I’m on my last bottle of homemade maple syrup and I don’t want to use it on another batch of pancakes.  If you’ve ever had real maple syrup, you will understand why putting it on pancakes feels like a waste.  Don’t get me wrong – I love a big stack of pancakes with homemade maple syrup as much as the next person.  However, at some point, that beautiful golden real maple syrup should be honored with a special dish.

That is why I am in the process of searching for an “honorable” recipe for the last bottle of maple syrup in my pantry.

I am fortunate to have friends and family who get busy every spring to create this wonderful nectar from the sugar maple tree.  It’s a long, long, long process that yields this delicious treat.  Throughout the year, as I visit my family and friends, I am showered with gifts of maple syrup.  And, boy am I grateful!  There are usually about five or six nice big bottles in my kitchen.  I am so hooked on the real stuff now that even if we run out I won’t go and buy any maple syrup in the store.  Homemade maple syrup is THAT good and it tastes totally different from any of the factory produced stuff.

I’ll share a tried-and-true recipe that I’ve used often and with great success that highlights the homemade maple syrup.

Frosty Maple Loaf Cake

• 1 angel food cake, loaf pan size

• 6 Fig-Newton bars, crumbled up small
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 Tblsp margarine or butter

• 1 quart vanilla ice cream

• 1 cup whipped cream for topping (optional)

Cut the angel food cake loaf lengthwise in three even pieces.  Butter the insides of the loaf pan, or line with parchment paper so you can lift out the frozen cake, either way works.  Add the pieces to the loaf pan – one in bottom, two up each side.  Put the loaf pan in the freezer.

In a saucepan over medium low heat, stir cookie crumbles, syrup, and butter.  Stir until the butter melts and the mixture gets a little thicker.  Then, let it cool.
Put the ice cream into a big bowl and stir until it softens a little.
Add the cooled sauce to the softened ice cream by spooning it in and swirling it throughout the ice cream.
Pull the frozen cake out and spoon the sauce/ice cream mixture into the loaf pan.
Cover the loaf with plastic wrap and put back in the freezer overnight.
To serve, lift out by parchment paper, or dip the pan quickly in hot water and flip out onto a platter or serving plate.  Add whipped cream to top if you wish.

This recipe uses a whole cup of maple syrup.  It’s fun to make and kids love it!

Maple syrup is also the perfect sauce for salmon!  If you can get a hold of salmon where you are, making a simple maple syrup sauce for grilled salmon is a must.  It’s easy enough even without a recipe.  I just mix together maple syrup with a little Dijon mustard and a squeeze of lemon.  That’s about as simple as it gets.

Does anyone else have some good ideas for using a lot of maple syrup?  Do you get real maple syrup often?  And, better yet, do you actually make maple syrup?  I’d love to hear from you!

Making S’mores in our house is a favorite past time.  Whether we can build a campfire or not, the ingredients are always handy.  We’ll microwave them if we have to!  Needless to say, there are always graham cracker crumbs that could be scooped up and used for something.

One of the easiest recipes I’ve found to use crushed graham crackers in is also very kid friendly.  This is great fun for kids because they get to use their hands to smoosh everything up and it’s basically a no-frills, no-bake bar that’s ready almost instantly.

This is the recipe, if you can call it that!

Peanut Butter Bars In A Flash

• 1/3 cup crushed graham crackers
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1 rounded cup peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl using your hands.  Lightly spray with non-stick spray a small cake pan or other pan about 8 x 10 size.  Press mixed up ingredients into bottom of the pan to form crust.  Melt chocolate chips over warm water, then pour and spread over the top of the crust.  Cool in refrigerator until chocolate hardens.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

While the kids are busy smooshing the crust ingredients, you can be melting the chocolate.  It really does go very quickly.  Simple and delicious!

What kinds of treats have you made with crushed graham crackers?  I’d love to hear from you!

Of all the Jell-O flavors, I believe lime is my least favorite flavor.  I just never know what to do with it.  However, a sale is a sale.  I found Jell-O in a big sale bin at my local Dollar Store and couldn’t resist.  The bin had been pretty picked over when I got there, although I did manage to find a few strawberry flavored, a couple orange flavored, and even a lemon flavored.  But, mostly there was lime flavored left.  I had to dig deep into my recipes to come up with something to make with lime Jell-O, but I did find one, even though it’s a bit strange.

