GASTRONORMOUS

I have a long and troubled history with pancakes. Every time I make them, no matter what recipe I follow, from the Joy of Cooking to Grandma’s, mine come out too dry, too tough, or flatter than, well, a pancake. This information is all given by way as an excuse for using good ol’ Aunt Jemima mix. It feels sort of homemade as you add essential ingredients like an egg and milk, but let’s face it, it is still pretty much cheating. I have come to grips with this.

This isn’t a moral standard to apply when facing the rest of life’s challenges, but in the case of pancakes, I feel strongly that it is better to cheat a bit and have nice fluffy pillows of dough on your plate, than be faced with honestly earned hockey pucks. And if adding fresh blueberries to the mix makes you feel more virtuous, so much the better.

Sunday morning I did just that, putting to use the second of two pints of New Jersey blueberries that I bought last week for my red, white, and blue sangria. I had more than enough berries to brighten up the ‘cakes themselves, so I decided to make a blueberry syrup too.

It was simple to make, I just combined a couple handfuls of blueberries with a couple tablespoons of water in a small saucepan and heated on medium until all the berries burst. I smooshed it all with the back of a big wooden spoon (which is now irreparably stained–next time I’d use a slotted metal one), and stirred occasionally until it got nice and thick, then I added a tablespoon or so of real maple syrup and a dash of salt (Yes, salt. Just a pinch. Trust me). Simple and astoundingly tasty (In fact, the Hubs told me it was better than IHOP’s blueberry syrup, though not certain that can be treated as  a compliment).

Once that was done, I fried up the blueberry-rich pancakes in butter on my great cast iron skillet. I only use real butter to fry  pancakes. Nothing else creates that crispy brown rim! Other than frying in butter, I am not a believer in a lot of pancake rules. This in fact may be the reason that my from-scratch pancakes never turn out too well. But when Aunt Jemima and New Jersey blueberries help make them come out as light, fluffy, and delicious as this, who cares?

Note: Blueberry syrup served from an Elvis mug? I think it would do him proud.