Homemade Blueberry Syrup For Pancakes and Waffles

Do you love to eat breakfast out at a really good pancake house? One of the best parts can be their yummy fruit syrups. Not that maple syrup isn't good - I love it! But how about making some fresh Blueberry Syrup at home the next time you make homemade pancakes for your family?
Here is a simple recipe to use. Your family will love it!

BLUEBERRY PANCAKE SYRUP

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup water

In a medium saucepan, stir together all ingredients. Cook together over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring gently. Turn heat down to medium low and cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Use potato masher to gently break up berries into the syrup mixture. It is fine to have some berries floating in the syrup, so don't over-mash it.
Serve over your favorite pancake or waffle recipe, or use it to liven up frozen store bought waffles. Store remainder in the fridge for a few days. Can be used warm or cold.

Corn Chowder For A Cold Winter's Day

For a number of years our family helped host a Christmas caroling party each December, where the featured entrees were two big pots of Chili and of Corn Chowder. So I thought I would offer my version of corn chowder here for anyone who wants a great way to warm up on a cold winter evening. I made a pot this week in fact and our family loves it.

CORN CHOWDER

4 medium potatoes peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
2 bay leafs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 c. water (or enough just to cover the above veggies in a pot).
Put vegetables and seasoning in water in large soup pot; bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until soft.

Add:
1 bag frozen white shoepeg corn or 1 can whole kernel corn.
4 cans Cream Style corn
4 cans Carnation evaporated milk

Heat through but do not boil.

While heating, cook 1 1b bacon in skillet, drain and crumble. Add bacon to chowder after it is heated through.

Taste and season before serving with additional salt and freshly ground pepper if desired.

Serve with small oyster crackers or hot dinner rolls for dipping. Delicious!

February 7, 2010

IN SEARCH OF RECIPES:

We are fortunate enough to live in the heart of rural Pennsylvania, with its lush fields and orchards, and bountiful harvests of fresh vegetables and fruits. One of my favorite places to shop is a local farm market called Brown's Orchard. When we first moved to PA over 20 years ago, the market was much smaller. It has grown in stages in the years since, and now contains a bounty of home grown produce as well as wonderful baked goods, Amish meats and cheeses and gift baskets that are perfect to send to an ailing friend.

Among the offerings are two baked items that our family just loves: Cherry Pudding and Apple Custard Pie.

Cherry Pudding is a baked cake of sorts, very dense, and liberally embedded with sour cherries. It is delicious! In fact, one of my son's requested that I carry one to him on the airplane the last time I flew out for a visit.

I am looking for a recipe for Cherry Pudding that he can make, as per his wife's request!

Brown's Apple Custard Pie has a bottom crust, a custard filling, and a layer of thinly sliced apples on top that are sprinkled with cinnamon. It is delicious!

I would love to find a recipe for an apple custard pie as well.

So this time, readers, I hope you will be generous and share any sources you might have for these two family favorites.

Hawaiian Haystacks

I have no idea of the origin of this recipe or who to credit for it. If any readers know, please leave a comment! It has been a favorite at our house for many years, ever since my husband and I were first served it by some fellow college students when they invited us over for dinner one evening. The ingredients are simple, but the combination tastes great.

Hawaiian Haystacks

Ingredients:

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken (boneless/skinless)
4 cups cooked white rice
1 can chow mein noodles (9 1/2 oz.)
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup chopped red peppers

(toppings)
1/2 chopped green onions
1 can pineapple chunks, drained (20 oz.)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup silvered almonds
1/2 cup coconut
1 jar pimentos (2 oz.), drained and diced, (optional)

Instructions:

Boil chicken in salted water until done; shred into bite-size pieces. Combine soup and chicken broth in a medium saucepan to make gravy. Stir to blend. Add chicken to gravy mixture; simmer 10 minutes or until heated through.

To assemble:
On individual serving plates, layer all ingredients.
First stack rice, then chow mein noodles, then chicken/gravy. Top with tomatoes, celery, peppers, and green onions. Then add pineapple chunks, grated cheddar cheese, almonds, coconut, and pimento.

Serves 8.

Instant Chicken - A Delicious Dinner!

I was shopping last week and ran across a product I hadn't seen in my grocery store before. It might have been there and I just missed it, or maybe it's relatively new. Either way, it looked good:
PERDUE OVEN READY ROASTER


Perfect for a quick dinner, was my thought. Just add some baked potatoes and a salad, and I'd be ready to go.

The chicken comes pre-seasoned and packed in a nifty oven bag. All you have to do is place the bagged chicken in an open roasting pan, and cut a 1" slit on the top. Done, ready to cook! Here is how the oven bag looks:



The chicken smelled wonderful while it was baking, and tasted absolutely delicious! My 3 at-home sons declared it a success and all of them commented on how moist and well seasoned the chicken was. We ate about half of it the first night and then boned what was left and had plenty to make chicken quesadillas for dinner the second night.

Here is the chicken hot out of the oven:



The chicken wasn't cheap; I think I paid $11.95 for it at my local store. But we fed five people dinner for two nights, so in the end, that's only $6 per dinner for the meat entree, and that is a good price indeed. And you can't beat the easy prep and clean up!

My biggest weakness...

My biggest food weakness is ice cream. I just love ice cream. So as I get older I realized that ice cream doesn't love me back. It's not good for a slower metabolism and it's not good for cholesterol. But my motto with all foods is "everything in moderation". So here's my remedy for loving ice cream. Portion control.

I happened to be in a gelato shop one day and realized they had these cute little cups that they put the gelato in. So I got online looking for them.

I ended up finding a great gelato site that sold them. They sell in large quantity and small quantity. So I purchased what's probably a lifetime supply for me because I wash them and reuse them :-) Besides there are 520 in the box. That's a lot. But I won't be buying any more any time soon. I purchased these:



160cc Gelato Cups

They also carry smaller quantities.

I use the spoons too. I actually use them for everything. I eat yogurt with them too. I think the main reason this works for me is the little spoons. It slows everything down so you enjoy the small amount of ice cream as long as you would a large bowl of it.

My new favorite sweet craving snack...

I have two weaknesses when it comes to sweets, one is chocolate. The other is lemon meringue anything.

So when given a choice of the two I will usually go for the lemon meringue if it's available because so often it's not. I always get lemon filled doughnuts because that's about the only place I can get my lemon fix.

I found these in the grocery store the other day and had to try them. They were so good I went back and bought 3 more 4 packs. :-)



These Lemon Meringue Pie Pudding Snack Packs from Hunt's are just the best little 120 calorie sweet. Yummy, yummy, yummy.