First…Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, but an extra special one to my own Mama who has been doing “yeoman duty” these past weeks…especially considering I am 55…racing toward 56 so in theory have been a grown up for awhile…

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my “little” brother who is 54!!! today :)!

I made a special breakfast today, even though my Mama is not at my house to share it…but just in honor of the day. And I ate it on the china from my grandmother Ruthie, my Mama’s mama. And lifted a coffee cup to my grandmother HaHa (Helen), my Papa’s mama.

Today’s fun actually started last weekend with the making of citrus cranberry marmalade.

This is only my second marmalade experience, but having discovered how easy, how much fun and how nice to make it myself, it is not going to be my last. This round, I had proper tools so even easier than my test run several months ago. And such satisfaction in seeing all of those pretty little jars of marmalade.

Although, the primary intended use is for english muffins and toast, I also like to heat a bit of marmalade with a bit of maple syrup to make a fruit syrup for pancakes or waffles…

Then…

I saw a recipe this week for Lemon Ricotta Souffle Pancake – perfect! The blog post that the link takes you to shows both a berry and a walnut variation. I thought WALNUT!!! – with citrus marmalade syrup and that’s what I did.

And yesterday, I made ricotta…yes MADE it. Another of those things that is so easy and fun.

The recipe link: Homemade Ricotta Cheese , but … it is 1 part buttermilk to 4 parts whole milk. Heat the combo over med-high heat until curds form. Remove from heat and scoop the curds into cheese cloth. Wrap the cheese cloth and let it drain for 15 minutes…drain less for creamier ricotta, more for drier ricotta.

Ricotta cheese! I used 1 cup buttermilk, 4 cups whole milk to yield 1 cup of Ricotta and about 4 cups of whey. I saved the whey and am using it in the protein smoothies I make. This whole thing took me maybe 30 minutes start to finish.

So…this morning…the souffle pancake…

Yum! A fluffy, pan cake – lightly lemon with walnuts and turbinado sugar making a slightly crunchy top and the citrus marmalade syrup providing just enough fruity sweetness.

I made bacon and it made me cry…because there was bacon left and Karl not there to share it. As reader Lou said in a comment… “the little things” – when you least expect them. But, the tears can be good and they are of short duration and replaced quickly by a joyful memory and a laugh…

…and a walk in the woods at sunrise, the snow topped mountains through the trees and dew on the greening woods grasses.

For Mother’s Day.

***the next day…the leftover “pancake” is good cold or warmed up. I ate it like coffee cake :)!