I purposely made more food than I thought we needed to feed the six of us last Thanksgiving, since I enjoy the leftovers and finding ways to use them. Matt and I had a couple nights of just reheating the leftovers pretty much as they were originally served, but the real fun part is figuring out ways to make the leftovers into something new. I especially had a lot of leftover sweet potatoes, and decided to try adding them to pancakes. I adapted the buttermilk pancakes I usually make from The Joy of Cooking, adding my sweet potato casserole (which was topped with coconut and hazelnuts) and some spices. Since these are a good bit sweeter than normal pancakes, they were especially great topped with tart leftover cranberry sauce!

Pancakes with Sweet Potatoes

adapted from The Joy of Cooking

serves 4 (2-3 pancakes each)

1 1/4 c cake flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon

1 c buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter, melted
1/2 c leftover mashed sweet potatoes (pumpkin puree would be good, too)

2-3 T butter, for cooking

Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon).

Combine the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and sweet potatoes. Stir into the dry ingredients until just mixed (do not overmix).

Melt butter over medium to medium high heat (hot enough that water dropped on it sizzles a bit, but doesn’t go crazy). Drop pancake batter by 1/4 to 1/3 cups. Cook until lightly browned on the bottom and the edges are dry, a few minutes, and then flip and cook until the other side is browned. (I think because the batter is a bit thicker from the potatoes, you don’t really get bubbles rising to the top like you do in normal pancakes, but they were done when I cooked them as described.)

Serve with cranberry sauce, maple syrup, or honey.

I found blueberries for $3/pound last week, so I actually felt like I could buy enough to do something more than sprinkle a few in my oatmeal.  Cherries were cheap too, so I modified my grandmother Meme’s blueberry muffin recipe to include some cherries too. I was hoping they’d look kind of belatedly patriotic, but actually the cherries turn darker and the blueberries turn purple when cooked, so you really can’t see the difference.

Isn’t it wonderful what happens to blueberries when they bake?  I love the way they sort of explode and seem even juicier than when you pop them in your mouth raw.  I didn’t have any lemons so I added some lemon extract, otherwise I would’ve just used lemon zest.  I like the almond flavor with the cherries and blueberries, but you could also just use vanilla.

Blueberry-Cherry Muffins

This makes a small batch of just a dozen muffins.

1/2 c butter, softened
2/3 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t lemon extract
1/2 t almond extract
2 c flour
1 t salt
1 3/4 t baking powder
2/3 c milk
1 c blueberries
1/3 c cherries, cut into small pieces (about the same size as the blueberries)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and extracts.

Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder). Stir into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, for a total of 3 additions of flour and 2 additions of milk (ending with the flour). Stir in the blueberries and cherries.

Grease and flour one muffin pan. Fill the cups about 2/3 full with the batter. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool for a few minutes on a rack before unmolding.

I have a wonderful friend named Linda who happens to have a Meyer lemon tree in her yard, and who very generously shares them with me.  When she brought a bag to choir a few weeks ago, I was thinking of making scones out of them.  Then I decided to combine with something else I love: rhubarb.  Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, so they’re sweeter than a normal lemon.  They also have a thinner and less bitter peel, which has a nice floral aroma that went really well with the rhubarb.  I based these scones on a recipe from Baking Bites, but added a filling of the rhubarb, which I just stewed with a bit of sugar until it was falling apart.

Rhubarb Meyer Lemon Scones

Adapted from Baking Bites

3 sticks rhubarb, sliced
2 T + 1/4 c sugar, divided
2 c all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 t Meyer lemon zest
1/2 cup butter, cold
~1/2 c Meyer lemon juice
1/4 c cream (optional)
Coarse sugar (optional)

In a small saucepan, sprinkle the rhubarb with about 2 T sugar, or to taste. (How much sugar you want will also depend on how tart your rhubarb is.) Add a couple teaspoons of water. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is falling apart. Let it continue to cook on very low heat to get out as much of the water as possible so the scones won’t be too mushy. When it seems pretty thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 F. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and zest. Dice the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients, but not too evenly. You want some bigg-ish (pea-size) pieces to remain to make the scones a little flaky. Stir in the juice with a fork, a little at a time, until the dough just comes together.

Divide the dough into two balls. Press both halves into discs about 1/2 ” thick. Place one disc on a piece of parchment paper. Spread the stewed rhubarb on top of this disc, not quite to the very edge. Place the other disc on top and press together a bit at the edges to seal the two together.  If it doesn’t seal too well, don’t worry; it will when it cooks.  Cut into six or eight wedges and spread apart slightly. Optionally, brush with cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake at 400 F until golden brown, about 20 minutes.