Pancake Syrup

Homemade pancake syrup, stored in an old Nutella jar. :-) I got this recipe from AllRecipes.com, and while it's extremely sweet, it's pretty good when you can't buy syrup in the store (or aren't willing to pay the equivilent of $15 for a bottle).

yield: almost 2 cups

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp maple extract

1. Combine sugar, brown sugar, and water in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and maple extracts. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini muffins make a great snack! They're even better if you freeze them first...

yield: 2 loaves (or 1 loaf and 18 muffins, which is what I usually do)

3 cups shredded zucchini
2 cups oats
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 cups skim milk
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Press zucchini on several layers of paper towels. Cover with additional paper towels; set aside.
3. Combine oats with flour, sugar, walnuts, and next 6 ingredients (walnuts through nutmeg) in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Add zucchini; stir. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Divide batter evenly between two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing makes you feel quite like you're at home like good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies!

yield: 4 dozen

1 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites or 1 whole egg
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Combine sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg whites; beat 1 minute. Add flour mixture and chips; beat until blended.
4. Drop dough by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

**NOTE**
I just made these for the second time in America and this recipe STINKS! It's wonderful for overseas, but in America DO NOT follow as above. Instead, use 1 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, or maybe 3/4 of each. 2.5 cups of flour total is way too much. The flour in America is different…more dense…so you don't need as much.