Big Saturday Morning

Today is a big day in my household. I think for my husband it is somewhat similar, if not more special than Christmas morning. It is the first Saturday of the 2008 College Football Season. He has been patiently waiting (ok maybe not so patiently) for this day for almost a year now. He has been watching re-airings of games from last season, studying recruiting reports and reading college football blogs all in anticipation of this day.

I wanted to start his day right, so I woke up and cooked him a homemade breakfast so he would know I was supportive of his excitement. Homemade breakfast is a rarity in my home. I don't like to wake up super early on the weekends and I wake up in just enough time to shower and scoot out of the door on weekdays. Forrest usually eats a bowl of Cheerios or Oatmeal so he was very pleased with his Saturday Morning Football Breakfast. As he entered the kitchen for the first time this morning to the smell of pancakes cooking in the pan I made sure to greet him with the obligatory, "Good Morning and War Eagle!"

Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes
Recipe Courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

2 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups pancake and waffle mix (recommended: Krusteaz)
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
2/3 cup frozen blueberries
Melted butter

Stir 1/3 cup of water and sugar in a small saucepan

over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Set aside and keep the honey syrup warm.

Using a rubber spatula, stir the remaining 1 2/3 cups of water and vanilla in a large bowl.

Add the pancake mix and stir just until moistened but still lumpy. Stir in the ricotta into the pancake mixture,
then stir gently to incorporate the ricotta but maintain a lumpy batter. Fold in the blueberries.

Heat a griddle over medium heat. Brush with the melted butter. Working in batches, spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake.

Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with the honey syrup.

These pancakes were amazing! The light honey syrup was very subtle and did not take away from the pancakes and their added flavor of ricotta and vanilla. Forrest opted for Sugar Free Maple Syrup since the honey syrup from the recipe was definitely more sugar than he needs in the morning. Using frozen blueberries worked wonderfully in producing perfectly plump blueberries that were anything but mushy inside of the cooked pancakes. Next time I make these I would sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top for aesthetic purposes.