I was once a ‘baby-sitter’. Yes, parents left 12-year-old Mark responsible for three young and impressionable children. When you are 12 and have to rely on all your resources to keep three kids entertained until they fall asleep, you have to have a bag of tricks. I am not sure how I came up with this grand culinary trick. I knew something about making pancakes.
The kids were all in. I whipped up the batter and then added some green food coloring. Threw some cooking oil on a pan and probably had the burner a bit high. The thin almost crepe-like creations began to sizzle a bit. I remember saying to these kids “Voila kids—HOT GRIDDLE FINKIES”. They loved it. I whipped up a few and then we added butter and syrup. Each time I went for a babysitting gig it was a command performance.
Today at the memorial service for my brother Charley, all three of them were there. That alone was a great honor. At the reception one of them asked me “Mark, do you remember Hot—Griddle—Finkies”? “Heck yes, it was just a few weeks ago that I was doing a memory lane trip and thought of my creation”. We laughed.
Memory and creativity are marvelous gifts. On my drive back to Denver I was imagining having my own Food Truck featuring —“Mark’s Hot—Griddle—Finkies”. I would expand from green cakes, to BlueBerry, and Pink Strawberry, and of course Chocolate Coconut. I would go full on Dr. Zeuss. Stranboozles, and Snipsodoogles, and why not some star studded Glob—Diddle—Boodles, complete with of course, Rainbow Sprinkles.
Today we honored the life of my brother Charley—which carried with it both tragedy and joy. What was clear with all of us who knew Charley, including these three wonderful lifetime friends, there was much more laughter than tears.
This week on my vacation I am going to whip some Finkies again.
Onward and Upward,
Lyfting Me Up 