red,white & blue.

I usually get a few laughs when I tell people that I am living in the dorms this summer.  The laughs are then followed by a question that goes something like this "...but didn't you graduate in May?"  Indeed I did.  I am serving as an AmeriCorps team member this summer and work as a resident and teaching assistant (not to mention mentor-momof36kids-firstaidperson-ruleenforcer-tutor-16yearoldlovelifecounselor-jackofalltrades-superwoman) and therefore haven't be able to spend very much time in the kitchen.  My lunches (and dinners for that matter) often consist of the same old iceberg lettuce topped with whatever I can get my hands on at the cafeteria and let's be honest, I have no desire to write about that and I can only guess you would not want to read about it either.  I am going home this weekend and while there, I promise to make something blog worthy.
 I did have a few days off of work over the 4th of July and was asked to cook breakfast (with the help of my good friend J) for 10 of my friends while we were up north.  The 4th of July is my favorite holiday, so naturally I wanted to make something festive!  The two of us teamed up and decided to whip up homemade blueberry buttermilk pancakes, topped with strawberries and whipped cream.  Hello RED WHITE AND BLUE!  The pancakes were a major hit.  After breakfast I got to thinking about griddle cakes and I realized many people do not make pancakes from scratch anymore...they are made out of a box.  Don't get me wrong, everyone relies on a box mix at some point in their life, however, I believe everyone should have one go-to homemade pancake recipe in their collection.   Here is a perfect pancake recipe that is simple, delicious and can be specialized by adding berries, nuts or chocolate.  Not everything made in the kitchen has to have multiple pages of directions or ingredients that are near impossible to find.

Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 Tbs oil
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tps salt
1 1/2-2cups flour (I used 2 to get the correct consistency)

Directions: Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl and dry ingredients in a separate large bowl.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until just combined.  A few lumps in the pancake batter is normal!  Using a 1/3 c. measuring cup, place batter on heated griddle.  Add berries, nuts or chocolate chips to each pancake.  (I have found that adding the berries etc to the cakes once they are on the griddle works out well.  When I mix in the berries or chips to the batter, they all sink to the bottom.)  Enjoy!

fresh blueberries

My attempt at a flag pancake

Red, white and blue buttermilk pancakes!