Blueberry Pancakes

• 2c flour
• 4tsp baking powder
• 1tsp salt
• 1/2tsp cinnamon
• 1/4tsp ground nutmeg
• 1-1/2c milk
• 2 eggs
• 4TB melted butter
• 2TB honey
• 1 or 2 c blueberries

Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then fold the dry ingredients into the wet. If it’s a little thick, add a bit of extra milk. Set the stove to medium heat, and when the pan is hot enough that drops of water crackle, it’s ready. Pour the pancakes, and add the blueberries directly onto the wet pancakes. When the edges are golden, flip and cook until done throughout. Yum! Serve with berry syrup or real maple syrup… none of that high fructose corn syrup stuff.

The first version of this recipe came in a little cookbook they gave us in the Peace Corps; sort of a “here’s how to cook a few simple things so you don’t starve to death” deal. This in itself is insightful, because in developing countries, prepared food is uncommon. No mac-and-cheese, canned soups, and so forth: just raw ingredients. Prepared food is an expensive luxury item. As Americans, though, many of us grew up with Betty Crocker and didn’t know how to bake a cake from scratch.

We modified the pancake recipe over the two years we lived in the village, and what you see here is the final result. When I made it this morning, though, I looked at all my ingredients on the counter and was pleasantly surprised to see that most of them were grown or collected by us or people we know, within a few miles of here. The eggs (and the yummy pork sausage we ate as a side dish!) were from Shelly, the milk was from a farmer buddy who lives about 5 miles up the valley, the butter was Tillamook, the blueberries were from Sturm (the other tenant who farms on our property), and the honey was from my own hives. Even the salt was local; there is a guy here who harvests seawater for local salt production. We know that all of those ingredients are safe, healthy, and helping the local economy.

Now I just have to successfully grow some wheat…