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Introduction

When I dated the German, she invited me to her book club with the other Germans. Being part of a bookclub was a lifelong dream of mine. I had been reading a novel by Andrew Sean Greer that was so fun I frequently had to take a break from reading it to share a particularly complex and beautiful sentence with my German girlfriend.

At the time of my joining, it was her turn to pick a book. She knew I was loving this novel, so she picked it. All the Germans in the group went out and bought it. At the first book club meeting—which also included a fabulous dinner party, because these were fabulous Germans—one of the Germans was unabashed with her critique: the book sucked. The others piled on: The sentences were too long. It was confusing and difficult to read. These were the German’s lifelong friends from childhood, so they could be honest with each other. Besides for my girlfriend, no one knew that I was the one who had chosen the book. I was the newcomer, I was just getting to know these people. It turns out there are some complexities when you’re the only native english speaker in a English-language-but-very-German bookclub.

The German and I ended up breaking up. She said I could stay in the bookclub if I wanted. I figured the right thing to do was to resign.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Butter
• Maple syrup
• Fun bonus ingredient like bananas, berries, chocolate chips, etc.

Instructions

• Combine dry ingredients
• Combine wet ingredients
• Combine all ingredients
• For a delightful bonus, pulp some bananas or berries into the batter.
• Stir until smooth
• Heat a pan with butter until the butter is bubbling lightly
• Blob the batter on. Add bonus ingredients if using.
• Cook until small bubbles begin to form then flip.
• Re-butter the pan after each batch.

From Pat’s Faves.