Yesterday was a fantastic day. Not because anything wildly special or out of the ordinary happened, but because we took it one hour, one minute at a time. Everything that I did yesterday was exactly what I wanted to be doing in that moment. How often does that happen? Um lately, for me, pretty much never. So, technically, maybe it was special and out of the ordinary. Whatever you want to call it, it was bliss.

I slept until I woke up and came out into the living room to find Chris and Nilla crashed out on the couch. She has not been sleeping well lately, waking up in the middle of the night to go potty and then barking incessantly until she finally gets to be in the bed with us. She’s smart, that one. The other night, however, she decided that, rather than curl up behind my knees, it would be more fun to climb all over us as we tried to sleep. And when she tired of that, the barking recommenced. So Chris wound up in the living room with that crazy little girl, up and down for most of the night, I’m sure. By the time I woke up for the day, they were both spent.

So what’s a girl to do when the rest of the fam is fast asleep? Well, I spent some time doing a bit of reading and writing and internet surfing. Got up and made a pot of coffee, after which I stared mindlessly into the fridge for a few minutes, imagining what I’d need to get at the store to make a proper breakfast. Oooh, but then I saw the ricotta. Still good? Yup. Ah-ha, and blueberries. Could I use that container of Greek yogurt for something? Hmm, a little crazy but it just might work….

This is what happened to me, people. I straight up found inspiration in my fridge. It happens from time to time, but this was a big one. And I wasn’t going to use a recipe. Nope. Wasn’t even going to look one up for a general idea. You see, I’d heard tell of these things called “ricotta pancakes.” I’d made pancakes before. And I had ricotta. From there, I’d pave my own way, add whatever seemed right. I was excited. I was about to embark on an adventure.

Now, I wish this were a neat, perfect little story where I threw a bunch of things into a bowl and everything turned out perfectly on the very first try. And Chris woke up and I had a plate stacked high with beautiful pancakes to thrust under his nose. Oh, it could have been, but I did something I should have learned long ago not to do. I second guessed myself. At the very last moment, I added more milk. The batter was obviously too thick. And what did I wind up with? Pancakes that were thin and always too mushy in the middle, no matter how long they were allowed to cook. Damn.

But it was fun–playing around with the lame batter that I’d created, tearing apart and nibbling on bits of blatantly imperfect pancakes. I felt like I had my own test kitchen. And with Chris completely zonked, there was no pressure to feed a hungry belly or explain what I was doing. I got to mess around in my kitchen for more than two completely uninterrupted hours. Someone please tell me how I can make this my job.

By the time I was thoroughly satisfied that I could make nothing edible of the runny mixture, Chris was just starting to wake up. And I was ready to go to the store and replenish my supplies for round two. Normally I wait days or even weeks between retrying a not-so-perfect recipe. Not this time.

Oh, and I was right. I was right the very first time, dang nabbit. I almost, almost, added more milk again–the batter really was thick–but a teeny little test pancake told me that I was spot on.

And the Greek yogurt? Well, I mixed it with some lemon curd to make a tasty sauce for these pancakes. I almost didn’t do it–it seemed too crazy. Surprisingly, though, it was very good. Chris even tried the pancakes with syrup, but the lemon yogurt sauce emerged as the clear winner.

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

3/4 cup sweet white sorghum flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 6oz container plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage Total 0%)
3 tablespoons lemon curd
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium to medium-low heat.

In a small bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt and lemon curd. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge.

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Whisk the ricotta, egg, and milk together separately in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. The batter will be thick.

Brush the preheated pan with the melted butter. Add the batter to the pan in approximately 1/2 cup dollops for each pancake. Using a spatula or your fingers (I found the latter to be more effective, just be careful), delicately spread the batter out to about 1/2″ thick. Allow to cook 3-4 minutes, until golden and the edges take on a smooth, rounded appearance. Flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes on the other side. Remove to a plate and cover gently with a clean kitchen towel to keep warm while you make the remaining pancakes. This will make about eight 4-5″ pancakes.

Top with the yogurt sauce and serve.

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