Thirty-Five minutes to a home cooked meal

 Last night we came home from a quick 2-day trip to Virginia.  We haven't been able to travel much with my husband's knee issues.  We ate out every meal and even though some like that, we get tired of it pretty fast, so I got to work when we got home.  In keeping with the title of my blog, we passed a Food Lion and I stopped and got milk, some ground beef, and a bag of salad.

When we got home and after unpacking the car, I got to work.  Looking in the pantry for what I needed to make something, I realized a half-opened box of spaghetti and voila, the plan was made.  I quickly got a cast Iron pan heating up and got the beef in and found half an onion and bell pepper and chopped them up and added them to the beef.  We had just received our recent shipment of Thrive groceries and husband had a choice of RAO marinara sauce or Thrive's Roasted Garlic Sauce, he chose the latter.

I also found a half empty container of light sour cream, we don't like light stuff, so I added turned it into Ranch dressing.

Having the meat and vegetable cooked, I poured the sauce and let it simmer for about 30 minutes until it was nice and bubbly and reduced a bit.  Spaghetti cooked, meat sauce made, and the dressing on the table with the bag of salad greens.  We had a nice thrown together dinner within 35 minutes.

Ice cream was the dessert of choice for the husband, I chose to have a couple of the double-dipped chocolate peanuts and that hit the spot.

Try Thrive for yourself.  Use my link here:  http://thrv.me/L2EPRy

Again, another on the fly dinner that was a happy ending to a wonderful weekend get-away.

Until Next Time,

Blessings,

EBeth

Rainy Autumn Day Apple Butter

 It was a cold and raining October day.  I was home alone and found myself with nothing much to do.  The cats were asleep; the turtles are beginning their hibernating for the winter.  Realizing that I had purchased way too many apples, I decided to make something warm, spicy and delicious for us.

Searching for a recipe in several of my cookbooks and online, I came upon apple butter.  Well, I have been following Allrecipes for some time now and they had a couple of recipes, so I dug in and read them all and decided on one, changed a few things and began the process.

Here's the recipe: 

Rainy Autumn Day Apple Butter

1/4 cup  Maple syrup  (Log Cabin) 

 2 lbs. of Macintosh apples peeled, cored and diced 

 1/4 cup  dark brown sugar

                                                1 tsp each of cinnamon and ginger

                                                1/4 tsp of Cloves

Directions:

Combine the diced apples and maple syrup and cinnamon in a heave medium pot.  Cook for an hour on simmer until the apples can be easily mashed.   Mash the apple mixture to the desired consistency, I like it chunky.  Add the brown sugar and remaining spices and cook for another hour or so on simmer until the house smells like fall and the apples are a richer brown color.  

Place the apple butter in a glass jar and refrigerate.   It is amazing on toast, bagels and pancakes!

Commercial Break. It's a good one

Husband and I have been using Thrive for many of our groceries for several months now and am impressed with the healthy selections we get to choose from.

Use this link and try them for yourself, I think you will like it.  It is a subscription service, but if you always have foods/snacks/pantry items/household/personal items that you use, you will be able to find them here as well.

 http://thrv.me/L2EPRy

If you try Thrive, please come back and tell me what you think, I'd love to hear from you!

My best!

E

It's October and I'm married to a GERMAN!

 So, I get bored with the same old sausage and kraut, so I looked around YouTube to see new ideas for sauerkraut. I found a great channel called, Cooking the World, and the video on ways Germans have it in their meals. This video, she talks about 10 German dishes that include sauerkraut, their health benefits and other good information about kraut itself.  Several dishes I will be trying for sure.

Anyway, I didn't have a recipe from her video, so I had to put my meal together just with her description of the dish, so here goes.  Oh and I am cooking for 2, you will need to double or triple it for a family.

