• Zayda said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Actually, at one point in history, "hotcakes" did sell very quickly, hence the origin of the expression.
  
  
  The hotcakes that we are familiar with from IHOP are actually nothing like the original hotcakes that were made during the earliest years in America and through the beginning of the 19th century.
  
  
  Originally, hotcakes were made with cornmeal and were fried in pork lard or bear grease. They were an extremely popular item at church suppers and benefits as well as county fairs. Because they were best when first cooked, they would sell extremely fast. The clip at which they sold is why the idiomatic expression "selling like hotcakes" came to be a common part of our vocabulary.

• Mr_Box said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Zayda....I figured there was some sort of logical explanation but it still doesn't make sense today! Btw, those old style hotcakes sounds nasty. Bear grease?? Blech. I think I'll stick to IHOP....

• the_infernal_optimist said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Did someone say IHOP?
  
  Little one and I will meet you there, Jaxl -- that's her favorite place to go. ;-) Pancake party! :-D
  
  I cast my vote for cheesecake as pie, by the way. ;-) I don't care what you call it though -- let's hit the Cheesecake Factory after IHOP, k?
  
  ~Infernal
  

• uniquely-ironic said on Mar 12, 2009....

  I'm glad I wasn't the only one having random thoughts today.    I agree that making pie is not all that easy.  Our ancestors must have been much better cooks.  I love hotcakes, but not THAT much.  You're on your own about the shit issue.

   

  BTW  how is your daughter doing?  I've been thinking about her.

• Me-Myself&I said on Mar 12, 2009....

  *smile* lol.... too cute of a post. it's like "Holy Shit" i mean how holy can shit be!

  Zayda, that was interesting.

  i hope your girl is doing better these days. it's my bedtime. take care ~see ya

• Mr_Box said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Infernally....didn't we have some sort of thing where we said there were magical portals in the pancakes at IHOP? Maybe I was drunk and just thought we said that once....lol So you think cheesecake is pie? I agree. It's not cake like really. But cheesepie sounds nasty cuz I just think of like Velveeta all melted on a graham cracker crust...lol
  
  
  Ms. Ironic.....I have so many random thoughts. It helps push away the actually important thoughts I'd rather not think of cuz they're too complicated. My daughter is doing well. I know I never came back to answer comments. My bad. But she went back to school Wednesday and is amazing everyone with her adaptability.
  
  
  Me-Myself.....too true...holy shit? I never saw them dunking shit in holy water at church...lol course I don't go to church so maybe they do that? ;-) Thanks for stopping by and my daughter is doing better. You take care too.

• the_infernal_optimist said on Mar 12, 2009....

  I remember that, Jaxl! Well, that'll make things much easier (and save on gas)! ;-) And ewwww, cheesepie? Yeah, they totally misnamed it cake for a reason. :-p I totally made the grossed out face reading that. :-D Although that kind of nasty cheesepie would be a lot easier to make...I even know where I'd send it. :-p
  
  ~Infernal
  

• Mr_Box said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Infernally....oh good I didn't just imagine that magical pancake portal thing cuz it sounds a bit insane when you type out like that...lol um would you send the Velveeta cheesepie to the same place you're gonna send the Koolaid pickles? ;-)

• the_infernal_optimist said on Mar 12, 2009....

  Nope, Jaxl, you didn't just imagine that...although that would be hilarious if you had. :-D And how'd you guess? ;-) Maybe they'd put the Koolaid pickles on the cheesepie?
  
  ~Infernal
  

• D6fer said on Mar 12, 2009....

  I love a good pancake! but oddly enough, I have gotten some pretty tough ones at IHOP....I wonder if the cooks there know what IHOP stands for? d6 cooking tip: When making pancakes after adding the liquid to the dry ingredients, stir quickly and do not over stir! It should be lumpy.....if it isn't, you've stirred too much and they will be tough!
  
  Cheesecake really is neither cake nor pie....it's really more like custard.....i made an Authentic NY Cheesecake not long ago...it was a lot of work, but man it was fabulous!
  
  Shit can be pretty hard sometimes.....but I guess certain yoga positions can help get things moving....myself, I have a nice big bowl of oatmeal each morning and a glass of fresh OJ (The juice, not the killer) ;p
  
  
  

• GrapeKoolaid said on Mar 13, 2009....

  IHOP = International House of Dirty Utensils. 
  
  I guess that would be IHODU.  Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? 
  
  Cheese pie...  Am I wrong in thinking that would be delicious? 
  
  I don't know about hotcakes, but I do love me some funnel cakes.  Carnie food is my secret shame...  :D
  

• Hegemone said on Mar 13, 2009....

  Letting your mind wander I see, very interesting Mr Box.  The hotcakes thing, I tend to believe was from the past and nobody stopped using it.  The pie thing, I've wondered about myself ... the only way I can figure it works ... "Its easy as pie", as in "Its as easy as eating pie."  Lol, it might be a bit of work to make it, but its not that hard to eat it (unless you have some sort of problem, at which point you probably shouldn't be eating pie anyway!).  Hard as shit ... well, sometimes people have a hard time shitting ... they have to grunt a lot, and puuuuush, lol.  Maybe that could be it?

• evil_twin said on Mar 13, 2009....

  Have you ever wondered why they sometimes call pancakes flapjacks? I always wondered that too but it cracks me up. Pie is not easy to make, as I've found out when I attempted to do it before. Big mistake! Cake is easier to make since it comes from a box and it's pretty hard to fuck it up. It should be, "easy as a Betty Crocker cake mix" instead of "easy as pie".
  
  I'm not sure how hard shit is, but I hear if it's too hard, they've got medication for that problem. And you need to eat more fiber!
  
  Someone was thinking too much about nothing last night eh? ;-)
  
  -Kyle
  

• Expendable said on Mar 13, 2009....

  Easy as pie came from Australia and it's based on a Maori word "Pai" which means "good".  So they used to say "pie at" or "pie on", turning into "easy as pie" meaning something you're good at is easy.

   

• nytquill17 said on Mar 13, 2009....

  I dunno what you guys are talking about...cheesecake is easy!  I guess it depends on the recipe though, I have seen some pretty complicated ones out there.  But honestly the simple recipes taste just as good.  Look I can do it off the top of my head: 3x cream cheese, 2x eggs, 3/4 cup - 1 cup sugar, and whatever you wanna flavor it with (vanilla, lemon juice, etc.) and bake it at 350 for like 40-50 minutes.  If you're doing your own crust it adds a little work but still easy - graham crackers or chocolate cookies, food processor or beat them to death, with a little melted butter, spread it in the pan, pre-bake 10 min.  I usually do a storebought crust or just go crustless (could care less about the crust honestly, so why bother?)
  
  If you wanna make a swirlie one, just take like a cup or maybe a little less of the cheesecake mix, put it in a little bowl, mix it with some ice cream syrup (chocolate, caramel, strawberry) or whatever flavoring you wanna use, then put the plain mix in the pan and the flavored mix on top, swirl it with a knife and bake it.
  
  Easy!
  

• fragglesrock said on Mar 13, 2009....

  very very amusing ponderings!!!! lol!  i have no answers, only more questions :)

• Mrs.SushiLover said on Mar 13, 2009....

  I'm more of a waffle kind of girl, but you did make me remember a joke I heard many many years ago (although it is a little lame):
  
  Q: Where do one-legged waitresses work?
  A: IHop
  

• quietone said on Mar 13, 2009....

  ahhahahaha....between you and your hotcakes and uniquely and her rectangle kleenex... I'd say we all have too much time on our hands here!  But, I have to admit I have wondered about some of these sayings.  Like "Dad is going to madder than a 'wet hen'..  I can understand the one about running around like a chicken with its head cut off.... cause they do for a while!  LOL  have a great rest of the day ~

• beyondtheveil said on Mar 13, 2009....

  In 19th century America when the phrase was coined, it was generally thought pie was easy to eat. Pies were associated with pleasantry and ease.
  
  I actually looked this up on wiki. Its a slow day.
  

• rmuxagirl said on Mar 13, 2009....

  You know Boxy luv, I was just asking my mom the cheesecake one the other day.  Like it has cake in the name, but it doesnt fit the mold of a cake, cause it has the crispy bottom like a pie.

  I did coin my own phrase the other night that i shall share:

  the wind was blowing like a whore on a fat guy.

  my friend was laughing hysertically.  And like really how did these phrases catch on?  Did some politian say it one day and everyone thought HEY imma say that too.

• hotaka said on Mar 13, 2009....

  I am not even going to answer. I am too busy laughing.
  
  Keep wondering, Mr. Box. Hopefully I will stumble upon your ponderings again.
  
  One I heard on SNL years ago was something like this:
  "What does it mean, 'We'll cross that bridge when we get to it,'? Of course you can't cross a bridge before you get to it. I don't care how fast you are going."
  

• PieterOpie said on Mar 14, 2009....

  Not many people alive today would remember that many years ago there were only coldcakes.  This was due to the fact that no one had ever thought of the idea that they could be hot at all.   Obviously they had to be baked... or whatever they do to make coldcakes, but they were always allowed to cool down before being served.  At the time it was believed that the time it took for them to cool would increase anticipation and enthusiasm for the not-all-that-popular coldcakes but they were quite wrong. 
  
  One day when Mrs Brunehildamoorncraft's nine sons were drafted and had to rush off to the Crimean War they had requested coldcakes for breakfast.  You may have guessed that the alarm clock had not yet been invented and the boys overslept - as did Mr and Mrs Brunehildamoorncraft. 
  
  To make a fascinating story short, Mrs Brunehildamoorncraft was rushed for time trying to prepare several dozen coldcakes and there just wasn't enough time.  She threw caution and a strong sense of tradition out the wondow and decided to serve the coldcake hot.  As it turned out the boys - and Mr Brunehildamoorncraft hated them.  They really wanted coldcakes.  The boys went off to the war and were all killed.
  
  This story does not explain in any way why hotcakes became so damn special but I'll bet I had you going there for a while, eh?   HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
  

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