That Magic Lid

So today I tried making my Near Perfect Pancake recipe, using the lid trick--okay, it's really not a "trick" per se; it's more like lid... usage?--the idea of which came from the Japanese hot cake recipe I posted about, down below somewhere. And... it worked! It worked nicely! I wouldn't go so far as to remove the "Near," but my near-perfect pancakes were lighter and flouffier than they've ever been. I was a happy girl. I had to adjust the heat to medium-lowish though, so that the cake had time to rise under the lid without getting scorched. This means it took a few minutes longer than it usually does. But all's good when pancakes puff prettily.

So now I bid you all to go dig out your favorite pancake recipe and--get this--try cooking it in a pan... with a lid! Though, really, I cannot guarantee results for all, so you'd be best off using my pancake recipe, which you'll have to search for yourselves because I'm really too busy to be adding hyperlinks and whatnot. I really have to go. Oh, I forgot to add that I also sifted the flour this time--something I never did before but is actually ridiculously easy when you're only sifting 6 tablespoons.

Oh, PS: The bloody fleas are back! On Edward, that is. My husband took him for a walk the other day and somehow ended up at The Golden Kingdom of the Flea Universe--i.e., my in-law's house (anyone puzzled will have to seek out the post "Much Ado About Fleas"). When I found out, of course the first thing I shrieked was "Fleas!" but he was all, "Tsk, it was only five minutes." Yeah, well, yesterday, what do you know? Little happy black critters skittering and skipping about on my puppy's belly and me going nuts, busy as hell, needing to catch the train to the office, but having to through through all that mad vacuuming and toxic fumigations... I hate to sound like a bad commercial but "Five minutes is all it takes, people." You know the worst part? Walking a flea-ridden dog. I mean, you don't want to come across as unfriendly, when you meet other dogs. But you hardly want to admit the truth of why you are so meanly dragging your dog away before crotches can be sniffed and fleas transferred. I mean, if you had a human child, would you announce to the world that it had lice? It doesn't matter if it was a one-off thing or that the child was promptly treated. You can bet your panty-shields that no mother is going to let their kids play with your cooty-ful offspring henceforth. Okay, I *really* have to go now.