Buttermilk Syrup

1 C Sugar
1/2 C Butter
1/2 C buttermilk (can do regular milk with a splash of lemon juice)
1 T White Corn Syrup
Bring to a boil and cook for 3 min in deep saucepan. After boiling for 3 minutes remove from heat and add:
1/2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
Mix well and serve warm

Blintz's

This is something we came up with after Shawn had blintz's at IHOP. I don't have exact measurements because we just kind of throw stuff together, but here are my best estimates of amounts...

1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c cream cheese
squirt lemon juice
1/2 c powdered sugar
sprinkle of vanilla

Make crepes. Fill crepes with a few Tablespoons of filling above. Serve with fresh fruit on top and with fruit syrup (we prefer strawberry...)- sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Crepes with Orange Sauce

Okay, these measurements are approximations, I never measure when I make crepes, I just add stuff until it looks and tastes right to me. As you can see, We like our crepe's sweet, with the sugar- many crepe recipes just call for eggs, flour, and milk, which is fine, I just like mine sweeter and smothered in Orange Sauce.

Crepes

6 Eggs
1 c Milk
1 c Flour
1/2 c Sugar
2 T Oil
2 t Vanilla

Directions:- mix in a blender- the batter should be runny, but not too runny (like thin pancake batter). Heat butter in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Pour a couple of tablespoons of batter into the pan and immediately lift the pan and tip around to spread the batter into a large, thin circle. Cook until it holds together and flip (should be only barely goldened...) cook another minute until barely golden on the other side and you are done!

Orange Sauce

1/2 c Orange juice concentrate
1 stick butter
1 c Sugar

Cook on stove in saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a slight boil. Reduce heat and just keep warm until ready to serve and eat.

Liege Waffles

I got this recipe from my cousin's cooking blog and it was Delicious!

3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup pearl sugar
1 cup very soft/melted butter
2 eggs
1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons sugar (add some vanilla sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt


1. Take the lukewarm milk and mix in yeast, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt. Let the yeast develop for 15 minutes. In the meanwhile you can soften the butter.

2. Now take a large bowl and put in the flour, make a hole in the middle, pour in the yeast that you made in step one. Also add eggs and melted butter and knead until you get nice and even dough. I had to add a little extra flour until it was moist but not sticky. Then let it rest so the yeast does it's magic and the dough doubles. About 30 minutes.

3. Now take pearl sugar and gently mix it in.

4. Again, let it rest for 10 minutes, in the meanwhile you can turn on the waffle maker so its nice and hot.

5. All there is left is to pull the waffle dough into 4 oz patties and place in the waffle maker and bake for 3-5 minutes. Because we mixed in the sugar late in the process it will melt and caramelize and give that special Liege waffle taste. Just be careful when you take them out of the waffle maker, caramelized sugar can make them sticky.

6. Serve with fresh whipped cream, cut berries, and or melted chocolate or caramel.

Cinnamon Sugar Pancakes

Buttermilk Pancake mix

Water

Vanilla

Cinnamon sugar

Make pancake mix according to the directions on the package. Add a dash of vanilla. Sprinkle in some cinnamon sugar. Cook as normal. Delicious with syrup.

Personal Note: I am not really much of a food inventor, I will happily tweak stuff, though! I am sure I am not the first person who thought of this, but to be honest, I hadn't, so I was taking a risk trying it out. I was pretty proud, they turned out delicious and they were super simple! Shawn said they were the best pancakes he has ever had, but he likes to praise me! Enjoy them!

Sweet Peppered Bacon

Bacon

Brown Sugar

Fresh ground pepper

This is simple and yummy- just coat the bacon in the brown sugar, then grind some fresh pepper over it and bake it in the oven for as long as you want to your desired crispiness. This works best if you put the bacon on a rack and have a drip pan underneath- at first I wasn't sure how I felt about it and then I found myself craving it!!!

Stuffed French toast

Eggs
Milk
cinnamon
dash vanilla
dash nutmeg
cinnamon bread
cream cheese

Make your french toast dip the way you like it, personally I like to add that dash of vanilla and the dash of nutmeg, in addition to sprinkling the french toast with some more cinnamon while it is cooking...
Take two peices of cinnamon bread (I have found really good bread at Smith's for $1.25 that works really well and makes quite a bit) and spread some cream cheese pretty thickly on one of them and then put them together like a sandwich. Dip them in the french toast dip and cook like french toast, just be careful when flipping it not to let the bread separate! Also, don't cook above medium so that it can cook through!!!
You can serve this by itself or with fresh fruit and fruit syrup on it- Shawn loves to do it with strawberries or raspberries and the same flavored syrup on top!
Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Pancakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Someone who was working at Curves mentioned to me this morning that for Halloween she was going to go home and do pumpkin pancakes for her family, so I thought I would give it a try. I think they turned out pretty good and it was fun to do it for the holiday!

Crepes with Orange Sauce

6 eggs
1 C milk
3/4 C flour
1/4 C sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
dash of oil (optional)
(to be honest, I am guessing on these amounts- I usually just add things until it is the right consistency- like a thin pancake batter- just thick enough to be about 1/8 in thick, but thin enough to spread it around the pan and cover the bottom of a large fry pan.)
Mix together in a blender until a nice smooth consistency. Pour out only a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup in a well- buttered pan on medium- high heat and spread around the pan by lifting and tilting the pan. Flip it after a minute or so and cook for another 30 seconds. Set on a plate- we like to roll ours up and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Sauce:
1/2 C frozen orange juice concentrate
1 stick of butter
1 C sugar

Melt butter and orange juice in a pot and then add sugar. Cook on medium heat until well mixed and then turn it up just a bit to slightly boiling- keep mixing with a wire wisk fora minute or so, then turn down the heat and let it simmer while you cook your crepes. Very tasty!

Breakfast Casserole

8-12 oz Cooked Sausage (depends on what you got- this is a nice way to use your leftover sausage)
8 eggs
small container of heavy cream
6 oz shredded cheese
4 slices of bread

Cut up the cooked sausage into small chunks. Break bread into small peices. Sprinkle the bread over the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle the sausage over this. Now sprinkle the cheese over this. Then mix the eggs and cream together and pour it over the rest of the ingredients in the pan. This should just cover the other things- if it doesn't, just add some more eggs and maybe milk...
Cover and put in the fridge over night.
The next morning; cook it in a 350 oven for about half an hour- it is done when it no longer gigles in the middle and the sides are turning golden.

Coffee Cake

2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 salt
1/2 C butter
1 egg/ milk
1 1/2 t vanilla extr.

Heat over to 350. Use a 9 x 13 pan. Combine cake ingredients except for egg and milk- crack the egg into a 1 C measuring cup- then fill the rest of the cup with milk. Mix this into the batter- then sprinkle Strudel on top.

Strudel:
1/4 C flour
2/3 C sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 C butter (not melted or softened!)
Combine all, except for the butter; then cut in the butter with a fork, or your fingers (fingers work best)

Cook until done- about 20- 30 minutes.