My mom and Drew’s mom both do this cute thing where they pack us a bag or two of groceries whenever we leave after a visit. My mom gets it from her mom, who did the same thing whenever we visited Connecticut back in the day, and I can only assume it runs in Drew’s family as well. When we left Chattanooga last Thanksgiving, Mama D. threw in a box of Aretha Frankenstein’s pancake mix – aka “the best pancake mix ever created” – and assured us the pancakes were as delicious as the box humorously states. (One reviewer, for instance, says that they are “Abbey road era Beatles,” while other pancakes are “Ringo solo stuff!”) I can’t use Bisquick to save my life, so it sounded good to me!
Unfortunately, the box demands you use buttermilk and canola oil lest the “Pancake Gods…strike down upon thee with great vengeance,” so the “Box of Magnificence” went into the cupboard and sat around for awhile. Like, until March. Whoops. My bad. Secretly, I just didn’t know where to find buttermilk. (Can you tell I’m a Yankee?) But happily, once I actually looked, it turned out to be right next to the regular milk! Who knew?! (Related Question: Who knows WHY the grocery stores in Virginia stock breakfast sausage and Italian sausage on opposite ends of the store? OMG. I’ll walk it off after I eat it, thanks.)
The box suggested making a “Jug-Of-Love” for a weekend of pancake fun, so when Sister V. came to visit all those weeks ago – like the pancake mix, this post has sat around for awhile – I decided it was time to put the cockiest box on the shelf to the test! I hunted down the elusive buttermilk, bought an enormous jar of canola oil that should last through at least two presidential administrations, and set to work.
Shhh! I didn't buy enough buttermilk and had to sub in some 2%. Don't tell the Pancake Gods!
I rescued an empty milk jug from our recycling bin and gave it a little make-over, both for its benefit and ours. No pancake batter on the cereal in this house! (Pre-coffee, anything’s possible. ;) We don’t have any funnels, so getting the mix into the jug was a bit of a challenge, but on the flip side, I finally learned what a batter bowl is for! Despite that, the Jug-of-Love was actually a great idea. It was easy to make ahead, easy to store, and easy to shake up in a jiffy! (Obviously, this post is not sponsored by Jiffy, but I’m more than willing to plug their Not-Real-Blueberry Blueberry Muffins. After 20+ years of eating them, I still think they're amazing!)
Demonstrating the proper shake!
And yes, the pancakes were as good as the box claims. The batter cooked even, thick, and flipped well, even for a pancake klutz like me! The pancakes were a bit sweeter than I was expecting, but not in a bad way. Just in a “use less maple syrup” way. ;) And with a few strawberries sprinkled on top? Mmm...perfect!
We probably have enough mix left in the box for a Saturday morning, but not a Jug-of-Love. Looks like we’ll be rationing until our next trip South!
Can you cook and take photos and keep the cat off the counter at the same time? Me neither... ;)
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