I haven’t cooked that much
this week due to a looming deadline I foolishly thought I’d be up for. (Note to self: Get your life in order
first. You have all the time in
the world for this kind of stuff later.
Maybe.)
Happily, Husband made his famous Eat
Local blueberry pancakes (along with Codman Farm bacon) for dinner last night, or
“brinner” as the First Grader likes to call it.
I always find the act of eating pancakes to be not only delicious but therapeutic. My ritual has been the same for as long
as I can remember:
Place pat of butter on top
of each warm pancake, preferably on a stack three high, to induce at least
partial melting (soft, partially melted butter is always better than fully
melted butter; cold, hard butter is unacceptable). Pour maple syrup over the stack, making sure most of it
drips down the sides forming pools for dipping. Gravity has never let me down so far. (Over the years, I’ve
settled on the dipping strategy because dry pancakes with the syrup already
soaked in might as well have no syrup at all. You can keep pouring more syrup on top, but it’s just going
to keep soaking in. How big is
your maple syrup budget? My rule
of thumb is, if the piece of pancake I’m about to eat doesn’t shine with syrup,
then there’s not enough syrup.
(Hence the dipping.)).
One side of the stack at a
time, cut off the edges, dip them, etc. (I tend to cut them into smaller pieces
to make the process last as long as possible). That leaves me with a square stack of interior pancakes
soaked with maximum butter, which gets cut into four equal squares (NOT
triangles) to mop up the syrup until it’s gone. Add more syrup to finish off squares. Note remaining syrup. Get more pancakes to finish off
syrup. Repeat. (Pancake-to-syrup ratio is similar to
the milk-to-cereal ratio discussed in previous guest post.)
You could analyze this all
sorts of different ways, about saving the best for last or trying to exert some
control over one’s environment, but I think it’s just that I really like butter and maple syrup. Needless to say, my manner of pancake
consumption drives Husband crazy.
For me, it’s comforting because it reminds me of who I am. This becomes increasingly important the
less physically recognizable I become.
And, who I am, apparently, is someone who likes to subject herself to
alternately stressful and euphoric manic writing binges with unreasonable
deadlines.
(And pancakes.)
Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes
I’m reprising this recipe from a post a few years
ago, it’s such a favorite.
4 eggs
2 cups milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1¼ cup whole wheat flour
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. maple sugar
1 tsp. salt
1½ cups frozen blueberries, defrosted
Beat eggs in a large bowl until light and
foamy. Add milk, oil, and butter, and whisk to blend. Sift dry
ingredients over wet ingredients in bowl, and whisk until combined.
Heat nonstick frying pan over medium heat until hot
(test by flicking some water into the pan; the water droplets should sizzle
vigorously and disappear). Pour batter into pan in the size you prefer,
and sprinkle blueberries over the batter. Let the pancakes get some
color, then flip. Repeat with remaining batter. Apply butter and
maple syrup, and you’re good to go.
Local Sources:
Eggs, bacon: Codman Farm, Lincoln, MA
Milk: Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, NH
Butter: Cabot, Cabot, VT
Whole wheat flour: Wood Prairie Farm, Bridgewater, ME (mail order)
Maple sugar: The Warren Farm & Sugarhouse, North Brookfield, MA (Waltham Farmer’s Market)
Blueberries: Wyman’s, Milbridge, ME
Maple syrup: Butternut Mountain Farm, Morrisville, VT
