Pancakes

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another small bowl, mix with a fork the egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened.
2. Gently fold in the blueberries. (See notes)
3. Heat a skillet on medium heat and grease the pan with a little oil or butter. Add about ¼ cup of pancake batter to the skillet and wait for the bubbles to form on top (3 to 4 minutes). When the bubbles cover the whole surface of the pancake and the opposite side is golden brown, flip the cake and cook the other side until golden brown (about 2 minutes).

Syrup

1. In a medium size saucepan, combine the blueberries and the water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Pour the blueberries through a sieve set over a bowl, pressing down on the blueberries, mashing and stirring to extract the juices. Discard the solids and measure the liquid. It should be about 3 cups of juice, if not, add enough water to equal 3 cups.
2. Return the blueberry juice to the saucepan, add the sugar, salt, lemon strips, lemon zest, lemon oil and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil the mixture over medium-high heat until it registers 225°F on a candy thermometer, about 20-25 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat, discard the lemon zest strips and add the butter and the vanilla, stirring to incorporate well. Allow the syrup to cool, and pour into a one-pint mason jar.
4. This syrup makes about 2 cups and will keep, refrigerated, for up to 6 months.