missing Saturday mornings

Video Hits (Australian TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I was younger, during the earlier years of high school, Saturday mornings had a sort of comforting ritual to them. I could sleep in to around 9-9:30am, then get up, make some breakfast of my choice (usually toast) and watch Video Hits. I would lose myself in the land of music until noon, making lists of new songs to add to my collection and reminiscing with old favourites.

Then I got to the age where employment becomes a necessity, and suddenly I was working weekends, a slave to endless line of consumers craving salty hangover fixes. And my Saturday morning routine kind of disappeared.

Even cutting down my work shifts didn’t help, since that was when I hit the serious end of school and all of a sudden everything became about when I would study.

Then, finally, school ended, Saturdays returned – but now Video Hits was taken off the air, and even Rage wasn’t playing for long in the mornings.

I just miss the comfort of those days, where I could forget all about my life for a while and lose myself in music, blankets and feelings of contentment. Even during the tougher times of my teenage life, it was a small safe haven once a week.

I long for that. I crave that safety and contentment; the feeling that for a few hours, everything might be alright.

Saturday mornings meant hope and the freedom of a whole weekend to do as I pleased.

I want to reclaim that. But you can’t go back, so I guess I’ll have to find a new way to experience it.

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a Pancake Parlour regular

One of my very good friends and I have a tradition whenever we catch up – we visit the Pancake Parlour for what we call our ‘pancake dates’. This happens on a fairly regular basis, generally every 2 weeks or so. Needless to say, we consider ourselves regulars at the restaurant. To the point where we pretty much know the menu, and are savvy at saving money with coupons and Facebook offers.

There is something very comforting about returning to the same place frequently. It has a sense of home, and when it comes to food, it feels very safe, since you know what to expect from it. At the Pancake Parlour, I tend to stick to the sweet dishes. Not that I have anything against the savoury (although the steak dish sounds unusual, plus I’m vegetarian so there are only a couple  of dishes I can eat), I just prefer sweet foods. At this point I’ve tried most of them, and I have my favourites. So basically what determines my menu choices now is a combination of what offers are available plus any specific cravings I may have.

Today’s deal was a short stack for $5, which is less than half the usual price ($10.90).

According to our syrup theory – if there isn’t a puddle left over at the end, you didn’t add enough (photo credit: Vegeterranean)

Usually, my friend and I go for dinner, but due to conflicting schedules the best we could manage this time was a nice Sunday breakfast. It was kind of perfect actually, because Sunday is the best day for a break from routine and who doesn’t love pancakes on a Sunday morning? Plus, it was an opportunity to try the breakfast menu (or as the PP calls it, Breakfeast Fare). Not that we really did, but it was nice to have the option.

Plus, due to our participation in the Pancake Parlour Ladies Race on Shrove Tuesday, we had a $25 voucher, which covered all our food costs today. Loyalty and participation certainly has its rewards.

Although, you’d think frequenting the place so much would make us speedy orderers. But no, we remain as indecisive as ever. Perhaps we have even gotten worse, now that we know the deliciousness of each dish.

I have to say, the logo has it right. Going to the Pancake Parlour so often is just lovely!