sorghum syrup: history, health benefits, & use

Sorghum syrup from Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill

The History, Health Benefits, & Uses of Sorghum Syrup

Have you ever heard of sorghum syrup, also known as sweet sorghum or sorghum molasses*? I learned about it recently through my Uncle Ronnie, who was telling me his fond memories of eating it drizzled over biscuits as a child in North Carolina. I happened to mention I'd never eaten it, so he sent me a batch! Gotta love uncles.

{*Note: Although some people call it sorghum molasses, sorghum syrup is not actually molasses, which is a byproduct of the sugar refining process and is made of sugar cane, not sorghum cane}.

Dutch baby: a delicious "fake pancake"

I'm going to send you into your Easter weekend with a notion of the easiest hot breakfast that seems like you expended lots of energy but which actually took you all of three minutes to prepare: a Dutch baby. Until recently, I had eaten Dutch babies in restaurants (hmm, not quite the statement I prefer making) but never made one at home. I call it a fake pancake because without the flipping and bubble-waiting, it doesn't seem like hard enough work to deserve the title. But as Vivi said when we sat down to eat them the first time, "It looks like a pancake, it smells like a pancake, and you put syrup on it. It's a pancake." Personally, I think she was just relieved to sit down to a food that didn't involve babies and the Netherlands. Since then, it's made it onto a near-weekly repertoire.

As with so many of Deb's recipes, I didn't need to tinker or alter the gingerbread Dutch baby from the smitten kitchen cookbook (here's her buckwheat baby). It is perfect as is. A few eggs, some flour, milk, and seasonings, zhushed up in the blender, poured into a skillet, cooked in the oven, and topped with powdered sugar. When you feel like pleasing your family with a special weekend morning treat, you can't get much easier.

top 10 favorite breakfasts

Image Credit: Cupcakes and Cashmere

Yesterday morning as I struggled to get everyone ready and out the door to get to my 9am spinning class, I realized I'm staring at many mornings to come. Once Vivi begins 9am, 5-day/week pre-k in one month, we'll be doing the morning rush EVERY DAY. Oh boy. How did I not consider this fact until now?

sneaky Pete: {summer squash muffins}

I'm all about sneaking veggies into my kids' meals. Every morning of the summer, we all drink a green smoothie, which is more accurately a neon pink smoothie as I've been putting beets into it lately. Vivi is obsessed with pink and will do anything to have it near her, including ingest it when combined with no less than two kinds of leafy vegetable (spinach and/or beet greens too). Popeye would be proud. Score 1 Mommy.

Even easier than sneaking vegetables into a beverage is into a bread. After our successful carrot muffins, I thought we'd try summer squash. I came into a big score of it (for a buck!) at the "seconds" stand at my local farm. Have one of these? I get some great bargains there. Sometimes the item sits in my fridge for a few days while I figure out what to do with it, but it always gets used somehow. This time, I knew just what to do when life gave me banged up squash: make muffins.