Breakfast is where it's at

I love to cook breakfast food. On Sundays, my husband and I try to always have a brunch type of meal after we get home from church. Here are two recipes I've recently tried that are AMAZING.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
**These are some of the tangiest, fluffiest, most delicious pancakes I've ever had. I bought ricotta cheese this week, and I'm totally making them for my weekly brunch on Sunday! One suggestion- I don't use buttermilk that much that often, and I've never wanted to buy the kind in milk containers. I always buy the powder version- you just mix the right amount with water. It's very convenient.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 Tb lemon zest
Pam
12 strawberries, hulled, and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, egg yolks, sugar, ricotta, and lemon zest. Add second mixture to first mixture and stir until just blended.

2. In a separate bowl, using a mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold whites into ricotta mixture.

3. Spray Pam on griddle and heat. Cook pancakes on a hot griddle, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Turn heat to medium low once pancakes touch the hot griddle. Place cooked pancakes in oven before serving (to keep warm). Serve with strawberries.

Mascarpone-Stuffed French Toast with Fruit
**In case you are not familiar with the type of cheese- mascarpone is the type of cheese used in desserts like tiramisu. You can sub this type with cream cheese or ricotta- whatever you have in your fridge that day!

1/4 lb mascarpone cheese
1 Tb sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 slices of bread

Batter:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Pam
2 cups fruit
Maple syrup

1. In a bowl, mix mascarpone, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Spread 2 Tb of the mixture on 4 of the bread slices. Put 4 other bread slices on top like sandwiches.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Pour batter in a baking dish.

3. Spray large frying pan with Pam; warm over medium heat. Place each of the sandwiches in batter and let it stand for 5 seconds. Flip and repeat. Transfer to hot pan. Cook until browned. Cut in half, top with fruit and syrup.