Yes indeed, here we are! At Saint Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast (Frank Zappa)

I love a lot of things. Anyone reading this weblog over the years knows this. I've written about a lot of my passions along the way.

I don't think I've mentioned my specific love for IHOP before though. For the uninitiated IHOP stands for International House Of Pancakes.

This is how I became an IHOP devotee.

I'm a long time fan of pancakes. The love affair began at 18 Korma Ave. where at odd times we would have pancakes for dinner (we NEVER had them for breakfast or lunch). Very odd! Even more oddly my father was responsible for this aberration.

Before foodmarkets became supermarkets there was no such thing as packet pancakes like we have now. And Maple syrup? Forgetaboutit. Instead a homemade batch of pancakes, coming in a thin crepe style, made by Graham Purdy, became a wildly exciting addition to our meat and potato and two veg staple meals. And before you write PJ - yes, I'm aware potato is technically a vegetable but I'm in the 'it's a starchy carbohydrate' camp.

Instead of Maple syrup we had lemon and sugar. OMG!! These pancakes were amazing!!

Sidebar: We eventually sampled Maple syrup after dad returned from his world business trip in the late sixties that took in Toronto. The real stuff. Once tasted, that was the end of lemon and sugar folks.

Of course now Supermarkets regularly stock a variety of real Canadian Maple syrups (even in our little Waipawa New World store). What a world we live in eh? Who knows what's good or bad.

So, by the time SWMBO, Jade, Fanfa and I visited Anaheim's IHOP during our Disneyland visit in early 2007, we were confirmed pancake aficionados. We had no idea what IHOP was at that point but we quickly became fans and, shock horror probe - I fell in love with IHOP syrup.

More shock horror: we CAN't buy IHOP syrup in our Superdoopermarkets.

When Fanfa and her husband, Jesse, visited us this year from San Francisco they brought with them a large jug of the stuff as a pressie (pictured above).

Lately, SWMBO and I have developed a Saturday morning ritual - pancakes and IHOP syrup. Sadly I finished up the last drop of it recently (couldn't bring myself to throw out the empty bottle until today).

I now live in the hope and expectation that we will visit San Francisco in the near as possible future, with the express purpose of visiting an IHOP and securing a refill.

Love and peace - Wozza