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      Mining for a Silver-Dollar Breakfast

      Before Sam Clemens became Mark Twain, he was a cub reporter in the mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, writing for the local newspaper under the nom de plume “Josh.”

      In his own words, Josh tells us what a real breakfast meant to him: “A mighty porterhouse steak an inch and a half thick, hot and sputtering from the grill; dusted with fragrant pepper; enriched with little melting bits of butter…archipelagoed with mushrooms…and a great cup of American homemade coffee…some smoking hot biscuits, and a plate of hot buckwheat [pan] cakes, with transparent syrup.…”

      After the sun rose over the High Sierra, the young Mark Twain would head off to work and proceed to weave wonder-words with his trusty typewriter. His editor's only instructions were, “Write so damned well the miners will read the Enterprise before they drink their liquor, court their women, or dig their gold.” Which he did…after he ate his bonanza in pancakes.

       Silver Dollar Slapjacks with Wild Blue Sauce

      A favoritc of Mark Twain

       Slapjacks

      1 cup buttermilk

      ¼ cup milk

      1 large egg, room temperature

      2 tablespoons butter, melted, or canola oil

      1 cup unbleached white flour

      1 tablespoon sugar

      1 teaspoon baking powder

      ½ teaspoon baking soda

      ¼ teaspoon salt

      Nonstick canola oil cooking spray

       Wild Blue Sauce

      1½ cups fresh wild blueberries (cultivated or frozen berries will do in a pinch)

      ⅓ cup brown sugar

      2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed (no substitutes)

      ½ teaspoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped

      Dash of ground nutmeg

      Get the sauce going first. To make the blueberry sauce, combine all listed ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a slow, bubbly boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken and its sweet aroma fills the air.

      To make the pancake batter, whisk together in a large bowl the buttermilk, milk, egg, and melted butter. In a separate, smaller bowl or measuring cup, blend together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently tap the dry ingredients into the buttermilk mixture and stir it up.

      While the Wild Blue Sauce is gurgling, lightly spray or grease a griddle or nonstick skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Ladle small 3-inch pools of batter onto the hot griddle. Cook the silver dollars for about one minute until teeny bubbles come to the surface, gently flip them, and cook for another 30 seconds.

      To make a great impression, serve 3 stacks of 3 silver dollar pancakes on an extra large plate and top them with an eruption of the hot Wild Blue Sauce. Makes 16 to 18 pancakes.

       Get your facts first, and then you candistort them as much as you please.

      —Mark Twain