Growing up, we called them ‘hotcakes’ of course, not pancakes. And my dad made them from scratch way before mixes were available.

It was a whole suite of American foods in his cooking repertoire way before McDonald’s or processed supermarket versions; French toast, spaghetti for dinner (and not because it was your birthday), hamburgers, and steak and fries.

Today, I wouldn’t even attempt to make pancakes from scratch only because it’s way cheaper buying a mix.

I remember making and serving once as they have always been pictured on the ads- a full-stack, like plates, and I nearly died trying to eat them all (don’t know why I even tried). Don’t be fooled by this stack- this served three people- and the size is about smaller than a saucer!

We always serve them with bacon, and if I was in the Philippines, I would have a plateful of ‘saba’ bananas on the side as well.