It’s the beginning of a new adventure. I wake up with not enough room to stretch and the damp smell of salt in old pine. I can hear others around me slipping out of their sleeping bags and greeting each other good morning. There’s probably a few giggles, maybe some sleepy groans. But I’m wide awake, smiling, excited. Right now everything is ahead of me, blank like a new journal, just waiting to be filled with stories, friendships, and exploits.

I could be thirteen on the Spirit of Massachusetts, when I first knew sailing would be a strong part of who I am. Or I could be eighteen, on a May morning when the windjamming season begins, a beautiful summer of ocean, islands, and wind. It could be when I was tweny and took on a new position as the ship’s cook, surrounded by students I hope will be inspired in a similar way I was seven years earlier. Or maybe I’m just talking about this past spring on the Exy Johnson in Southern California.

Either way, the scene is always the same as the one I first descirbed. I am always excited. And there is always the comforting smell of warm flour and butter and the sizzling sound of oil crackling on a girddle or in a  well-worn cast iron skillet. Pancakes. But specifically blueberry pancakes. For me, they’re the bridge between my home and my travels.

As a student and as windjammer crew, I always remember each trip beginning with blueberry pancakes. It’s become a tradition I’ve carried on as I make them at the start of every sailing season and for the first day of every student sail. I’ve used so many recipes and improved and experimented with more of my own. But the one key ingredient I never leave out are the berries famous to my native state of Maine.

So of course as the first entry of my blog, which is suppose to be about food and travel, it has to be about blueberry pancakes! The recipe I want to share is – so far! – my all-time favorite. It takes the reassuring breakfast staple several steps beyond and makes it a real nutritous power boost, perfect for starting an action-filled day. I replace the traditional white flour, sugar, milk, and butter with five whole grains, honey, yogurt, and olive oil which perfectly compliment antioxident dense blueberries. And guess what? They’re still soft, airy, and super tastey!

Whole Grain Blueberry Pancakes

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup flax seeds

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup millet

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup warm water

4 oz blueberries

• In a blender or food processor combine oats, flax, chia, and millet and pulse several time until smoothly ground
• Combine in a large mixing bowl with whole wheat
• Stir in baking powder and salt and set aside
• In another bowl beats. Whisk in one at a time in the following order, yogurt, honey, olive oil, and water
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix together until well blended
• Fold in blueberries
• Heat some oil in a skillet or on a griddle, and once hot,pour in  1/4 cup of batter and cook on one side until little bubbles – I always think of them as little eyes – appear all over the surface. Flip and cook on the other side until firm all the way through.
• Bam! Best-ever healthy, delicious pancakes to fuel your own adventures!!