Blueberry Pickin'

I have decided that I need to take more opportunities to experience the South, and I had the perfect opportunity over the weekend. There is a town called Thomsan (about thirty minutes away from Augusta) where a little old woman by the name of Bernice, owns a blueberry patch. I think Bernice is such an appropriate name for a little lady with a blueberry patch. My friends (Troy and Kristina) and I made our trip out to the patch only to find a sign that said "Closed, due to heat index". We were so disappointed! Just as we were about to leave, we saw a van pull up on the far side of the blueberry patch. We weren't about to give up on picking blueberries after driving a half hour to get there, so we pulled up next to the van and Troy convinced a sweet little woman to let us pick the berries. She was a good friend of the owner. It was insanely hot and humid! I have never sweat that much in my life! I wore sandals (I don't know what I was thinking) and about five minutes into picking, my toes started to sting. I looked down to find fire ants crawling all over my toes. I moved from bush to bush, trying to escape those darn ants, but they always found me. There was an older man picking berries while sitting in his wheel chair and the poor man was practically eaten alive by those awful things! He had welts everywhere. I felt so bad for him! Fire ants have to be one of the worst features of the South....along with the roaches. I don't know which are worse. I got about 5 lbs. of blueberries for only $1.50/lb. We made blueberry jam when we got home and the next day I made my own blueberry syrup to put on my favorite pancakes. I'm not a pancake lover, but I love this recipe!

Ricotta pancakes
2 cups ricotta
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt

Combine the ricotta, egg yolks, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Sift the dry ingredients: flour sugar, baking powder, and salt together into the ricotta mixture and stir until fully combined. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form and then gently fold into the batter. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and add a little butter. Cook 2 to 3 pancakes at a time using a 6-ounce ladle or measuring cup to pour the batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes on 1 side until they set. When small bubbles appear on the uncooked surface, flip the pancakes and cook until golden on both sides, about 6 minutes.

Blueberry Syrup
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
3 tablespoons sugar
juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
Combing ingredients in a saucepan. Crush some of the berries to release juices. Simmer until sauce thickens. Serve warm.

I like to spread a little lemon curd over the top of the pancakes and then pour blueberry syrup over that. It's soooo good!