Years and years ago, when I was very young, it was quite fashionable to make vegetable salads using Jell-O gelatin.  You don’t really see that anymore, but I had a very old recipe still stuck in an old cookbook.  This is an adventurous recipe to try on a family who has never seen Jell-O used like this before.  Here’s the recipe – see if you’re brave enough to serve it to your family.

Garden Jello Salad

• 1 package lime Jello
• 1 package lemon Jello
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 cup mayonnaise

In a large glass bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients, stir until gelatin dissolves, then stir in the vegetables, then the vinegar, and the mayonnaise last.  This makes a big bowl of salad.

That’s the recipe, as strange as it may seem.  Now, I must admit, I haven’t tried it yet.  I’m going to give it a try this weekend.  My family won’t know what hit ‘em!

If anyone is brave enough to try this recipe and report back here, I’d love to hear what you have to say.  Good luck everyone!

If you’ve ever had a sick child at home, you know how you try to jump through hoops to make them feel better, or at least be happy.  Pudding always does the trick in my house, so we have a little stash of vanilla pudding mix just in case somebody gets a bit sick.  Some kids like orange Kool-Aid, some kids like vanilla pudding… I like to keep a bit of both on hand.

Digging through my pantry, I came across a couple boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix that I don’t remember buying.  I thought it would be a good idea to use it up before I go and buy a couple new boxes.  Rather than just make it and eat it, mostly because that just reminds me of sad little ones, I thought I’d use it in something yummy.

Fruit salad is a favorite of ours in the summertime.  We don’t just save it for special occasions. We  believe that anytime you can have a big bowl of fruit salad it is already a special occasion!  I found a simple recipe for a fruit salad dressing and thought I’d give it a try.  I’ll share it with you here.

Sweet Whipped Fruit Salad Dressing

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 pint whipping cream, whipped

Mix together the milk and pudding following the directions on the package.  In super cold metal bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold the whipped cream into the pudding mix.  Toss assorted fruit with dressing and serve immediately.  Chill any leftovers.

That dressing is just about as simple and sweet as you can get.  I can’t think of a much better use for vanilla pudding mix.  If you can think of something else to use vanilla pudding mix in, I’d really appreciate hearing from you!

If you’ve ever bought a jar of maraschino cherries to make something fancy, like topping cupcakes or ice cream sundaes, you’ve probably still got half a jar sitting in your refrigerator, like I do.  I’ve been searching all around trying to find something to make with these super-sweet treats, but aside from more sweeter-than-sweet desserts, I can’t seem to come up with anything.

Mostly what I find when I search for recipes that use maraschino cherries are not recipes to use them, but to make them.  Apparently, there are maraschino cherry aficionados who swear by the homemade variety.  When you read the ingredients on a jar of store bought maraschino cherries I can see why you might not want to ingest too many of them.  But, I am not an aficionado, I just want to use up my jar.

I saw a picture of a cake that looked like it had a layer of maraschino cherries in the cake itself, not in the frosting.  I didn’t get a recipe, but then I thought it might be just another too-sweet dessert.  I’ve seen them served in cocktails, but I’m not much of a cocktail drinker, especially sweet cocktails.

So, my dilemma is what can I make with maraschino cherries that is not a dessert or cocktail?  Has anyone ever used them as a part of a dish of some sort?  If you’re making a sweet and sour stir-fry, one that would have pineapple in it, could you throw in some maraschino cherries, or would the taste overpower everything else?

This is a puzzle.  I hope someone has a suggestion or two about what to make with maraschino cherries, because I’m stumped.  I’d love to hear from you if you do!

You may be familiar with tapioca only as a pudding, but it actually has other uses.  I learned about tapioca when I was doing a lot of crockpot cooking one winter.  Several recipes I came across called for using “quick tapioca” to thicken the gravy in the crockpot dish.  It worked so well that I now use it more often than I use cornstarch or flour.

If you’re not familiar with tapioca, it’s not surprising.  Tapioca is one of those things I remember vaguely as a child at my grandparent’s house.  Tapioca was sort of a staple back in the old days, but has since disappeared for some reason.  I never quite got used to the tapioca pudding Grandma made because of the “bubbly” texture, some would say like fish eggs.  Well, that’s enough to turn off a little kid, but my Grandpa sure loved it!

