Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

If you have a griddle accessory for your gas grill, I heartily recommend using it for Sunday breakfasts. Fry up some bacon, leaving the fat on the griddle to cook the 'cakes. Heart-stoppingly good, folks. I've tried from scratch and using *gasp!* the shortcut dry mixes, other than a subtle taste difference (obviously from scratch has a little more zing) they always turn out melt-in-your-mouth fabulous.

One caution though, regular cut bacon is sometimes too thin to work with easily. I suggest using a good thick cut, non-peppered bacon (unless you like bits 'o pepper in your pancakes).

Ever since I tried this method, nothing else comes close.

I made this recipe for he first time - actually the first time I've made pancakes period. I made the following changes:

3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp almond extract
blueberries (almond and blueberries is classic)
1/3 zest of a lemon (no white)
half the juice of a lemon (instead of the water)

Due to the tartness of the blueberries, and due to the "just a touch runny" consistency of the batter, I'd leave the lemon juice out next time. I'd also back the almond down to 3/4 tsp. Can't wait to do this again, this recipe definitely has big time potential.

This video is a perfect example of over-exaggeration by an over-zealous, tempermental chef that has obviously been out of the American culinary habits loop. Perhaps, he feels the 0.1% who don't over sauce their pastas are the ones who visit his establishments? Nevertheless, the pompous critique of Italians on the use of "condiments" is and always will be considered arrogant. Wasn't it the Chinese that invented pasta? And, ironically, have never read or heard similar commentary. I love his shows but leave the attitude at home.

My guess is that American addiction to so much sauce is based on the relative abundance of food that Italian immigrants found when they arrived here. Throughout most of history, Italy has been very poor so they natural favored the cheap and prevalent ingredients. When they arrived in America, with exponentially more food available, they indulged on the foods they couldn't get back home. This also is a factor in why American Italian food uses herbs and spices in greater quantities than traditional old world recipes.

A ciascuno, suo proprio.

The baking soda counteracts the acid in the buttermilk. The ingredient list for this recipe (less the vanilla) is the one from Best Recipes. I makes that recipe a couple times a week for my three teen/tween boys. I double it, of course. :-) I usually throw blueberries on top.

It's going to take a long time to re-train the American palate to accept a scantily clad bowl of top shelf pasta as the norm. You've got to remember, for most of us (in the NYC area anyway), Ronzoni was the staple "pasta." With flavorful imported brands and more fresh pasta becoming available, the sauce may eventually take its place as the condiment.

I have been guilty of eating "soupy" pasta all my life. My mother used to say, "I can't even yell at you for taking all that sauce because you finish it!" I remember when we started buying imported pasta, my initial reaction was that it was too sweet. I eventually realized how tasteless brands like Ronzoni and Mueller's were and began to embrace the different flavors of pasta.

My mother told me I'd outgrow my need to douse all that sauce on my pasta and, as usual, she was right.