Happy Pancake Day!

Today is Fat Tuesday (what a great holiday), which means that it's also National Pancake Day. Delicious! If you live near an IHOP, you can celebrate by getting a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes today, but if you don't live near one or don't like crowds, pancakes are still a great way to load up on all things rich with butter and eggs before Lent.

To celebrate, here's one of my favorite pancake recipes (courtesy of Martha... of course).

Photo via marthastewart.com

Blueberry Pancakes
From Martha's American Food, by Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more, softened, for skillet and serving
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons neutral-tasting oil, such as vegetable
1 cup fresh blueberries, plus more for garnish
Pure maple syrup, for serving

Directions:
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, melted butter, and 2 tablespoons oil to combine, then whisk into flour mixture (do not overmix, batter should be slightly lumpy). Fold in blueberries.

Heat 1 teaspoon softened butter and remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, pour in 1/3 cup batter per pancake. Cook until small bubbles form on the surface, about 3 minutes. Flip; cook until underside is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add more butter as needed between batches. Serve warm with butter and syrup, garnished with additional blueberries.

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Doesn't that sound just delicious? Another traditional Fat Tuesday food - which I had never heard of before Will introduced me to them last year - is paczki (pronounced PUNCH-key). It's a special kind of Polish doughnut traditionally made only around Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday, filled with cream, fruit, chocolate, liquor, etc. It's such a fun tradition, and I admit that Will and I have been excitedly looking forward to them for some weeks now. I found this recipe for them last week, which looks very delicious, but today Will is picking ours up from Ryke's Bakery. Their paczkis are so delicious that I definitely don't feel the need to attempt them myself this year. :) 

I think pancakes for dinner and paczkis for dessert sounds just right for Fat Tuesday (it also sounds like a recipe for a food coma and a sugar crash, but we'll have all month to recover I suppose). :)

What about you all? Do you like to celebrate Fat Tuesday with pancakes or paczkis?