Pumpkin Spice Syrup

I saved the liquid that drained from the pumpkin puree!!! 

2 cups liquid

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

If I had cloves in the house, I'd sprinkle in a bit of that too.

I boiled this mixture, on medium heat, until it reduced to half the amount, making it syrupy and sticky. 

Processing Pumpkins

This is from allrecipes.com and is a great guide to help you figure out how to stock your freezer with rich pumpkin puree for your fall and winter recipes! I am looking forward to a Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Smaller is Better

Choose sugar pie pumpkins or other flavorful varieties. Small and sweet, with dark orange-colored flesh, they're perfect for pies, soups, muffins and breads.

A medium-sized (4-pound) sugar pumpkin should yield around 1½ cups of mashed pumpkin. This puree can be used in all your recipes calling for canned pumpkin.

Field pumpkins, which are bred for perfect jack-o'-lanterns, tend to be too large and stringy for baking.

Choose Your Method

There are three ways to transform an uncooked pumpkin into the puree used in baking: 

Baking Method

• Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stem section and stringy pulp. Save the seeds to dry and roast
• In a shallow baking dish, place the two halves face down and cover with foil
• Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for about 1½ hours for a medium-sized sugar pumpkin, or until tender
• Once the baked pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash it
• For silky smooth custards or soups, press the pumpkin puree through a sieve

Boiling Method

• Cut the pumpkin in half, discarding the stringy insides
• Peel the pumpkin and cut it into chunks
• Place in a saucepan and cover with water
• Bring to a boil and cook until the pumpkin chunks are tender
• Let the chunks cool, and then puree the flesh in a food processor or mash it with a potato masher or food mill

Microwave Method

• Cut the pumpkin in half, discarding the stringy insides
• Microwave on high power for seven minutes per pound, turning pieces every few minutes to promote even cooking. Process as above
• You can refrigerate your fresh pumpkin puree for up to three days, or store it in the freezer up to six months, enabling you to enjoy fall pumpkins for months to come

Thicker is Better

Once you've got a rich, smooth batch of pumpkin puree ready, you may notice that it's much more runny than the kind you get out of a can. We suggest that you allow your homemade puree to drain overnight before baking with it, especially if you're using a recipe that originally called for canned puree. The more water you can get out of the puree, the better.

To drain puree, line a large strainer with a double thickness of cheesecloth, a few flattened coffee filters, or a thin, clean dishtowel you don't mind getting stained orange. Place the strainer in a bowl, and then pour the puree into the lined strainer. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the puree and place the whole setup in the fridge overnight. You can use this puree in any recipe that calls for pumpkin puree.

To freeze it: Measure it into recipe-sized quantities (usually 2 cups) and store in resealable freezer bags. It will keep wonderfully for at least 6 months.
 

 Notes:

Here's a comment someone shared on this article on allrecipes: "An even better way to cook the pumpkin for a pie is to cut the pumpkin in half like two bowls and bake them with cream, spices and sugar in them. This makes a nice moist, mellow mixture once the flesh is scooped out that only needs eggs to be turned into pie (and you don't have to use yucky canned milk products!)"

This one's fascinating for a variety of reasons! "If you need to 'cook down' the pumpkin puree you've made, let it slowly simmer on the stove until it gets thick enough that the spoon makes a path through it. There is an excellent recipe for Stewed Pumpkin in Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ignalls Wilder. It's also reprinted in the Little House Cookbook. The cookbook says the stewed pumpkin should take about FIVE HOURS of cooking to get to the proper consistency. I happen to have a sugar pumpkin in the oven right now, baking is much easier."

Draining: I put the puree in a steamer-type pot with a coffee filter covering the holes, covered it with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge over night. Then, I took it out and put it in a warm place, assuming it would drain even more as it came to room temperature. We'll see how it goes!

Chocolate Milk Syrup (Brown Cow)

Is there still a product called Brown Cow? Or is it just the Nesquik bunny now? Regardless. You can use this for chocolate milk, hot chocolate, or drizzle it on your ice cream or cheese cake or....

This is from the Valley Mennonite Academy recipe book, submitted by Mary Klassen.

1/4 cup cocoa

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Combine first four ingredients; cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Use 2 Tbsp syrup for 1 cup milk.

Notes:

Wouldn't it be lovely to use strong coffee in place of the water? MMM!

I only used 1/2 cup sugar and I found it plenty sweet!

I had a great idea... I cleaned out an empty barbecue sauce bottle, got the smell out and everything, then poured the hot chocolate syrup in. Oops! The bottle wasn't made to withstand heat. Would have worked great if I had let the syrup cool first!

Iced Coffee

I take no credit for this recipe! You can follow this link for helpful instructions and step-by-step photos: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

The basic foundation of her recipe, and if you've had iced coffee and especially if you've attempted to make your own, are these two concepts:

1) iced coffee is easily diluted and therefore bland. 

2) it must be super cold; the colder the better!

First things first: the next time you make a pot of coffee, make extra or save the leftovers and freeze it in your ice cube trays!!! Make lots of them. Once they're frozen you can store them in a plastic storage bag or in a container.

The original recipe is roughly this:

In a large container (it will need a lid in a minute), combine:

1 lb coffee grounds

2 gallons COLD water

Stir to ensure all grounds are soaking in the water. Put the lid on, toss it in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours. The longer it sits, the more the grounds can settle and therefore easier to separate it later.

Strain it through a fine mesh strainer or use what you have on hand: I used a colander with a coffee filter in it. Put it into a (preferably glass) pitcher or container of some sort to store in the fridge. I find my Pampered Chef batter bowl works well, and I did NOT start with 2 gallons of water :)

When it's time to make your iced coffee mixture, fill a glass with coffee ice cubes OR throw them into your ice crushing blender :) LOTS of ice cubes! Add your coffee. I went for about 2/3 of the mixture being coffee, 1/3 any combination of milk and/or cream, vanilla or other flavoring you love, and sugar to taste. 

I just did a batch in my blender and it was approximately 4 cups of coffee, 1 1/2 cups of milk, 1/2 cup of cream (I know! right?), 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tsp vanilla. I gave it a quick whip with the blender to mix.

Updated May 20, 2014:
I made a batch today:
2 cups cold coffee
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cream
1 full tray of coffee ice cubes
No milk

The coffee isn't strong enough and I didn't add milk because it would dilute it further :(