only had skim milk, I used about 1/2 cup of skim milk and 1/2 cup of half and half. I had a bit of trouble releasing the popovers from the tins, so be sure to grease them very well.

Country Griddle Cakes

I was looking for a breakfast treat to make the DH for Father's Day this morning and quickly settled on this c. 1935 recipe for country griddle cakes, mostly because I had all the ingredients at hand.

What a great choice! These are very easy, and quite delicious, especially if you throw in a handful or two of blueberries.  They also contain NO sugar, and very little fat, so they're practically a health food.

The batter is made with flour, baking powder, salt, milk, butter and an egg.  That's it.  If you have blueberries on hand, just toss them in at the end.

It's better to cook these in a low-sided skillet, but I apparently don't have one. They cooked fine in this deeper pan.

Production notes:  I followed this exactly, but used a bit more butter than called for, and I did use an egg. I did not beat the batter well, as called for, because this often results in a tough pancake.

The recipe is from this pamphlet, a gift from my friend Kit many years ago. The family was best known for its blended whiskey, which sold in 1933 for just $1 a pint!