HAPPY EARTH DAY

Today April 22 is Earth Day. It was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970. The day was organized to help promote ecology and respect for life on the planet as well as to encourage awareness of the growing problems of air, water and and soil pollution. 

This year's theme is Mobilize The Earth.  

I recently came across this Earth Day Network that works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden and mobilize the environmental movement. Their goal this year is 1 billion  acts of green and counting.  There is no money involved. Check it out, looks interesting  http://act.earthday.org/billion-acts-green-1

Many cities and towns are doing their part to promote Earth Day awareness with a variety of activities. An unexpected gift from a small independent bookstore with my purchase was well thought out. For their part to raise go green awareness they were handing out individual wrapped gifts with a brochure on Living Green tips, a small pot  and a packet a flower seeds.  

 Great start for the planting season.

Earth, What Will You Give Me?

by Beverly Mc Loughland

Earth, what will you give me

In summer

In summer,

Earth, what will you give me

In summer

Serene?

I’ll give you my fields

Made of lilies,

Of lilies,

I’ll give you my fields

Made of lilies

And green.

And what will you give me

In autumn,

In autumn

And what will you give me

In autumn

So bold?

I’ll give you my leaves

Made of maple,

Of maple,

I’ll give you my leaves

Made of maple

And gold.

And what will you give me

In winter,

In winter,

What will you give me

In winter

So light?

I’ll give you my stars

Made of crystal,

Of crystal,

I’ll give you my stars

Made of crystal

And white.

And what will you give me

In springtime,

In springtime,

And what will you give me

In springtime

So new?

I’ll give you my nests

Made of grasses,

Of grasses,

I’ll give you my nests

Made of grasses

And blue.

 _________________________________________________________________

 I have been on a quest to duplicate an amazing dish I had at restaurant: Lemon Ricotta pancakes. It tasted and looked more like a dessert item since they were light and airy with a hint of lemon and a dusting of powdered sugar with mixed berries. 

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups flour 
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tbs. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• zest of large lemon (I used a a micro-plane to zest and adjust depending how much lemon zest according to your tastes) 
•  3 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites
• 1-1/3 cups buttermilk
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese

Directions:

• In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt and zest
• In another bowl lightly whisk egg yolks then whisk in buttermilk and ricotta
• Whisk yolk mixture into flour mixture until well combined: note the batter will be lumpy
• Gently fold in egg whites in two additions
• Grease griddle and cook as usual for plain pancakes
• To serve dust with confectioner's sugar and top with fruit

Cook's note:Since much of my recipe exploration is done at the lake I have found the small grocery stores can be limited on ingredients I need. This newly discovered product is perfect when I am out of buttermilk. It is a dry product that you add water to making up the buttermilk mixture.

This recipes makes about 25 pancakes. Use 1/3 cup batter for each pancake. Since batter lighter than mixes from the store may have to cook a bit longer. I cooked them @ 350 on the griddle dial.

These turned out great and even better with a drizzle of syrup.