Birthday Blessings and Banana Pancakes

Lucky for me and lucky for all of you who had to read my last depressing post, I got more than 3 hours of sleep last night. Thank the Lord! So now that I am not so sleep-deprived and moody, I will share the wonderful events of my weekend with Ryan and of my fun birthday.

Since we've moved to Florida, the weather has either been insanely hot and humid, or insanely rainy and, yep you guessed it.... humid. So we haven't had many opportunities or desires to spend time at the many beaches in this area. That's why we were so happy last weekend when the weather was in the 80's and the humidity level was bearable. We decided to put our gigantic beach towels and new umbrella to use by spending Saturday at Fort Desoto Beach. It was so nice to lay in the sun (well, I laid in the sun while Ryan laid under the umbrella :-)) and to read a good book with the waves rushing in the background. We played frisbee and just enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing day together. We also did some sightseeing at the old military fort there. I even got a tan!

Inside one of the eerie and echoey rooms at Fort Desoto

He's plotting something inside of the "Plotting Room" :-)

On Sunday, we celebrated my birthday since we were both working on Monday (my real birthday). After going to our young married group at church, which we continue to LOVE, I was eager to get home and try my new recipe for banana pancakes with blueberry syrup. As soon as the batter hit the skillet, the delicious aroma told me that these pancakes were going to be exceptional. They were so fluffy, and the recipe called for the perfect amount of banana. Then, when mixed with the blueberry syrup, the already tasty banana pancakes became taste explosions! Ryan and I were both in heaven. Because this recipe was so remarkable, I have decided to share it with all of you. Make sure to check it out at the end of this post.

Later that night, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and of course dessert! I absolutely love that restaurant. Their menu is like a book, and yet everything I've ever tried is mouthwatering. I had a new dish, baked chicken on top of basil pasta with creamy parmesan sauce. Can you say YUMMY! Then we of course had to order cheesecake. We took our pieces of peanut butter cup and dulce de leche cheesecake with us to a beautiful spot overlooking the water. What an incredible day! I was such a spoiled birthday girl.

On my actual birthday, Ryan still treated me like a princess. He's too good to me. After we both were off of work, he wouldn't let me do a single chore or help cook any of our dinner. As my special request, he made me an artichoke with melted butter (weird request, you may be thinking, but it sounded so good to me!). Then he surprised me with the main course by making chicken parmesan. I loved having two days in a row of heavenly food! Even more, I loved spending my birthday with my extraordinary husband. I am so blessed!

Banana Pancakes (makes 8 servings):

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

4 large eggs

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled

cooking spray or vegetable oil to coat pan

1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas

1. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

2. Blend buttermilk, eggs and butter in separate bowl. Add to flour mixture and stir by hand until batter is evenly moistened. It is ready to use or may be stored covered and refrigerated for up to 12 hours.

3. Just before making pancakes, fold bananas into batter.

4. Cook on first side until small bubbles appear on the upper surface and edges are set (about 2 minutes). Cook second side another 2-3 minutes.

Blueberry Maple Syrup (makes 2 cups):

4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 cup maple syrup (I just used Log Cabin syrup and it was still delicious)

1. Combine blueberries and lemon zest in medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of juice has been released and mixture develops a saucelike consistency, about 10 minutes.

2. (Optional: Don't strain if you want the blueberries to remain in your topping.) Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, making sure to press all of the juice out of the blueberry mixture. Return juice to simmer and add the mapel syrup. Simmer over low heat until syrup is slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes.

4. Syrup is ready to serve, or it can be cooled and stored in a container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Reheat over low heat or in microwave.