Homemade Pancake Syrup

I know what you’re thinking. Is that a pickle jar sitting next to a plateful of pancakes?

Yes. Yes it is.

There is a reason for this, I promise. The pickle jar contains the absolute best complement to a stack of pancakes: warm, sweet, maple-y, homemade syrup. See, this is the syrup I grew up eating. The recipe passed down from my grandmother, to my mom, to me. And for as long as I can remember, my mom stored the syrup in an old pickle jar. No idea why, but I don’t ever remember a time when I didn’t open up the refrigerator and see the pickle jar full of syrup sitting there on the shelf.

So this post is a tribute to my mom. She is a full-time homekeeper too and she is one of the main reasons I chose to stay home with my kids. Homemade syrup is just one of the many things she did when I was growing up that made breakfast special for us. She made a hot breakfast every single day. Pancakes (from scratch) on the weekdays and eggs, biscuits, muffins, or waffles on the weekends. Cinnamon rolls on special occasions or when my brother and I had a test at school. And the pancakes and waffles were always served with this syrup. It’s what I grew up with, and as such it will always be my favorite.

I’m not saying you need to keep it in a pickle jar, but I do hope you’ll try this syrup. It’s really tasty and totally easy to make.

Thanks for the recipe, Mom, and for all the homekeeping inspiration you have given me.

Homemade Pancake Syrup (my Mom’s recipe)

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. maple extract or imitation maple flavoring

Combine the water and sugars in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat just until boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Removed from heat and stir in vanilla and maple flavorings.

Will keep in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.

Read Full Post »

Homemade Gifts: Salted Caramel Sauce

Confession: I have tried to write this post 10 times with as many different intros and I have deleted each one in frustration. Maybe I have writer’s block. Maybe I’m just being lazy. Maybe I overdosed on pie and online Christmas shopping this weekend.

Maybe I am just too enamored with this Salted Caramel Sauce to think of anything more to say than, “Make this. Please make this. Make it to give as a Christmas gift or hoard it and keep it for yourself. Your ice cream needs this topping. Your pancakes and waffles and coffee and hot chocolate need this sauce. You need to experience the bliss of just eating this sauce off the spoon. Trust me. Make this.”

This recipe is straight from Confections of a Foodie Bride and is perfect just as it is. No adapting. One note, though: this truly is salted caramel sauce. If you are not a fan of the sweet/salty combination, I’d recommend that you reduce the salt so it if more of a background instead of an up-front flavor.

Salted Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce (from Confections of a Foodie Bride)

1 vanilla bean pod

1 cup heavy cream

5 tbs unsalted butter

2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

Using a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean down the middle, stopping short of one end so it stays in one piece. Scrape the little vanilla beans out of the inside of the pod with the knife and place the beans and pod in a saucepan. Add the cream, butter, and salt to the pan and heat just until it boils. Turn off heat.

In a large saucepan, heat the sugar, corn syrup, and water and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils. Continue boiling, swirling the pan occasionally but not stirring, until the mixture is a golden caramel color.

Remove the vanilla bean pod from the cream mixture and add the cream to the sugar. The mixture will bubble quite a bit, but don’t be afraid! Simmer the caramel for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. Pour the caramel into a heat-safe container (at least 3 cup capacity) and let cool.

If you don’t eat all the sauce straight out of the bowl as it cools, store it in the fridge (I use half-pint mason jars). The sauce can be reheated in the microwave or on the stove. This caramel sauce is fantastic over ice cream, cake, sweet quick breads, pancakes, and in hot beverages.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! It makes a great homemade Christmas gift as well, so you can pass on the goodness to your friends and family.

Read Full Post »

Homemade Applesauce

I had a special Homekeeping day this week. I got to make (bunches and bunches) of homemade applesauce with my mom-in-law and sister-in-law. We took about 40 lbs. of beautiful Fuji apples and cooked, squished, and seasoned them into super-yummy applesauce. Then we canned (why is is not called “jarred”?) the sauce into lots of mason jars so we will all have applesauce for quite a while.  I am really looking forward to using mine to go along with pork tenderloin at Christmas, and for Little Lady as she starts eating real food.

We also had a great time just hanging out together, playing when the kids, and talking. It was a neat thing, we had three generations together, but we also had three “homekeeping generations” together as well. My sister-in-law, homekeeper of her first place with her new hubby. My mom-in-law in her newly-empty-nest, homekeeping both a retreat for her and my dad-in-law and a great place for grand-kids. And me, homekeeping our apartment for Big Man and our Little Ones, in the midst of lots of toys, baby clothes, and sippy cups.

And even though we are each in a different phase of life now, we were all really excited to make homemade applesauce. There is no comparison between homemade applesauce and the store-bought kind, which has so much less flavor. And applesauce is actually easy to make; the hardest part is just doing the prep work on the apples. If you decide to can your applesauce, just follow the instructions for your canning equipment, remembering to keep the jars warm, fill with warm applesauce, and then process for the correct amount of time. (A good resource for canning is the Ball website). If you aren’t going to can your applesauce, you can keep it in the fridge for a week or freeze it for up to six months.

Homemade Applesauce (scale-able to however many apples you have)

~5 lbs of your favorite sweet/tart apple (don’t use something completely tart like Granny Smith. You want something sweet or sweet/tart like Gala or Fuji)

~Water

~Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Prep the apples by peeling and coring them, and slicing into large chunks. Place all the apples in a large stock pot and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot (you just need enough to keep the apples from sticking in the first few minutes before their juices release). Cover and heat over medium-high heat, stirring to keep the apples from sticking. Once the apples start to release their juices, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the apples are very soft. For chunkier applesauce, mash the apples with a potato masher. For smoother applesauce, use a food processor to mash the apples (you may have to work in batches depending on how many apples you have). Once all your apples are squished into sauce, return pot to very low heat and add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.  You shouldn’t have to add any sugar. Stir in the spices and heat through, then store as desired.

You’ll never go back to store-bought again, I promise!

Read Full Post »