Hello from Nashville

[Dave Martin]

Well, Oren - I'm probably not quite old enough to be your great grandfather (even by Tennessee standards ) but everybody - even North Carolinians - knows that the best thing for pancakes is a few strips of good bacon. There's something about bacon with a little maple syrup that makes me smile...

[Joel Larsson]

A Scandinavian favourite for pancakes is cottage cheese and your favourite jam - mashed apples!!
Ah, homemade apple jam... haven't had for ages, it seems. This bachelor life is not be the ideal way of living once you get over the freedom thing. '

Welcome here, Dave. I haven't been around for long but the musings of Richard and Oren are already a rather dear part of my day.

NP: Cat Stevens - Where do the Children Play

[Oren Hudson]

Dave, I'll A+ the bacon and maple syrup and Joel, A+ the jam (grape jelly for me) but not a fan of cottage cheese. I believe that the better choice would be substitute grits for the cottage cheese IMO.

Also glad that someone other than Richard, me, and sometimes Anselm and David look at our banter on the Pit Bull. Lots of BS, but we have fun with it.

[Joel Larsson]

And lots of grits...

Another favourite pancake option is cottage cheese, honey, and walnuts. But that seems a bit Mediterranean.

I actually checked out grits on Wikipedia. It's something polenta-like? I think I'd like that. My parents were vegetarians when I was little and they were into all this strange stuff, which I loved back then but is near impossible to translate since the words just won't show up in the online dictionary. But once I started going to kindergarten it was all about factory produced food. Took me ages to get over it and start explore new stuff again.

Today, I had some semla in hetvägg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semla
You haven't had a pastry until you've had that. It has the flavour of a time when you still had oxens and ground your wheat in a windmill. Criminally overlooked worldwide. In that article it says that is is also traditional in Norway, but the Norse guys I had it with today didn't know what it was!!
Oh, the shock, the horror.

Serving it in a bowl of hot milk with some cinnamon is the trick. Then you can take the 'hat' off first, and dip it into the milk. Aah. I am currently in a state of gastronomic euphoria.

NP: Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream

[Richard Prowse]

Originally Posted by Joel Larsson

Today, I had some semla in hetvägg.

I'd go for a semla over grits any day!
My mother used to make bread and butter pudding when I was a kid. That was nice!

[Oren Hudson]

I'm glad you're coming around - semla on top of grits - sounds like a true delight! If your mom had added bananas to the bread and butter pudding, you would have gotten what we in the South call banana pudding. Ever had banana pudding my friend Richard?

So Joel, tell me about your criminal Norse friends that you had lunch with today? Sounds pretty exciting. I'm guessing that you gave them the story of semla. Every time I put this semla word down, I want to put Selma, as in Alabama, instead. Now there's a good ole Southern state that knows the pleasure of grits. And speaking of milk, do you ever have peanut butter-crakers and milk? I had a few just moments ago. In closing, I need a clue - NP???

[Richard Prowse]

Originally Posted by Oren Hudson

I'm glad you're coming around - semla on top of grits - sounds like a true delight! If your mom had added bananas to the bread and butter pudding, you would have gotten what we in the South call banana pudding. Ever had banana pudding my friend Richard?

No, but I'm keen to try it.