Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

Another mouthwatering use for your homemade Strawberry Jam....I know. I promised you peanut butter and jam bars today. (Coming tomorrow instead.) I hope you'll forgive me. This morning I felt inspired to make a more obvious use of the strawberry jam by pouring it over piping hot buttermilk pancakes, surrounded by fresh berries. The syrup, one part maple and three parts strawberry, tastes like spring and fall, like Vermont and California, like the old west and back east, like elementary school and graduate school. My husband, a man of very few words, hence the nickname "The Quiet Man," was practically verbose in lauding this syrup. Practically. "This is so much better than anything you could ever get at a restaurant." I wish I could add an exlamation point, but that really isn't his style.

I had to give you this recipe in time to make Sunday breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. Or midnight snack. It's really that good. Exclamation point!
Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup for Four

Estimated Cost: $3.50

Notes: I usually make my pancakes with oil, simply because I'm too lazy to melt butter and I'd rather slather it on top of my pancakes where I get the full benefit of its flavor.

3/4 cup strawberry jam

1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup (Grade B works best here)

1 cup flour (I use half whole wheat)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1-2 tablespoons canola oil or melted butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium microwaveable bowl, combine strawberry jam and syrup. Heat until just simmering. Keep warm until serving time.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, powder, soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together buttemilk, oil, egg and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir GENTLY until just combined. (You'll have some lumps-it's OK.) Grease a no-stick skillet and cook pancakes on medium low for about 90 seconds per side. Serve with lots of butter and syrup.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches with Strawberry Jam

What to make with your Homemade Strawberry Jam..(scroll down for recipe)I can't say the words "Monte Cristo" without thinking of the Count of Monte Cristo. In sixth grade, my dad stocked my bedroom bookcase with a library of classics. To this day, I'm not sure if he just needed more storage for his own books, or if he was trying to encourage the three of us that shared the upstairs bedroom to put down the Sydney Sheldon novels and dive into good literature. Proximity was everything. It took no coaxing to endear to characters like poor Edmond Dantes, pining for the beautiful Mercedes, spending years in jail, discovering buried treasure, and ultimately avenging himself of the agonizing injustices and sailing off into the sunset with his new love.
This sandwich is almost as exciting and full of contrasts as the novel. On the one hand you have the savory blend of ham and turkey, sharp mustard and nutty melted cheese. For sweet revenge, you have the (hopefully homemade) strawberry jam and a dusting of snowy powdered sugar. It's that successful balance of opposing elements that makes sandwiches-and novels- a treasure to be savored again and again.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches with Strawberry Jam
Estimated Cost: $6.00 for four sandwiches
Notes and a Confession: I used a loaf of homemade wheat bread, but any sandwich bread will do just fine. I made one for me with no meat-just Brie. C'est magnifique!
1 egg
1/2 cup low-fat milk
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
4 slices wheat bread
deli sliced ham
deli sliced turkey or chicken
deli sliced Swiss or Gruyere
1-2 tablespoons butter
strawberry jam (use your HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM)
powdered sugar
In a pie pan, whisk together the egg, milk, mustard, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Layer meats and cheese on wheat bread. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture. Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add sandwiches and cook until browned on both sides and cheese is melted, about four minutes per side. (I covered the skillet to help melt the cheese.) Cover tops of sandwiches with strawberry jam and powdered sugar.
Coming Tomorrow
Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Bars

Juicy Strawberry Freezer Jam

If putting up jam sounds about as remote as no-nonsense Aunt Martha on the ol' family homestead in a vintage floursack apron, think again. You don't have to live on a farm, or even have an Aunt Martha, to reap the benefits of homemade jellies, preserves, marmalades, jams and syrups. You don't even need sophisticated canning equipment. All you need is some fruit-strawberries in this case, lots of sugar, a box of pectin (and even that is not truly necessary), some clean jars and a freezer. It's easy, it's fast, it's cheap, and it's so much better than any jar you could buy at the store. You'll be bottling up the taste and smell of fresh spring strawberries. So, wait until your market has half-flats of strawberries on sale, and make a big batch. Then invite Aunt Martha to come over and have tea with jam and bread. Unless you don't have an Aunt Martha. I don't. But I'm sure somebody out there does, and I'm also sure she's going to love your jam.

Strawberry Freezer Jam:

Estimated Cost: $3.50 for about 6 cups

Notes: I'm going to include two recipes below; one is for traditional freezer jam, the other for my slight variation. I like my jam a little looser and more juicy than regular jam, so choose either version according to your taste.

The way I do it for juicy jam:

4 cups halved strawberries

4 cups sugar

1 (1.75 ounce) package pecting

3/4 cup water

Place berries and sugar in a large bowl; mash with potato masher and let stand for 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, boil water. Stir in pectin and boil one minute stirring constantly. Pour into strawberry mixture and stir until no sugar crystals remain. Leave out for 24 hours to set. Freeze for up to one year, or refrigerate for one month.

For traditional freezer jam:

2 cups crushed fresh strawberries (measure after crushing)
4 cups sugar
1 (1.75 ounce) package pectin
3/4 cup water

Follow the same method as above.

Coming this week:

Two recipes to use your strawberry jam