It's berry heaven right now at the market. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. The first apricots and plums are here and they are so sweet. I got oodles of cherries. The price has dropped this week so I grabbed up a ton. I spent Saturday afternoon pitting them and froze them for use all year long in Black Cherry Protein Ice Cream, Cherry Nut Muffins, Cherry Protein Smoothies (use frozen cherries instead of ice), yummy desserts like my Cherry Apple Crumb, crazy desserts like my Buried Alive Trifle and this delicious protein packed breakfast we had Sunday morning before I head off to work...
Shelly's Baked Cherry Pancake (Clafoutis -ish)2 cups Cherries, pitted (fresh or frozen)
2 Tablespoons Sugar Free Torani Syrup (SF Vanilla, Almond, or Black Cherry all would be great)
Batter
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Cottage Cheese
3/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Multigrain Pancake Mix
1/4 cup Strawberry Protein Powder
1/4 cup Sugar Free Torani Syrup
Saute cherries and 2 T of SF syrup for a few minutes till slightly softened.
Arrange in a Pyrex baking dish or deep pie plate that has been sprayed with Pam non-stick spray. I used my latest thrift shop score (I collect vintage Pyrex) but any size around 8x8x2 would work.
Whiz the batter ingredients in a blender till smooth.
Pour batter over top of the cherries.
Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes or until puffed and lightly golden brown.
Serve a wedge with a squirt of No Sugar Added Homemade Whipped Cream and/or a drizzle of SF Maple Syrup. A piece topped with a dollop of sweetened Fage Greek Yogurt is great too.Speaking of collections. That was the first question in the meme I was just tagged in. I'll post my answers and anyone that wants to be tagged next can be. I'd love to read your answers so if you post them on your blog let me know the link or feel free to answer them in the comments.
1. What if anything do you collect? Vintage Pyrex (all patterns), cookbooks, I also love things with embroidered flowers, vintage linens and aprons. I'm starting a Christmas Tree Pin collection. I saw a cool thing in a magazine a few years ago... a pillow with tons of those bejeweled Christmas tree shaped pins arranged on it. I loved it. Started to gather the couple I had and each year I think I'll add one till I fill the pillow. Mum and I make our ornaments each year and our tote bags. I also love and own waaaay too many purses but what girl doesn't.
2. If you stretch out your left arm as far as possible, what are you touching? Puffs with Vicks tissue box, oh and word of advice never wipe your eyes with them. Ouch.
3. What's the last program you watched on tv? The Real Housewives of Someplace or Another. Mindless drivel. My favorites are off for the summer... Amazing Race, Glee, Grey's Anatomy.
4. Without looking, guess what time it is? How close were you? Guessed 11:00 AM, 15 minutes off. Not bad.
5. Except the computer, what can you hear right now? My rearranged guts saying howdy ho to the coffee and vitamins I just swallowed. They are very talkative.
6. When was the last time you were outside and what did you do? A few minutes ago. Watering my 6 foot tall tomatoes.
7. What are you wearing? Black exercise pants, a lime green 3 sizes too big top and bare feet with chipped blue tootsies. Sex-ay.8. Did you dream last night? If you did, what about? Nope and I'm glad. The past few have stunk. The other night I was being chased by a creature that was sort of half dog, half porcupine. It was mean and I think it thought I looked tasty.
9. When was the last time you laughed? Earlier this morning when I told my Mum we needed to go back to the drawing board. We were putting up a new bird feeder. Plan A resulted in seed everywhere including our heads but very little in the feeder. It's up. I love to sit on the patio in the evening and be serenaded by the little birds.
10. What's the last film you saw? "Letters to Juliet" I won a 10¢ ticket from Fandango on twitter. Romance + Gorgeous Italian Countryside Scenery = Perfect movie for me.
11. What's the last song you listened to? "Bennie & the Jets" on my blipstream. I completely mess up the lyrics and sing it at the top of my lungs. My neighbors love me.
12. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Italian (3 semesters and I still suck) or should I say... Sono ancora molto male.
13. What state do you live in? In what other state would you like to live? The state of confusion mostly. Ha. I live in California and if I ever lived in another state I would love to live in Boston, Massachusetts.
14. What do you want God to tell you, when you come to heaven? "What took you so long, we've been waiting for you to come cook?! Oh and those fist fights you got into as a teen, middle fingers you gave butt head drivers, times you didn't honor your mother & father, interesting tequila fueled nights, etc, etc, etc, etc, all is forgiven." ;)
OK tag you're it.