Tales of the Magic Pan - Dutch Baby Pancake

“How do you keep the music playing? How do you make it last? How do you keep the song from fading too fast?” croon Patti Austin and James Ingram.

We’ve all been there. The relationship is flush with a sense of newness and wonder – pulsing with anticipation and excitement. Then, somewhat unexpectedly, a certain routine sets in. Your phone messages are no longer returned, and you find your only occasional contact is through Linked In.

Or maybe, you just keep making scrambled eggs when you really yearn for an omelet.

How do you make it last?

I pondered the same question with regard to the Magic Pan. My track record with relationships is not what you’d call stellar. It’s usually my own fault. There was that bright and shiny juicer that required too much effort, so I used it and cast it aside after one earth-shattering evening. Then there was the flashy silicon muffin cups that I abandoned when they failed to deliver. There was a momentary charge with that electric crepe maker, but it soon was nothing but a yawn. One can’t help but fear the flash in the pan, or worse, the boring and the routine.

Yet the Magic Pan continues to surprise and delight. The real test of a kitchen tool is whether it delivers in those moments of uncertainty – those nights when the cupboard is nearly bare.

The other night, all I could say was "Whoa Baby!”

Dutch Baby Pancake, that is.

A perfectly simplistic recipe, it’s the ultimate Friday night date – some sliced apple, a little wildflower honey and eggs, cardamom, milk and flour. Dinner literally ascends from the pan, the honey is fragrant, the apples sweet. And, all this from the beautiful, unpredictable Magic Pan! It does savory, and it does sweet. I think I’m in love.

It just goes to show that it doesn’t take much to keep a relationship interesting. This could be the real thing.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved