Pancake Day

It was Tuesday February 11, 1997. At the Ponderosa ranch at 1^st it seemed a deadly normal day. Though that was for the show. It all started when the oldest Cartwright boy Adam Cartwright had to look up something on the internet. Suddenly he saw that it was day pancake day by coincidence.

“Mitch, come here for a moment”, Adam called to his 4 year old son.

The little Cartwright came with his baseball glove to this father and looked at him questionable.

Adam took Mitch on his lap and asked the question, “Do you know what day it is today?”

Mitch shook of no.

“Well, today it’s pancake day. Then we eat pancake tonight”, his father explained.

“So shall I ask Hop Sing if he bakes piles of pancakes?”, asked Mitch.

Hop Sing was the Chinese cook of the Cartwrights.

“Go on. He can’t refuse you anything anyway”, said Adam.

He put his son down on the ground and saw him running to the kitchen to ask the loyal cook something. Adam went to work quickly again.

In the kitchen Hop Sing was busy with the morning dishes. Mitch came inside and went to sit at the kitchen table. He looked silent but with laughing eyes and a smile on his face at the cook.

Of course Hop Sing noticed that and he asked, “What does little Mitch want?”

“Daddy said that it is pancake day today. Would you like to bake lots of pancakes for supper?”, asked the boy.

“Of course Hop Sing bake a lot of pancakes. You tell Mr Hoss that we eat mashed carrots”, said the cook.

Mitch thought that it was a good idea. He knew that his big uncle Hoss didn’t like carrots. Satisfied Mitch went to play out on the yard with his best friend, the shepherd dog Cody.

Halfway the afternoon Hoss came home. He saw his nephew playing and went to keep him company.

“Uncle Hoss, you do know that we eat something delicious every night, don’t you?”, Mitch suddenly asked.

“Of course I do know that. Why?”, Hoss asked on his turn.

“Tonight that is delicious mashed carrot with cheese sauce”, was the answer of his nephew.

Mitch said that with so much convincing that Hoss believed it.

“I think that I will eat somewhere else tonight”, Hoss said after a while.

“Then there is more for us”, reacted Mitch.

“In that case I just stay here for supper”, answered his uncle.

Mitch didn’t say anything about supper anymore and Hoss didn’t ask about it either.

It was about supper time when Hop Sing and Mitch set the table together for supper. As young as Mitch was he helped along as good as possible on the ranch. Adam was glad with this but still he let his son be a child as much as possible. He knew that the boy was growing up too fast against his will. Adam had seen that already with his younger brothers Hoss and Joe.

When all Cartwrights sat at the table Hop Sing put down 3 big piles of pancakes.

“Enjoy your meal gentlemen”, the cook said where after he went back to the kitchen again.

Hoss grabbed a pancake and a little bottle with something in it.

“What are you doing on your pancake?”, Mitch asked him.

“This is special vinegar for pancakes. It tastes delicious and makes sure that you eat more than usual”, answered his uncle.

Mitch looked doubtful at Adam and he began to smile. This was already a sign that Hoss and his younger brother didn’t trust it.

“Mitch, your uncle eats his pancakes for years this way”, said Adam.

“But he doesn’t need that vinegar at all because he already eats more than us all together?”, asked the boy.

The brothers had no answer to this. But their father Ponderosa ranch owner Ben Cartwright also didn’t. They took another pancake where Mitch put jam on.

When all pancakes were gone Ben said, “I consider this as my birthday meal. Unfortunately I am away tomorrow, even though it’s my birthday.”

Mitch said right away amazed, “Grandpa, that can’t be so? Then you miss your own birthday party.”

Ben pulled his grandson near him and said, “Mitch, we celebrate my birthday tomorrow morning. Then nobody has to miss it.”

The little Cartwright agreed with that.

When Hop Sing came to pick up the dirty plates he said, “Hop Sing bake often pancakes so that Cartwrights can feast again.”

“But then without the vinegar of Hoss”, said Adam.

This delivered him an angry look from his brother. But everyone agreed that this idea of Adam was very successful.