Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I like food. I like to cook. I'm a damn good cook. I like Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Am I a bad person?

My parents were on a road trip to Indianapolis a while back, and I had found a place called Clifton Mill, in Ohio, that seemed to be up their alley. They brought back some pancake mix, and my girlfriend and I enjoyed it quite a bit. So, if you're wherever this place is in Ohio, I can't help but recommend it:

http://www.cliftonmill.com/

I tend to use Bisquick mix and add a few extras - usually a bit of baking soda to add a little air. This trick helps a lot with multigrain pancake mixes or if you use soy milk which can otherwise make the pancakes heavy and dense. And a wire whisk is a must for making fluffy pancakes. Whatever mix I'm using, I like to use 2 small frying pans simultaneously to cook the perfect size pancakes - then put them in a casserole dish wrapped in a towel to keep them hot and not soggy. I also prefer homemade pancakes with real maple syrup and fresh fruit.

@ohmygod: I think not. I really prefer Bisquick. And seriously, I live in the maple syrup belt, but will only dress my pancakes with the fakest of fake: reduced calorie, fake butter flavored amber-colored goo. I only eat pancakes and french toast in the privacy of my own home...I would probably be judged and banished if I asked for that stuff at the local breakfast joint.

I fall into the camp of anything goes for breakfast, though now that I'm more into the routine of my day job, I've been making mini-stratas (think breakfast casserole in a muffin pan) that reheat well (enough) through the week, so lately I've been much more breakfasty, saving leftovers for my lunch.

That doesn't mean I don't love pad thai for breakfast or that I've totally forgotten my childhood days of two hot dogs with velveeta cheese (no bun), and ketchup and mustard nearly every morning. I think anorexia must have been a big concern then because my parents would say things like "we're just thrilled to see her eating SOMETHING in the morning!" despite their usual hatred of hot dogs.

I'm guilty of eating leftovers for breakfast, but my most shameful morning meal was probably the morning before i took my SAT's when i was a sophomore in high school. My mom wasn't big on cooking in the first place, but the school had sent home letters saying that test takers needed to eat a good, hearty breakfast before the test. Mom's version of a good, hearty breakfast? Corned beef has from a can, some Totino's Pizza Rolls (combination flavor, of course), a hardboiled egg, and some V-8 to wash it all down. How the hell was I supposed to concentrate on the SAT's after consuming that amalgamation of a breakfast?