Close your eyes and imagine that moment as a child, just before opening your eyes after a long night’s sleep. You’re cuddled deep inside a cocoon of thick blankets, head nestled in the billowing comfort of pillows, and you take that first deep breath of the day. You stretch wide across your bed as the air fills your lungs and you catch notice of a scent. It’s familiar, welcoming you to the day ahead, and spurring you to climb from your comfort and follow it to its source.
You open the door to your room and step out into the hallway. The scent grows stronger, and you turn your nose up to catch as much of that smell as possible. It mixes with others but remains altogether distinct. Realization dawns upon you and your mind and body are pulled fully from the haze of sleep…pancakes!
The history of the pancake dates to 600 BC when a poet made the first mention of pancakes. In the first century AD, a recipe appeared in a Roman cookbook called Apicius. 1100 AD saw the Catholic Church create “Shrove Tuesday,” or Pancake Day, created to use up dairy products before lent. Though it has gone by many names over the centuries between then and today, the pancake has become a staple of the American breakfast.
Here in our home in the Batter Capital of the World, Hopkinsville, Kentucky, we’re proud to help educate groups on where that pancake and other breakfast foods come from –the farmer! At Christian Way Farm, we cherish the smells and taste of pancakes so much that we offer field trips and tour groups the chance to connect with the root of this American tradition. With our How the Farmer Grows Your Breakfast program, school field trips or groups of 15 or more can schedule a time to come to the farm, harvest, and grind the wheat, and learn some history behind this culinary icon. From the seeds that grow the wheat to the piping hot pancake on the plate, we’ll take you on a journey that’s centuries in the making.
There’s a whole lot that takes place before that warm fluffy circle of awesomeness hits your plate. From the grains that go into the batter mix to the eggs, milk, butter, and syrup almost all of them come from a farm. Christian Way Farm offers visitors the chance to see how farmer’s grow the food they eat, how we raise healthy animals, and where your foods start their journey to your table.
Get your hands dirty! While you’re here, meet our goats, cows, and the other farm animals. Play a round of mini-golf and learn what it really takes to make your own boxty, latke, blini, crempog, poori, palascinta, pannenkoeken, or, as we know them here in America, PANCAKES!
