A Blueberry birthday

I don’t know why I am reminded of blueberries so late in the year. Maybe it’s because it’s such a beautiful day in Montreal. I spent part of the afternoon in the park. I sat on a bench to knit for awhile. No jacket. Just me, my knitting needles and hot peppermint tea.

On the way home from the park, I thought of my blueberry-yogurt pancakes, and how wonderful and fluffy they are. I still have blueberries in the freezer, so I’m not completely out of season in telling you about them. I bought two litres of farmed blueberries in August at Marché Jean-Talon , and I’ve been throwing a handful of them in breakfasts here and there. But the best blueberry breakfast is my blueberry-yogurt pancake.

Maybe I thought of these pancakes because today is my Papa’s birthday, and if I were in Manitoba, I would most definitely be making them for him.

So for Papa’s birthday, a recipe for blueberry-yogurt pancakes. The ground flax isn’t absolutely necessary, but it adds a nice nutty taste

Blueberry-yogurt pancakes

1 cup flour (I normally use half white, half whole-wheat)
1 tablespoon ground flax
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
½ plain yogurt (or not so plain yogurt! Berry or vanilla flavoured yogurt is nice too.)
2 tablespoons vegetable, canola or sunflower oil
3/4 cup blueberries
butter for grilling

Combine dry ingredient. In a separate bowl, whisk together liquid ingredients. Pour liquids into dry ingredients and mix until all flour pockets have disappeared. Melt a tablespoon of butter on a frying pan or a pancake griddle before pouring pancakes. Flip pancakes when top starts to bubble. Makes 2 servings.

A First Step

I’m sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine, scribbling in a notebook, and deciding what name to give my new blog.

The Thymes? The Garlic Press? No, no. This is strange; I’m having wine and cheese, apparently.

By the time I post this, I will have decided on a name for my blog. I’m just being very meticulous, I guess. I want this blog to be about food, yes, but about food in every way. There will be recipes, of course, but that won’t be all.

I want to write about food as life.

Food as life, because it can tell you about everything. Food is politics. Food is social. It is art, culture, and subsistence. It is agriculture and economy. The most important thing is, food is on all of our tables. When it’s not, we are certainly scratching our heads, thinking about how to get it on there.

So, food is everything, and I’m awfully excited about that. But there will be recipes, too...I promise.

I still haven’t thought of a name for my blog, though. That’s ok, I’ve made the first step.

This Week

Check out this link to Michael Pollen’s article in the New York Times Magazine. It’s an open letter to the next American President on food and agriculture policy.