Aside from using tapioca to thicken meat gravy, I have a little recipe that uses tapioca in a dessert-like soup.  This is a fun recipe to surprise your kids with.  When you yell “Soup’s on!” they won’t be expecting this soup at all!  Here is my Mixed-Up Fruit Soup:

Mix and stir over medium heat, 2 tablespoons quick tapioca in 1 and 1/2 cups of water, until thickened.  Take off the burner.  Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate that’s been thawed, stir together well and heat through.  Put about 2 to 3 cups fruit in a bowl and pour mixture over the top.  Use whatever fruit you have in season, like strawberries, blueberries, or even some pitted cherries and yellow raisins.  You can serve this while it’s still warm, or serve it cold.

Tapioca is something that’s been forgotten, but shouldn’t be.  If you’ve been using tapioca all these years, or you’ve just discovered it, I’d love to hear your stories. 

Pretzels are one of those snacks that are always welcome in my house.  They are low in fat and taste really great!  So, what’s not to love?  I like the twisted shaped ones, the thin straight ones, and the fat ones.  They’re all welcome any time!

I’ve wondered what I could do with a whole bag of pretzels that would turn them into a really special treat for the whole family.  Yes, I’m happy to sit down with just an open bag of plain pretzels on my lap, but wouldn’t it be fun to have a big bowl of special pretzels for special days?  Think of game day or movie night…

I do like to make chocolate dipped pretzels on occasion.  They are simple to make – just follow the instructions on a bag of chocolate chips or melting chocolate coating to melt the chocolate, dip the pretzels in and lay on a piece of parchment paper to cool.  Put them in the refrigerator if you can’t wait.  The salty and sweet flavor is incredible.

Do you have any ideas for improving on the classic pretzel?

Since I’ve been on a low-glycemic diet, I’ve had to be very selective about my choices when I buy fruit.  Pears are low on the glycemic index, so they are my new best friend.  Besides being a good choice for weight loss, the nutritional value and fiber is remarkable.  And, as you know, I would never just buy one pear at a time.  They’re at peak season now and looked so good, you know I had to buy a bushel.  So, aside from just eating a pear, what can I make with them?

One of the ways I know how to serve pears is in salads.  Pears are particularly good in a salad made with mixed greens, a few green onions chopped up, a nice vinaigrette dressing, and topped with chopped walnuts. That’s a “company’s coming” salad!  As a kid, we used to have pears encased in Jello, which was always fun. 

Are there any tried-and-true recipes out there that would help me work my way through a bushel of pears?  Has anyone tried to freeze them, and if so, how.  I’m not an expert on canning, but would give it a try if there was a method that didn’t involve too much science.  Let me hear from all you fellow pear fanatics, won’t you?

I often get a little over exuberant when I find a sale, and I’ve done it again.  This great bread was on sale and I had good intentions of using it up in sandwiches and french toast, which I did for awhile.  But, I am still left with several loaves of bread that are now going stale.  I’m not a real fan of freezing bread, so I need some great bread dishes and casseroles. 

Here is one yummy dessert that I make with stale bread, that I will share with you.  It’s a tasty, simple Bread Pudding.  Here’s what you need:

2 cups of stale bread cut into cubes
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk (more or less depending on the bread)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins

Mix everything in a big bowl and pour into 8 inch square baking dish. 
Put dish into a larger baking dish and put in oven and pour about an inch of hot water into larger dish. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes, until knife inserted comes out dry. 

It would be nice to have a few main dish meals to make with stale bread.  I also have a vague memory of one that my Mom made like a cheese casserole, but can’t remember it well enough to duplicate.  Anyone have some recipes to share so I can use up my stale bread before I have to feed it to the birds?

It’s October… all those beautiful, orange pumpkins are lined up on hay bales in front of every store, and I am trying to figure out what to make with a pumpkin other than a jack-o’-lantern.  Besides pumpkin pie, are there recipes for using fresh pumpkin in soups, casseroles, and other desserts?

One thing I know for sure is the pumpkin you carve into your jack-o’-lantern, or set out among your Fall decorations, must not be the pumpkin you cook.  If it has been out in the weather for awhile, it’s not suitable for eating.  After your carved pumpkin has done its duty decorating your landscape, please add it to your compost pile or feed it to the deer. 

Now, back to recipes… when I buy my fresh pumpkin and get it home, what will I make?  I’m partial to winter squash and have heard you can substitute pumpkin in recipes that call for squash.  Has anyone had success doing that?  Also, there were some dessert bars that I had at a potluck some time ago that were delicious.  I’m sorry I didn’t track that person down for the recipe.  I’m wondering if anyone has a great bar or cookie recipe using fresh pumpkin.  One more thing;  how does using fresh pumpkin differ from using canned pumpkin?  Hope there is someone out there who can help!