Summer at the lake.
When you say these words you conjure up memories of sunny days that last forever.
Floating
Weightless in the water.
Sand scrubbed bodies
stretched out to the sun.
Long, delicious summers beside a small, quiet lake. Emma Lake.
Beach combing (a very young me and my older siblings) found an injured falcon. Our father made a splint and bandaged the wing. We fed him raw meat. He became very tame while the wing was healing. Then one day he was just gone. On the beach we found bits of the bandage and a few feathers. Our falcon was flying free high above us.
We had a tiny cottage on the lake. A low bench of sand and birch trees shielded us from the winds off the water. Against the bench of sand our Father made his outdoor kitchen, a few steps from the cottage. He cooked on an old black kitchen stove. A wooden table scrubbed white was both a prep counter and a place to eat.
On the weekends our Father would drive up to the cottage – the car filled with fresh produce, groceries and most important baking he had done during the week. Our favorite treat was Royal Bread Pudding. It was creamy, cinnamon flavoured, raisin filled, bread pudding topped with a layer of pastry and then vanilla icing.
Breakfast was cooked and eaten outside. Dad would scour the top of the stove clean, then build a roaring fire. He would use the entire surface of the stove to cook light, delicate brown rounds of “flap jacks”. These he would spread thick with butter, sprinkle with sugar and then a squeeze of lemon. Stacked high, kept warm in the oven he continued to flip pancake after pancake. Warming in the oven the butter melted into the sugar and lemon and drizzled into sweet pools around the pancakes. Ah, sweet heavenly delights.
LEMON SUGAR PANCAKES
Whisk together in a large bowl: 1 1/2 ups flour, 3 tbsp. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt
Whisk together in another bow; 1 1/2 cups milk, 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, 2 large eggs room temperature, 1/2 tsp vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently whisk them together, mixing just until combined. Spoon 1/3 cup batter onto a heated griddle nudging the batter into rounds. Cook until the top of each pancake is speckled with bubbles and some bubbles have opened, then turn and cook until the underside is lightly browned. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200°F oven.
To make Lemon pancakes, butter each pancake with soft butter, sprinkle generously with sugar, squeeze lemon juice over and top with another pancake. You can make several small stacks or one large cake. Just be sure to make lots. Enjoy!
PS: Emma Lake was internationally know for it’s Art School. Artists from around the world would spend their summer at the EMMA LAKE ART SCHOOL.
