Taste This, Slappy!

My taste buds have shifted considerably in the last 15 years. At some point, the same set of receptors which craved endless quarts of chocolate Yoo-Hoo and heaping bowls full of Lucky Charms slowly crept towards consumables with far more complex palates. Chocolate drinks and marshmallow cereal lost their appeal against a growing appreciation of robust red wines and delicately prepared bouillabaisse.

Even the sugar in my coffee began to ease up, until a steady diet of café espresso led to simple bold, black coffee. A monolithic sweet tooth had eroded to silt, perfectly sated by a fun-sized York Peppermint Patty or a Hershey's Kiss.

Yet, the single thought of batter-driven breakfast foods accompanied by maple syrup will bring me to a halt. French Toast? Oui, s'il-vous-plaît. Waffles? Want 'em. Pancakes? Grab a spatula. Best part is: nowadays, most everywhere you can order them offers an option of whole wheat batter/breads.

Two other things I really enjoy are travel and kitsch. Many trips (business and pleasure) have comprised of long drives to witness and taste some great, out of the ordinary stuff. A beanery I just found out about yesterday combines pancakes, travel and kitsch all in one: Slappy Cakes in Portland, OR

How's this for fun? You can order from a menu of made-from-scratch pancake batter and add-ins. These are are brought to your table, which is equipped with a built-in griddle, to begin preparing your very own pancakes as you like them. Observe the young lady's demonstration below on location at Slappy Cakes...

Photo © and courtesy of Anthony Rush Ledbetter

Note: she actually doesn't work there. That's Janey Ellis, proprietor of the "Atomic Redhead" blog. Janey is a very lovely, creative proponent of things vintage. As you can see from the pic, she's quite enthusiastic about mid-century fashion (and modern-day pancakes).

So now I gotta put together a trek to the great Northwest. So far, I know in Washington, it's coffee and seafood in Seattle, and a trek to Mt. Rainier. Then onto Oregon for Slappy Cakes pancakes in Portland, followed by a visit to Grants Pass to honor Carl Barks (who I understand also liked his pancakes). Carl might enjoy it if I could visit his resting place after imitating our mutual friend pictured below.

"Breakfast of Tycoons" by Carl Barks

 Image © 1996 The Walt Disney Company