Canada lent us some of its wildfire smoke last week, adding a gauzy texture to the up-valley view.
On the very rare occasion that our family went out to breakfast, I could not help myself but to order pancakes. Mom would always admonish that the “short stack” would be plenty for me. Even the short stack — after being lathered in butter and soaked in some kind of berry syrup — was usually more than I could down at one setting. Mom’s comment, “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” In fact, I usually did bite off more than I could chew. It was a blessing when dollar-size pancakes became popular since the dinner-plate size is a challenge for the heartiest appetite.
With its limited ingredients and short preparation time, the pancake has historically been a working-class food. My first encounter with preparing the lowly pancake was in Home Economics (commonly known as Home Ec) class in junior high. Sadly, with no cooking expertise, my pancakes were a flop (no pun intended). There is a skill to getting the consistency of the batter, the temperature of the grill, and the timing of the flip “just right.” An error in any one step will be the demise of the perfect cake. I did not do a stellar job with the fried egg, either. This was well before non-stick cookware was invented.
It turns out that pancakes have been around for centuries. The first written record came from ancient Greeks and Romans. Around 500 B.C., Athenian poet Cratinus described “a flat cake hot and shedding morning dew.” It was not until the 15th century that they were called pancakes and, depending on where in the world you eat them, many other names including flapjacks, hotcakes, hoecakes, griddle cakes and buckwheats.
Pancakes are so special that they have two days set aside to honor them in the U.S., one National Pancake Day in February and the second coming up on Sept. 26. Both days offer the opportunity to prepare the hotcake in a creative way. A more exacting International Pancake Day occurs 47 days before Easter just before the beginning of Lent. In Christianity, Lent traditionally means people abstain from eggs and dairy products. A huge meal of pancakes is the last of the fatty dishes before abstinence begins.
Here in Mazama, we have a World Famous Pancake Breakfast at the Mazama Community Club every year on Memorial Day weekend. This Saturday, May 27, from 8-11:30 a.m., volunteers will be serving up all-you-can-eat pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham and fruit. Beverages include coffee, tea and juice. The price for this breakfast is $10 (cash, check, or credit card). Kids 6 and under always eat for free. There are places to sit indoors, outdoors, and under cover of Red’s Shed.
This family event also includes a Family Fun Run beginning at 9 a.m. No pre-registration is necessary, and the distances are 1K and 5K. That’s not all! An Okanogan County Fire District No. 6 firetruck will be on display, pickleball tips will be given at the pickleball court, and community informational tables will be set up by Shafer Museum, Dark Skies Coalition, and Methow Conservancy groups.
This community event is the major fundraiser for upkeep and maintenance of the little red schoolhouse that serves as the clubhouse for the Mazama Community Club. Don’t miss it.
After breakfast, trot on down to the Senior Center in Twisp for another yearly Memorial Day weekend event — the Sidewalk Western Sale from 9-noon.
In other news: A few major thunder and lightning storms have rolled through the upper valley providing quite an electric show for those down valley. Some Canadian smoke added a haze and color to the sky for a few days. And a few morels have been spotted.
