Cooks of Calvary: Jody flips up good ol’ pancakes

by Jody Pederson

One of our family’s favorite breakfast meals is pancakes.  I made them a lot on weekends during our 21 years living in Congo as missionaries.  Or, when Daddy (Garth) was away for a few days on charter flight trips, I made them for supper.  The kids and I loved to have breakfast for supper!  Of course, buttermilk pancakes are the best, but on the mission field we couldn’t get buttermilk, so I used this second-best recipe called Feather Pancakes.  Pancakes with blueberries are also the best of course, but we couldn’t get blueberries either.  So instead, we decorated them with chocolate chips that we shipped in or added banana slices to the sizzling batter.  I would sometimes design them into smiley faces, snowmen, teddy bears or the kids’ initials.

Feather Pancakes

• 1 cup flour
• 2 T baking powder
• 2 T sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• Add liquids: 
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 T oil

Mix up together and cook on a hot griddle.

One Congo Christmas we all had our hearts (and stomachs!) set on pancakes for a special Christmas morning breakfast.  We were hungry and our mouths were watering in anticipation of pancakes.  But then early that morning the electricity went off…and stayed off!  We never knew how long it would be out.  It could be just an hour, or it could be days.  To make things worse, it was raining outside.  You see, my back-up plan for cooking was to use a small kerosene burner outside on the back patio.  I cooked many things on that little burner out of necessity.  But this Christmas it was raining. 

Finally, we decided to bring the kerosene burner inside even though it might make the house smokey.  We were that desperate for pancakes.  So, I fried the pancakes on the kerosene burner inside the house.  It was quiet in the house that morning because all the electrical appliances weren’t running.  Instead, we could hear and smell the freshness of the gentle rain falling outside the open door.  The kids hovered around me holding their plates as they watched eagerly.  One by one I slid each hot pancake onto their dish as it came off the skillet.  The kids were amazed that they were as big as a dinner plate, fresh, hot, and steamy.  The fluffy golden Christmas pancakes melted in our mouths.  They were the best pancakes we’d ever had!  

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Homemade Maple Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. maple flavoring
• Brin to a boil and then simmer about 6-9 minutes

In Congo I also had to make our own syrup.  I always brought a supply of maple flavoring along to Congo for this purpose.  It’s not too hard to make, but you must watch that it doesn’t boil over, or it will make a sticky mess (I know from experience!).  All you do is measure water and sugar into a saucepan, bring it to a boil, then simmer for about 6-9 minutes. 

Don’t forget to stir several times.  Take it off the heat and add the maple flavoring.  The longer it boils, the thicker it gets.  Almond flavored syrup is really good too. Another morning in Congo, my dear husband was up early as usual, and made us his wonderful French toast.  He saw that we didn’t have any syrup on hand, so he went about making syrup too.  What a guy!  However, what he thought looked like sugar, (it was white after all) turned out to be salt!  I wouldn’t advise using salt in place of sugar in this recipe!

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Uncle John’s Buttermilk Pancakes

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 T oil
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt

When we were in the US on furloughs I used a different recipe for pancakes – Uncle John’s Buttermilk Pancakes. These pancakes are truly the best!  This recipe has been handed down from Garth’s dad’s brother-in-law who was “Uncle John.” He made them for his fishing buddies.  Garth’s mom, Twyla, often made them for us when we stayed at their house. Giant, golden, hot, fluffy pancakes bursting with blueberries and doused with maple syrup – the yummy taste of a furlough breakfast at Grandma’s house! 

You are probably getting hungry for pancakes right now!  So, drop everything and run to the store for some buttermilk and maple flavoring.  Breakfast, lunch, or supper – these are a hit!

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Jody is married to Garth and the mother of three grown kids – Sam, Anna, and Nicholas.  Jody teaches instrumental music at Schaeffer Academy, plays in the Mayo Clinic Chamber Symphony, and teaches private lessons.  After 21 years on the mission field in Congo, she and Garth enjoy being involved at Calvary and playing violins with the worship teams. She has recently published a book about her and her family’s time in the Congo, The Lost Year’s of My Life.