Sauerkraut-Auflauf - German sauerkraut casserole

Ingredients

4 small/medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

1 Tbsp salt

2 cups sauerkraut, drained

onion

garlic salt

Pepper

Liverwurst, I used Ground Beef

2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions:

In a pot of water, cook the potatoes until tender, then mash them with a tbsp of salted butter till smooth. While your potatoes are cooking, brown your ground beef in onions, salt, garlic, and pepper. Grate up the cheese, 2 cups or more. In my house, there is very too much cheese!

To put it all together, in a small casserole dish, spread a layer of potatoes, then the kraut, the meat and top with cheese. Repeat another time and top the whole thing with the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, since everything is cooked, it's just to get it all warm and melty.

My German husband thoroughly enjoyed it and it's going to be on the repeat from now on. Let me know if it is for your household.

Until next time!

Blueberries are NON-Stop!!!

 Hello Foodies!

Our blueberries are still going strong here in the coastal side of North Carolina.  I have baked with them, preserved them, made my famous B.O.B. jam with them, my freezer is so full of freezer bags of these little beloved orbs.  We have blackberry bushes too, but they are not netted, so I am in competition with our neighbors in flight.  I did manage to get enough of them to make my B.O.B. and get a few in the freezer but mourned when they were overtaken by ants during some big rainy weeks.

Anyway, how are your blueberries?  Still producing?  Finished?

My Beef Kale Stew

It's been awhile!   No, I haven't stopped cooking on the fly, just got really really lazy.  However, I am going to get back on this blog and show you some more things that I can do.   New equipment is coming soon, I first have to learn how to use them.   

Anyway, here is my recent offering.  The family loved it and it is on the "do it again" list.  I just realized that I forgot to label the first step.  

Start off with 1 lb. of ground beef and a medium onion diced.

  Enjoy!

 

Turkey and Chicken Stock and the Soup

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house there's that waif of the Christmas turkey bones boiling on the stove.  Well, the smell was amazing and the thought of the soup that will be rendered from it later in the evening was comforting.  I always have homemade chicken stock on hand and rarely buy store brands, it is the easiest of processes in  the kitchen, and really.  Here's how I do it.  Turkey has an obviously stronger flavor, so I usually just put peppercorns and carrots with a bit of salt in the water for turkey stock.  You decide how flavorful you want it.

Rotisserie Chicken Stock

1 rotisserie chicken, boned
2 quarts of water
1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 cloves of garlic
12 peppercorns, whole
1 bay leaf, optional
Salt to taste

In a large stock pot, add the carcass, roughly chopped vegetables, peppercorns, and bay leaf.  Pour the water to cover the bones completely.  Bring to a boil then lower the heat to simmer for at the minimum one hour, up to 3. The longer the simmer the more reduced the stock and the richer the flavor.

The Christmas turkey was amazing this year as my husband, through the years, has honed his craft at roasting the family turkey to perfection.  This year he brought home a 16 lb. gobbler and after everyone had their fill, we made turkey soup the next day.  Here is how we did it.

Christmas Turkey soup
1 turkey carcass
 2 quarts of water
12 peppercorns, whole
celery, onions from the roasting, no new adds

Add all together the ingredients and bring to a boil, simmer for at least an hour, up to 2 hours.  Drain the stock and set aside. 

Next:
1 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup of flour, all purpose
1 large onion
3 medium carrots
1/3 of a large cabbage
1 cup of rice
1 Tbsp table salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Melt in large stock pot, the butter, add the flour and whisk for 5 minutes, until the roux is buttery colored, add the roughly chopped vegetables and cook for 10 minutes stiring frequently.   After 10 minutes, add the 2.5 quarts of turkey stock, rice, and salt and pepper and bring to a boil.   Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked. 

 The cabbage was so tender and the carrots were so sweet that the soup was just perfectly seasoned.  It was a thick soup, almost a chowder, so the next day we added a bit of water when reheated it for lunch.  It was great!

Enjoy and See you next year!

Kashi Treats, OH MY!

We have been blessed with a sweet little grandson and I have him for a few hours each morning.  After feeding him the same thing everyday, I was getting bored...and so was he!  Now I was raised with rice crispy treats and made them with my own children, but we don't keep rice crispy cereal in our pantry anymore....what shall I do!??    Luckily, the hubster purchased some Kashi cereal last week and I had an idea!

