Weekend Round-Up

Bunny Special: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Compote 

Cook's notes: One taste of these light fluffy delicious pancakes  and you'll never go back to premade pancake mix again. Buttermilk makes for a moist pancake and drizzled with a warmed blueberry compote, the taste is incredible. Recipe makes about 16 pancakes. 
Cooking Tips: Do not over mix the batter. Doing so activates the flour's gluten and too much gluten development leads to tough pancakes. Also let batter rest after mixing it for 10 minutes. This gives the gluten time to relax , which in turn helps keeps the pancakes tender. 
The blueberry compote can be made in advance as a time saver. Refrigerate and then warm up in microwave.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 2 TB. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp.salt
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1 TB. lemon zest
• 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• butter for greasing griddle or cooking spray

Directions:

• Stir together first four ingredients and set aside
• In another bowl whisk buttermilk, egg yolks and zest. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture. Gently stir in ricotta cheese. 
• Beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter. 
• Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
• Grease and heat a non-stick griddle at 375 degrees. Splash a drop of water on griddle. When griddle sizzles ready to cook batter. 
• Use 1/3 cup  for each pancake.  Keep warm in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven for up to 15 minutes.  

Blueberry Compote
Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 TB. blueberry or blackberry jam
• 2 TB. sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon zest plus 1 TB fresh lemon juice 
• 3 TB. water mixed with 1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch
• dash of Saigon cinnamon

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat down to medium low and cook 8-10 minutes. Stir often. Serve warm. 

Another Peeps idea

Fun Recipes Inspired by Children's Books

https://www.jumpintoabook.com/2017/04/weekend-links-fun-recipes-inspired-childrens-books/

Today

by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

Source: April 2000 issue of Poetry magazine