Grandma’s Pancakes

Last week I purchased some buttermilk in anticipation of exploring the quick bread recipes in The Joy of Sharing. On Saturday morning, I selected “Grandma’s Pancakes,” contributed by Eleanor Overvold to the “Breads & Rolls” section.

These have been requested for breakfast again this Saturday morning.

Preparation

I was initially attracted to this recipe because of the two acidic ingredients—sour cream and buttermilk. Since watching Alton Brown’s Good Eats episode devoted to pancakes during graduate school (over fifteen years ago now!), we’ve been using buttermilk to make pancakes; this recipe’s combination of the acidic buttermilk with sour cream promised to be a delight.

In one of my favorite kitchen companions, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Harold McGee explains why this is the case:

Replacing milk or water with soured dairy products, notably buttermilk and yogurt, helps produce an especially tender texture. This is mainly an effect of their thick consistency, which means that it takes less flour to make the batter properly thick. A spoonful of the finished batter therefore contains less flour, less starch and gluten, and cooks to a more delicate structure. (550)

Eleanor’s instructions were clear and simple: “beat eggs, add sugar, salt, buttermilk, and sour cream.” Thus, I did. Then, I added the soda to the flour, mixed that together, and then added it to the wet ingredients.

To add some sweetness and depth, I eyeballed a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and blended that in too.

Following best practices for quick breads, I mixed it only until moistened (see my previous post “Zucchini-Oatmeal Muffins” for a discussion of the science of mixing quick breads: https://blog.cord.edu/karlaknutson/2023/08/02/zucchini-oatmeal-muffins/).

I thought the batter seemed a bit thick, and so I added more buttermilk until the batter dripped off the whisk easily.

As Luke often says, “think Kiwanis-pancake-feed consistency.” You know the reference—the ubiquitous image found annually in newspapers reporting on this popular fundraising event—pancake batter able to be poured out of a mixing bowl with a spout or a large plastic pitcher onto hot griddles.

L. had preheated our pancake griddle (a wedding present and now twenty-years old). However, I didn’t realize that he had left the heat low and that I was going to need to turn it up; the first batch had a nice color but were fairly flat, despite barely mixing the batter.

But when I turned up the heat to 350 degrees, the next batches were gorgeous! Each pancake had lovely height and a warm, golden color because of not waiting too long to flip them—just until a few bubbles appear on the first side.

We ate these on the patio, with leftover homemade whipped cream, some soft, ripe raspberries, and a light drizzle of pure maple syrup.

As we ate, our daughter said, “this is probably the best thing we’ve had from the cookbook.” Luke concurred, and both asked if we could have them again soon.

We’ve found a favorite.

Contributor: Eleanor Overvold

I provided a biography for Eleanor Overvold in a previous post, “Krystal’s Dishes,” but I’ve included it again here for ease of reading. Also, here’s the link to that post: https://blog.cord.edu/karlaknutson/2023/07/17/krystals-dishes/

It’s not clear to me whether Eleanor is the eponymous grandma, or whether it’s a recipe from one of her grandmothers, from another person in her life, or even a fake title to lend gravitas to the recipe’s mythical origins.

Eleanor Overvold was a bit tricky to track down. I couldn’t find an entry for any Overvolds in the McHenry County history book, nor an online obituary, though I was able to ascertain from ND state records and family obituaries that Eleanor Emily Overvold passed in 2011, as a resident of McHenry County. My research piecing her life together indicates that she was born in 1917, as Eleanor Opedahl, and lived on the family farmstead near Tioga, ND, one of the seven children of Lars and Laura Opedahl. Though the marriage record lists her first name as “Elnora,” the years and ages line up, and thus, it appears that she married Sylvester Schmeets, of Anamoose, ND, in 1941, had one child, Mark, and later divorced. She attended UND, receiving a bachelor’s degree in education and a Master of Science in education in 1971. In 1983, she married Olav Overvold and the couple lived in Velva; he was born in 1913 in Hallingdal, Norway, but immigrated with his parents and four siblings when an infant. The Overvold family farmed northeast of Velva in the North Prairie Township, and in 1943, Olav began farming, as well. He passed in 2017. Eleanor’s contributions to The Joy of Sharing include “Grandma’s Pancakes,” “Prize Rhubarb Dessert,” “Orange-Rhubarb Marmalade,” “Corned Beef Casserole,” “Pumpkin Pie,” “Rhubarb Pie,” “Pirette Pie,” and “Cranberry Salad Fluff” (what a name!).

 

This post is part of an ongoing series in which I make and reflect on recipes and the people who contributed them to the 1985 Oak Valley Lutheran Church compiled cookbook, The Joy of Sharing.