Breakfast Memories

This morning we had a very busy hour. As soon as we got up, I decided I was going to walk to the post box, just started going up the drive and who should I see walking towards me but - 4 PIGS!
Not what you expect to see when they are all supposed to be securely fastened in. It took 3 of us an hour to get them back in their house. They wandered all over the garden and led us a merry dance. The sooner they are dispatched the better. MOH has already started planning his new brining and smoking recipes.
Anyway after all that activity we decided it would be nice to have something different for breakfast. So for the first time in months we had pancakes. That made me think back to when we moved to france -13 years ago this week - we bought a pancake maker, you know the electric plate with 6 circles on it. We have had some wonderful breakfasts on it, everything from lemon & sugar for MOH to nutella and banana pancake sandwiches for the boys. This time we had golden syrup. Homemade. Golden syrup is very expensive here and I have a family that adores flapjacks, so when I saw this recipe I had to have a go and I can assure you I will never buy it again. This is excellent, tastes delicious and looks just the same. Try it and let me know how you get on. I made 3 big peanut butter jars for the price of just over a kilo of sugar.

It is not labour intensive even though it requires 45 minutes cooking, as once the caramel is done, the syrup is left alone to boil quietly. I did admit I stuffed up as I extended the time to 1 hour and the next day after cooling, the syrup was admittedly very hard. But no matter, I did another half a recipe, halved the cooking time, poured the 'hard' syrup in and the golden syrup came out as good as !

HOMEMADE GOLDEN SYRUP
Ingredients
200g sugar
50g water

1 kg sugar
600g boiling water
2 slice lemon

Method
1. Pour 200g sugar and 50g water into a large saucepan. On medium heat, twirl the pot around and caramelise the sugar until a dark golden colour.

2. Add the boiling water, the kilo sugar and lemon slices.

3. On low heat boil for 45 minutes until thick stir it occasionally if you must or leave it alone to do its own thing).
4. Cool and pour into sterilised jars or bottles. Label and store in a cool place.
Tip
1. The syrup when hot will always look watery but will thicken when cooled.

2. If you find after cooling the syrup is not thick enough, don't panic - boil it again for a few more minutes.

3. On the other hand if you find after cooling the syrup is way too thick, make up another half recipe, add the 'hard' syrup in as well and boil it all together for less than the required 45 minutes.

4. Do not throw away the discarded lemon slice. It tastes just like candied lemons.

I will add a picture tomorrow as my camera is out of action at the moment.