What goes best with chocolate, peanut butter, and Kashi??   You bet, maple syrup!  OK, so you didn't think that was the answer, but you will definitely have to try this one.  Here's the recipe:

Kashi Treats
1 cup Kashi Cereal
1/4 cup uncooked oatmeal, original, not instant
1/3 cup of blister fried peanuts, (regular would do as well)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup of Kashi cereal

Mix these three ingredients together, then
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Mix these together and then add to the dry ingredients with a spatula until combined.  Line an 8" baking dish with waxed or parchment paper and press the mixture in.  Refridgerate for at least 30 minutes, if you can wait that long.   Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie (Pi day) a day late! But, I'm on the fly!

Chicken Pot Pie, my way

Here's what my family has always liked about chicken pot pie:  Cheese and BACON!

Yesterday was March 14th, Pi day, now I am not a math person, but am surrounded by science people.  My husband is a microbiologist and I have one daughter who is a biology teacher at the local high school and another daughter who is pretty brilliant in math among other topics.  I cook, bake, sew, and other arty things, so math has never been my knack.  In fact, if you asked me where to find math books in the library or book store, I'd tell you the horror section!

Well, anyway, here is my recipe for chicken pot pie for all those who like their pie for all other days of the year, along with Pi day.

My Chicken Pot Pie

The white sauce

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (I use White Lilly)

1-1/2 c whole milk

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp of Beef stock

salt and pepper to taste

 Filling

1 recipe of white sauce

1 package of mixed vegetables

2 TBsp diced onion

1 12.5 oz canned chicken

1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

Crust

1 cup of biscuit mix (I use Pioneer Brand)

1 egg

 

1/2 c grated cheddar cheese

1/2 c whole milk

1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

 

 

Directions

Melt butter in medium size sauce pan, add flour and whisk until smooth over medium heat for 1 minute to make sure flour is cooked.  Meanwhile, heat milk in microwave for 1.5 minutes to speed up the thickening process with the sauce.  Add half of the milk at a time to butter mixture until thickening and then the rest of the milk and cook until the sauce is thickened, but not too thick!  Add the seasonings and cheese.  When the sauce is completely mixed through and smooth, add beef stock and finish stirring until all smooth.   In a casserole dish, lightly grease the bottom with butter and add the chicken, sauce, and onions.   In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients together and pour over the filling.  Sprinkle bacon bits over the top and bake for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Serve with a salad and voila, Dinner!

 Enjoy! 

 

A country breakfast staring biscuits with Deep Run Roots

Country buttermilk biscuits made with 3 ingredients thanks to chef Vivian Howard, the Chef's life PBS series and her new cookbook, "Deep Run Roots" of which my sweet husband gave me for Christmas.  I have always made the Southern Living recipe of "Mile High" biscuits with egg, sugar, shortening, milk and they are truly a delicious delicacy, these are really good in a whole different way.   The eggs were cooked on the cast-iron skillet in olive oil using a very simple technique of spooning the oil gently over the yokes while they cook for a more evenly set egg.  They are also not as greasy as you may think..just lovely, actually.  The bacon we bake in the oven.  Ever since my husband learned that you can bake bacon in the oven and get the same crispy result he has been in  charge of the bacon prep.  Now for the biscuits:

Chef Vivian Howard's
 ENC-style Buttermilk Biscuits  (Eastern North Carolina)
(makes 10 biscuits)

1/2 c lard plus more for greasing the pan
2 1/2 /c all purpose flour, (I use Martha White)
4 tsp baking powder
2/3 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk

"Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Using your hands as both scoop and spatula, grease a baking sheet liberally with lard.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl and make a deep and wide well in center.  Add 1/2 cup lard followed by the buttermilk, taking care to keep both contained in the well for now.  If you're right-handed, take your right hand down into the lard-buttermilk goop and start bringing that together with your fingers.  You want to make that as much of a homogenous mixture as you can without bringing too much flour into the fold just yet.  Once you get it together, start moving the wet mixture back and forth, to and fro into the flour.  Turn it over and do the same.  Turn it over again and introduce more flour with each movement.  Once I get it going, I like to do a little motion that feels like a one-handed knead, using my thumb as if it were the other hand.  It's a real gentle, but it pushes new flour in with each movement.  Continue introducing flour until the dough is not sticky but still very soft and tender.  You will have about 1/2 cup of flour left in the bowl.  ......

Pull off a large golfball-size piece of dough and roll it up with your hand, pinching the bottom together.  Put in corner of greased baking sheet and press down to 1/2 inch thick.  Follow with next biscuit.  All sides of the biscuit should be touching other biscuits.  It's okay if you don't fill up the entire tray; it's more important that they are crowded.

Slide the tray onto the rack in the lower third of the oven and bake for 18 minutes.  Rotate the tray to the top rack and bake an additional 7 minutes.  The biscuits should be golden brown and crisp on the bottom, a little less brown on top.  Let them cool if you can for 2 minutes before eating.

Enjoy!

Fish Cakes on Friday!!

It's Lent here in my household and we are not fond of fishsticks from the grocery freezer, SO, I have to get creative and sometimes we do meatless/fishless meals, sometimes we do a soup and salad meal, or a breakfast dinner with eggs and toast, and sometimes I do a seafood of one sort or antoher.  There is one recipe that I found from Ina, Barefoot Contessa, that my husband especially enjoys:  Salmon cakes!  We never have all the ingredients, so here is what I do.


Salmon Cakes, courtesy of Ina Garten...with a few substitutions

Canned Salmon, or Canned Tuna, which ever you have on hand.
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp unsalted butter, (Always cook with UNsalted butter, that way you can season better!)
3/4 c red onion, I usually have yellow onion mostly, until summer with hamburgers!
4 small stalks of celery, I didn't have any celery....you can skip this ingredient.
1/2 c small-diced EACH of red pepper and yellow pepper...I had half of a green pepper on hand.
1/4 c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley,  I had dried, so to half or less....I put in 2 Tbsp
1 Tbsp drained capers
1/4 tsp tabasco.....I don't like it, so we don't add this, my husband keeps it at the table for his use.
1-1/2 tsp crab boil seasoning
3 slices of stale bread, crumbed
1/2 c Mayonaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 extra large eggs...... I get farm eggs, so 3 small/medium eggs will do.

Add all the ingredients into a bowl, mix thoroughly.  Mixture will be loose almost like pancake batter.  We used a 12" castiron skillet with Olive oil heated.  Pour the mixture into the pan with a 1/4 cup measure and cook 3 minutes on each side and are golden brown

Serve hot and enjoy!

Everything You Need to Know About MICROFIBER CLOTHS!

January Bakealong Challenge

King Arthur Flour's January bakealong challenge was a fun one, Pizza Party Buns!   I am always a rule or direction changer, so instead of making them pizza themed, I made them for a Sunday Family dinner with refried beans, tomato paste, and cheddar cheese and for excitement, chopped up bacon on the tops.

They were sensational and my son-in-law told me that they would be a great breakfast meal.  We tried it the next morning and sure enough, they were!

The directions were very easy, anybody can make these!  Here's the recipe:

For the Buns
Combine the following:
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

For the Filling:
1 can of Refried Beans, your choice
1 sm can of tomato paste, or salsa
1.5 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, or mexican blend
Bacon bits, for the top

After adding all the bun ingredients in a mixer with a hook, knead the dough until it's smooth. (2 minutes)  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise for about 90 minutes.  Punch down and roll out in a rectangle about 11" x 18"     Spread the refried beans on first followed by the tomato paste and/or salsa.  Spread the cheese on top and then roll the dough up lengthwise pinching the end into the dough lengthwise.  Slice the log into 12 rolls and place on a cookie sheet and let rise again for about 90 minutes.  ( I didn't really do that second rise and they were great!)  Then bake them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.   Serve warm with sour cream and more salsa!

Another birthday in our house

Our daughter, Sarah, is  turning 20 this week, so we are celebrating today with the family.  She requested a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing.....and she got it.  Lately, I haven't been writing on my cakes, just giving them a nice shape and style.  Elegant and definitely chocolatey.

Where does the time go?  I just had her...or well, 20 years ago.  crazy.

Pumpkin Bundt on the fly....really!

My husband had an invite for a "pig-pickin" as they call them here in the carolinas on the spir of the moment...or else, he failed to let me in on the invite and the promise of a dessert until the night before.  Anyway, this cook on the fly thought about it for a while before falling to sleep and woke up with a plan.  Usually, I process my jack-o-lanterns the day after Halloween, but I had to act fast and in the spirit of the pumpkin season, I had only 1.5 hours to accomplish this and it wasn't a group of people I knew, but my husband works with them....so it had to be good.

Pumpkin bundt was in order and it turned out very nice.  I found a few bundt recipes in my cookbooks, but I wanted something less spicy, but with still a flare.  Most recipe ask for more sugar than I think they need and canned pumpkin is lacking the depth of a homemade mash, that I make anyway, so here is what I came up with.

Pumpkin Bundt cake with flair
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp cloves
1 15 oz canned pumpkin
Mix together, confectioners sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon in a shaker...I used 1/4 cup confectioners sugar to 1 tbsp cocoa and 1 tsp cinnamon. for the topping.

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Mix sugars, oil in a large mixing bowl until nicely blended.  Add the eggs.  Next in a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients together with a whisk.  Alternate the dry ingredients and the canned pumpkin mixing until all is incorporated.    For your bundt pan, I crisco it thoroughly with a paper towel, then flour it.  That way you can see where you missed with the shortening.  Pour the batter in the pan and bake for about 55 - 60 minutes.  Let cool for  about 10 minutes before inverting cake onto a cooling rack.  

Sprinkle with the sugar mixture on top and voila!

The Pumpkin takeover 2016...and Lolek

Every year in the fall this amazing and sprawling plant brings forth it's fruit:  the pumpkin.  In recent years the retail world has commandeered this massive orange squash in a variety of ways that has snowballed into nothing short of a massive takeover this year!  What began as a fresh fall idea for all beer drinkers a few years ago has ballooned into a frenzy with nearly no limitations!  From pumpkin spice tea, donuts, and lattes to a more aggressive takeover of the well-known and loved original cereals of Shredded Mini Wheat, Special K Crunch, and Life, not to mention the unheard of pumpkin-flavored(gulp) baking chips, marshmallows, cookies, granola, and.......eh...imitation instant pudding?!  I thought I had seen everything until, alas, the Blue Dog Bakery came up with pumpkin flavored dog treats.

I'm a cookie butter fanatic and there is always a jar of Biscoff in the pantry, but the pumpkin flavored cookie butter made by some other company is completely gross, so I won't mention their name.   Actually, the biggest surprise on my pumpkin discovery was the tortilla chips, they were actually very good.  They are not sweet, rather salty and crunchy with a pumpkin hint in the background.  So, to my surprise, they were a success.

I asked the grocery manager at the Food Lion near me how many people buy the pumpkin flavored baking chips, she didn't think they moved at all.....no wonder...yuck!  I did not dare try the pumpkin spice instant pudding.....we just couldn't do that to our taste buds, I am a scratch cook for heaven's sake!   This discussion does not cover the complete list of "gone pumpkin" favorites, but just the tip of the iceberg, I tell you, beer varieties abound and so does the donuts, air fresheners, and tea and coffees along with cookies, on and on.  I even saw that Triscuit had a pumpkin spice cracker and I thought, if they pumpkin-fy my kid's beloved goldfish crackers...well there is no telling where my crazy would go.

Anyway, to be completely honest here, my most favorite orange treat in my world is my beloved little ginger, Lolek.  He is the sweetest feline buddy I know.

