Welcome to the 4th Annual CafeAnonsBall!

Yes, friends - it's that time again! This is the night that we celebrate all of you who drop by, drop in, and drop out of the cafe all year long and we never learn your name. Good news? At least two folks know who you are - God, of course, and you. You know who you are and tonight we celebrate you, our beloved anons - for all they say, for all they don't say, for having their say, and sometimes, having their cake and eating it too.

Here are links to CafeAnonsBall's Past:

• First Annual CafeAnonsBall

• Second Annual CafeAnonsBall

• Third Annual CafeAnonsBall

And speaking of cake, here is the official CafeAnonsBall Cake:



And here's our first dedication tonight - this is for all of you fabulous Cafe anons, you know who you are:



Of course, we have the special Pancake Fest tonight, the one bit of food that we allow all our anons and non-anons to throw when things become a bit dicey.

Pancakes are being whipped up in the cafe kitchen as we speak and will be served hot with butter and syrup, or as BabyBlue likes them with chocolate chip embeded in them and served without adornment.

Bette's Oceanview Diner, 1807 Fourth St. (between Virginia Street and Hearst Avenue), Berkeley, CA; (510) 644-3230. Open daily for breakfast and lunch.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Choice of berries, sliced bananas, raisins or chopped toasted nuts (optional)
Oil for griddle

The ingredients. The baking powder, baking soda and buttermilk work together to make these the lightest pancakes possible. -- Stirring the batter. The batter begins to react the minute the wet ingredients are added. Stir quickly and don't overstir; there should still be lumps in the batter.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs with the buttermilk, milk and melted butter.

Just before you are ready to make the pancakes, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stirring just long enough to blend. The batter should be slightly lumpy. If you want to add fruit or nuts, stir them in now, or you may sprinkle them on the pancakes while they are on the griddle. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or heavy skillet over medium-high heat (375 degrees on an electric griddle). Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto the griddle or skillet, spacing the pancakes apart so they do not run together.

When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes and the undersides are lightly browned, turn and cook for about 2 minutes longer, until lightly browned on the bottom.

Serve immediately on warmed plates with the topping of your choice.

It's time now to check in with the Anon Capital of the World - Bourbon Street in New Orleans. You can watch all the festivities - for better or worse - here at the live Bourbon Street Cam. It comes with audio as well, for better or worse. We recall being there on Bourbon Street when the House of Bishops met in New Orleans in 2007. Fun times.

Of course, we cannot celebrate at the Cafe without hearing from Bob. So here's a song off his summertime album, Together Through Life. It's called, It's All Good. heh.



So I've been thinking about some songs to dedicate to the Cafe Anons. In the past, we've had this:




Again, as last year, Firefox loads the tunes very slowly, though it comes right up on Safari.

So for this year, here are some tunes that we send out with shout-out to all are beloved anons. We are better because you take the time to post and for the most part - most of you post well. These tunes are for you:





















Good night.