This morning called for creativity. Jonathan's usual breakfast foods were out-of-stock, and the only viable option was pancakes, which were made ahead and ready to toast. But, we were out of syrup. Determined, I grabbed some thawed blackberries from the fridge, threw them in a saucepan and started cooking. Did I have a recipe? No. I didn't need no stinking recipe. OK, blackberries are boiling. Now what? Sugar! Blackberries are quite tart on their own, so a dose of sugar ought to balance out the taste. I thought that I remembered that citrus juice was supposed to go in berry syrups, so I juiced half of a big navel orange by hand and poured the juice into the pot. What else? Vanilla? Yeah, that sounds good. Hmm. Runny. Guess I'll just have to reduce it down. Twenty minutes later, I had a thick syrup. But it was full of seeds. Crunchy syrup didn't seem quite right, and it was still tart. A couple more tablespoons of sugar and a pass through a sieve got me two things for the price of one: blackberry syrup, and seedy glop.
Jonathan's been in to dipping pancakes into his syrup lately, so I put some of the delicious mixture in a separate part of his plate. As if the time spent on the no-recipe syrup wasn't enough, I also thought that it would be nice to give him a big dollop of whipped cream--an extra-special treat for what had become an extra-special breakfast. Then, I cut up some expensive cheese to add a little protein to the meal. That's the breakfast that I made. The breakfast that he ate, by contrast, consisted of a large dollop of whipped cream, and a couple of finger tips' worth of syrup. For added fun, he smeared about half of the syrup on the sides of his booster seat, the back of his chair, and wherever else he could reach.
Note to self: The strawberry jam that was already in the refrigerator would have been easier, and, let's face it, had better results.
Note to self #2: We have at least two dozen cook books that would have had a recipe for homemade syrup in them. And, this invention called "the internet" could have led to hundreds of recipes in just a few seconds.
Note to self #3: Upon reading said recipes, the usefulness of the strawberry jam would have been much more apparent.
Note to self #4: Unless the other sections of a plate are heaped with candy, the whipped cream section always trumps all other sections.
Gamma and Gampa Holman got into town last night, so Jonathan is getting a lot of extra play time over the next few days. Gamma took care for Jonathan for several hours today, so that I could get a shower, haircut, and oiled and lubed car, all of which were needed--badly. I'm guessing that the weekend may be too busy to post daily updates, so look for something new on Monday. We're excited for our last Easter at the Hollywood Bowl this Sunday. It'll be different this year, because there is no assigned seating. The box seats that we've had every year were a nice perk of being married to a church staff member. Happy Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment