Ready, Set, Weekend with The Garden of Eatin'

I love an easy dairy menu for the evening, it’s one of my favorite meals to make. The only issue is I need to buy shares in an EGG FARM when I prepare the dishes that are served at this meal. When my youngest son found out what I was making, he ordered a truckload of blintzes to be added to the menu. So what’s a blintz? It’s similar to a very thin pancake or crepe. Making blintzes from scratch isn’t difficult but they are time consuming. You need to roll up your sleeves and get ready to stand in the kitchen preparing the “blintz assembly line”. BATTER, FRY, STUFF, ROLL & FRY AGAIN. It is a process of “blintz love” and totally worth it. My mom makes the best blintz batter ever, it’s simple and fool proof – with the exception of the FIRST blintz. I don’t know why but every time I make this the first one sticks to the pan and falls apart. I called it a “tester blintz”. It tastes good but looks like a hot mess. This round of blintzes churned out two failures so I rolled them up, sprinkled them with powdered sugar, topped them with berries and my lunch was served while I took a break from the blintz factory.What you need: 4 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup water 1 cup flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 package vanilla sugar (if you can’t find vanilla sugar you can substitute 1 tsp vanilla extract) Pinch of salt 1 Tbsp. oil

Cheese Filling: 2 cups ricotta cheese 4 Tbsp sour cream ¼ cup sugar 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract Jam Filling: 1 jar of good quality strawberry jam – I use the one from France because my mother told me to.The Blintz Assembly Line: Blend all ingredients with a hand blender (or in a food processor) and let batter rest for a few minutes. To make the blintzes, heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly coat with oil (you will only have to do this every other time). Pour ¼ cup of batter into the center of the pan and lift the pan off the heat, swirling the batter around to coat the pan evenly. Return pan to heat and cook blintzes for a minute, carefully flip and cook for another minute. After blintzes have cooled, be sure to wrap well until ready to fill.The Filling: Stir together ricotta, sour cream and sugar. Stir in egg, egg yolk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.The Assembly on the Assembly line: Place 2 blintzes on the counter, with the paler sides facing up. Place about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta or 1 tablespoon of jam in the centre of the blintz. Here’s where mine are a bit different from the rest. I roll my blintzes instead of making them into a parcel. It’s much easier than the standard origami style process and I have no patience to make those envelopes. Place on a platter until you have filled all the crepes. I made half with cheese and half with jam. Once you have your assembled blintzes, pan fry in oil or butter on both sides (medium heat) until golden. Serve warm with strawberry yogurt, applesauce, sour cream or fresh berries. Blintz bash done. See ya next week! debi @thegardenofeatin xoxo