Homemade Maple Syrup

My grandmother and mother always made homemade syrup and I took it for granted. I fixed this often for my family and added some twists. Easy to make and so much better than store bought syrup.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Put in sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Put in one Teaspoon of maple flavoring and you have syrup. I have also substituted almond extract for maple flavoring and it is so good. You can also add some jelly of any flavor and have a great syrup as well - apricot, strawberry, and so forth. This recipe makes about 3/4 cup syrup which is good for about three people but it can easily be doubled or tripled. Use your imagination and make something great to go with your waffles or pancakes.

Jeri's Sour Cream Waffles

I love to make these for my family on special days! That could be anyday and for dinner as well. The leftovers can be frozen and heated in the microwave and they are almost as good as fresh.

3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the above together with a fork in large bowl.

Stir in the following -
1 cup sour cream
3 egg yolks (save whites in small cooled bowl)
1 to 1 1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon oil or melted butter

Take the egg whites and beat until stiff and then fold into the batter. You are ready now to put in heated waffle iron. This makes good Belgian waffles as well. Cook for 3-5 mins, depending on your waffle iron.

Apple Fritters

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's website. It IS the most wonderful concoction ever known to man.

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 whole large eggs

3/4 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2 whole granny smith apples, peeled and diced very small (pretty much any variety of apple is fine)

Powdered sugar (for dusting, optional)

Canola oil, for frying

In mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

In separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add other wet ingredients.

Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix!) Fold in apples. You will want a very chunky batter.

Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium heat. Drop in a little bit of batter to test the heat. If it immediately sizzles and rises to the top, the oil is ready. If it darkens quickly, turn down the heat.

Drop heaping teaspoons of batter into the hot oil, several at a time. Flip them over as they begin to brown. You don't want them too dark, but cooked long enough that the centers are done. (About 2 - 2 1/2 minutes total.)

Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Dust generously with powdered sugar. Serve warm!

Pumpkin Pancakes

My SIL, Holly, shared this recipe with me and it's really good. What makes it even better is topping each pancake with some nutella. DIVINE!

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin
1 3/4 cup Bisquick
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all ingredients well and cook on hot griddle until golden brown.

Apple Puffed Pancake

My mom got this recipe from a bed and breakfast that she and my dad stayed at years ago. It is delicious!
2 medium baking apples (I like gala), peeled and sliced
4 T. butter

1 1/2 c. milk
6 eggs
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 T. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
5 T. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425, melt butter in a 9 x 13 baking dish in oven. Once butter has melted, add apples to dish and arrange in a uniform layer. Bake until sizzling. While apples are baking, whisk flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well with a hand mixer on high. You want to the mixture to be frothy. Pour the mixture over your cooked apples and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Breakfast: Grandma Ellis' pancakes

Dean's mother made these wonderful pancakes and our family loves them. We use the same batter for waffles, too.

Combine in bowl:
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup oil

Combine dry ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until moistened. Don't overstir.

Beat egg white until fluffy and fold into batter.

Cook as usual for pancakes or waffles.

I have been lazy lately and I haven't been beating the egg white--just adding the whole egg to the batter and it's still pretty good. Beating the egg white does make it nice and light, however.

Another thing that I've done sometimes is add half as much oil and then add a little water if it needs more moisture.

You can substitute part wheat flour, also.

Breakfast: Norwegian Omelets

Here's the famous Norwegian Omelet Recipe that Mama Bahen always made us as kids. We would beg her to make them (Jeri, Bob, Rich and I) and she would have to really be in the mood as then we would have a contest to see which one of us could eat the most. Guess who always won--Bob! (big surprise). Papa Bahen's sister, Aunt Alice, was widowed at 29 yrs. of age and later remarried Vern Obray (it didn't last--they divorced)---but his legacy is this recipe. It was his family's recipe and then we adopted it.

4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup flour

Combine all in a blender at slowest speed just until smooth. Don't overblend as you don't want air bubbles in the batter. If you have bubbles, let it sit for a few minutes before using.

Cook on a good non-stick fry pan that has been greased with non-stick spray or shortening.
Cook at medium heat. Use just enough batter to make a thin crepe. Let one side just brown enough to start becoming dry on the edges, run your spatula around the edge to loosen the crepe, and flip in one quick motion. Good luck! This is the hardest part. If you have a crepe maker use those directions.

We always ate them with melted butter and sugar and then rolled them up. Don't let them sit too long. They taste best freshly made.

You can of course fill them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, jam, and I've filled them with chopped up ham and broccoli in an au gratin white sauce and then rolled it up enchilada style in a pan, poured more white sauce and cheese over the top, baked it in the oven until the cheese melts and it's very yummy.