Buttermilk Syrup

This syrup is fantastic for French toast, German pancakes, waffles, or even ice cream. It has a caramel flavor to it, and is just super delicious.

Buttermilk Syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk + 1/2 TBS vinegar
1/2 cup butter
2 TBS corn syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Measure milk and put vinegar in it, let sit for 5 minutes to create buttermilk (or just use 3/4 cup buttermilk if you have it on hand). The milk mixture will be a bit lumpy. In a saucepan combine milk mixture, sugar, butter, corn syrup and baking soda. Boil for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will seem very foamy as it boils, just make sure it doesn't overflow, it's quite messy. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm, and store the leftover in the fridge. When it's just Scott and I, I usually half the recipe and it's plenty.

German Pancakes

This is a dish that Scott had growing up and I had never heard of until we were married. It's easy and really good. It works for breakfast or dinner and Scott and I can eat a whole pan in one sitting. It is just that good. Also it goes great along with some buttermilk syrup, found here.

German Pancakes
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 TBS butter or margarine

Heat oven to 400 and place butter in 9x13 pan. Put pan in the oven and let the butter melt. Once melted take out of the oven and tilt pan to coat the entire bottom of the pan with the melted butter. Mix eggs, flour, milk, and salt in a bowl with an electric mixer or mix ingredients in a blender until smooth. Place egg mixture in pan over melted butter and cook for 20 minutes. It will come out nice and puffed up but will relax within a couple minutes.

Perfect bacon

I hate frying bacon. It's messy and sometimes it hurts when it pops. So we cook our bacon one way, in the oven. It's easy to do, easy to clean up, and it tastes so very good.

Line a baking sheet with foil. I use the extra wide foil so that the grease doesn't seep under to the baking sheet, remember easy clean-up right?

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees. If your oven doesn't cook evenly, you may want to turn the pan 180 degrees half way through cooking, but be careful not to spill the grease in the oven. Depending on the thickness of the bacon you may want to cook longer. We usually set the timer for 12 minutes and check it every couple minutes after that until it looks done.

 Place bacon on a paper towel to dry.

Let the cookie sheet sit until grease solidifies. It usually takes a few hours depending on the temperature in your house. The cooler it is, the faster it will solidify. Then toss the foil. No grease splatters all over your stove and very yummy bacon. It's perfect for BLTs because it doesn't curl in the oven.

Steel-cut Oatmeal

Steel-cut Oatmeal
2 apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
2 TBS brown sugar
1 1/2 TBS butter, cut into 5-6 pieces
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 TBS ground flax seed (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt

Put all ingredients in slow cooker and stir to blend. Using a liner makes things so easy, but if you don't, make sure to spray the inside before putting the ingredients in. Cook on low for 7 hours. Spoon oatmeal into bowls. Makes 7 3/4 cup servings. I seperate mine into containers so that the portions are all the same. The best thing about this meal is that it keeps you full for a long time. I'm not going to lie though, it takes a while to get used to the taste and texture, but after getting used to it, instant oatmeal tastes nasty and this is so much better for you.

Optional garnishes: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup, additional milk, butter or brown sugar.