Sourdough pancakes and a little story

There are many recipes out there for sourdough pancakes. This one has turned into my favorite.  And it has a little twist that can really impress the guests.

To make the cakes you will want to mix together

 1 1/2 cups of primary batter

1/2 cup of flour

1 TB of honey

1 TB of butter

3/4 tsp of salt

2 TB of milk

And you can add an egg, BUT if you want to get really crazy, add one cup of snow instead. 

One cup of snow can replace an egg in a recipe. Good, clean, NEW snow. None of that yellow or, heaven forbid, brown snow. 

Mix together and cook on a well oiled skillet. 

I can remember very clearly the first time I had sourdough pancakes. Authentic Alaskan sourdough pancakes.

We had flown into Anchorage Alaska after a a plane ride that took over 14 hours,  and included 2 layovers, and the only food served was a soggy hamburger to this vegetarian. Needless to say I arrived hungry. But it was  already dark and late by the time we rented a car and drove to the hotel. I figured one day without eating would not kill me, although my stomach was saying different. So we went fast to sleep that night with visions of food dancing in our heads.

The funny thing about traveling 4 time zones in one day, is that you still get up at your regular time, even if it is 2am in Alaska. Restless and hungry, we decided to hit the road. We didn't come to Alaska to sit in a hotel room waiting for the restaurants to open. So off in the car we went to explore this State I had waited years to visit. We hit  Rt 3 in total darkness.

Luckily, just before we were on the highway for all points north, we spied a  24 hour Diner. Hooray! Ravishingly hungry I ordered the specialty of the joint, sourdough pancakes. They were the best pancakes I ever ate, or so I thought. Hunger can do that. Once our bellies were full, the sun was just starting to send a few rays over the horizon. So we jumped back in the car to start the adventure of a lifetime. As the sun crept ever higher into the sky, it revealed a sight I can only call a religious experience. Now I have been many places in my time, and  have been just about everywhere in the US and quite a few parts of Canada. But I have never seen anything like I did that very morning. As the darkness disappeared, the most beautiful sites were exposed. Moose grazing on the side of the highway. The most spectacular mountains, the cleanest waters, wildlife galore. It was nature, the way Mother Nature intended. It is as close as I will ever get to experiencing the land before man arrived.

We spent two weeks seeing sites one can only imagine. We talked with locals, spent time with Inuits.

We saw more native wildlife than could be imagined.  And when you see a Grizzly the size of your car, you know you had a good day. These two are just young cubs that ran in front of our car. Wildlife has the right of way out here. Especially when big Mama just has to be around the corner.

Most parts of Alaska are inaccessible by car. You can only get in by plane, boat, snow machine, or horse. We choose the later.

 We had a very rare occurrence of experiencing Denali at sun rise off our balcony. Yes that is the white peaks of the  "Great One" in the distance. We are told this only happens a few times a year since cloud cover at this distance is common.

 And we kept going until we reached the barren tundra and the highway ended.

 Unfortunately, even though we felt charmed as a rainbow fell over a lodge  where we were staying, things went very differently. Towards the end of our trip came something that no one will ever forget. September 11, 2001.

While it may seem that we were far away from any worries up here, it could not have been further from the truth. They grounded all transportation and we found ourselves stuck and stranded. Alaska was locked down since what other terrorist acts could happen were unknown and protecting the oil pipeline was paramount.  It was fine for us, but many hunters were stranded at  fly in camps with no way to get supplies in or get out if they were hurt. One of the planes had gone down just an hour from our home in PA. It was a day that changed the world. 

I didn't mean to end this post on such a downer, but just to share some of the memories that come back to me every time I whip up a batch of sourdough pancakes. It is amazing what just the smell of a food can do to start replaying that great movie of our lives.