Banana Pancakes

Banana pancakes


I have a few old bananas. They’re just about ready for the compost bucket. You know the kind, brown spots and kind of mushy.

Then a phone call, “Hi mom. We’re coming over.”

Yikes! I have nothing for lunch. What do you feed daughter and two little ones? I don’t get my check for a few more days. I rummaged in the pantry. Flour, sugar, chicken broth, canned chili, peaches, applesauce. Nothing much. What’s in the fridge? A lonely egg, some milk sliding toward the expiration date, a few wrinkled carrots, a lone celery stalk, and leftover rice.

I’ve been in this pickle before. Two kids, no job, no food right at the end of the month. I can do this.

I have flour, sugar, baking soda, an egg and milk. And those ugly bananas. I can make banana pancakes! And applesauce to go on top. Put a little cinnamon in the applesauce, warm it up. Perfect.

So I start the prep work. Get all the ingredients and wait for Angie and the twins.

May and Mark are seven and love to cook. We make a mess, of course, but the pancakes are wonderful.

Lunch is a delight, we talk of life. Angie is getting ready to start a new job. She has a new man in her life. Finally a good one. The twins talk about school, back in session, finally.

When they leave, I clean up the mess. They had offered to help, but I sent Angie off with a smile. I don’t mind cleaning. It gives me something to do in the lonely night ahead.

W/C 268