Lolek

King Arthur Flour's October Bakealong

 Oh this one was a breeze!!  I haven't used my french loaf pans in ages, so what a sweet opportunity it was!

These are the Everyday Whole-Grain bread that is the October bakealong challenge from King Arthur Flour company.   This bread worked up beautifully, with little effort. 

This recipe makes two loaves and as many bread dough are, it is versatile.  This time around, I made it in my French loaf pans, but next time I am planning on baking them in standard loaf pans so I can slice them for sandwiches and toast.  It is that good!!

The recipe is on the website, and there is a step-by-step link as well...here's the link from their site. 

The dulcimer is my birthday gift from my husband last year.....now I have a violin, mandolin, both a saprano and alto recorder, and a dulcimer.....and a piano, but our youngest is the master of that instrument.   I, however, an the master of none of these, but I love playing them when I have time.  Isn't it a pretty instrument, my dulcimer?

Anyway, I found it looked kind of traditional, basic, and old-timey at the same time with the lace tablecloth.

Well, I hope you will try the bread and enjoy it as much as we did.  I served this first bake with chili and it was fabulous!

If you make it, I'd love to hear about it.  Comment below and share your pics!

Until next time!

A Hubby surprise and Ginger Pickled Carrots.....YES!

The best part of being married to an open-minded eater, is being able to experiment with all kinds of recipes and getting his honest opinions along with watching him enjoy the fruits of your labor.  I am such a lucky girl.  Recently, I had the surprise of receiving a gift I truly didn't expect, my husband is a home-brewer hobbyist and is always looking/ordering/finding ingredients for his next batch of beer..usually online.  Well, I had put a few cookbooks that were new and upcoming, but not in print yet in the shopping cart on amazon, but didn't buy them yet and then forgot about them!! 
Crazy...I know. 

Anyway, he was hunting some beer ingredients this one day and discovered my books in the cart and decided to purchase one of them for me.  Super!  Not your momma's Canning Book...and what to make with them is that book!   I have been looking at this book for a couple of months and low and behold, it showed up on my porch the other day!

Immediately, I dug into it and discovered a few things I wanted to make....one being these lovely ginger pickled carrots.   The recipe is in this book and it couldn't be easier!  My hubby loves them....along with my son-in-law, so it's a win-win!  It made three jars of carrots and to be honest, I didn't use anything other than my favorite chef knife and me.   It's a stress reliever to just sit and julienne carrots...it was soothing, actually.

My next project will be mustard...but I am having trouble finding brown mustard seeds...if anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

Thanks!

King Arthur Flour's September BAKEALONG Challenge

Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins

King Arthur Flour's September Bakealong challenge was fun and I learned something in the process!

The neatest thing about any recipe I find is learning something new, a skill, an ingredient, or even a different way of manipulating ingredients to obtain the same result...or even better!  This is one reason I wanted to accept these challenges, because I knew that there would be some challenges that may challenge me!  I'm no expert, but I've learned a few things along the way and always happy to learn more to share with you!

In this recipe, I learned about boiled cider, of which I shared prior to this post and I wanted to let you know how absolutely delicious this ingredient is.  These muffins are great and the pumpkin flavor really stands out.  So, here is the recipe for you to make yourself, if you don't have boiled cider, or care to boil your own apple cider, you can  purchase boiled cider from King Arthur Flour's website here.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Till next time!

Boiled Cider: a new OLD pantry staple

The September King Arthur Flour's bakealong challenge has an ingredient that got my interest piqued.  I have never heard of boiled cider, absolutely love apple cider, but boiling it down to a thick syrup?  No, have not heard of it....until now.  In the challenge recipe this month, there are alternatives to this ingredient (such as molasses, brown sugar, etc), but says that boiled cider is really the preferred choice, and that you had to buy it from them, you can't just boil apple cider......  Oh, yeah you can, I did some research.

The best recipe and description of boiled cider that I could find was from Rebecca, over at her blog: "Foodie with Family", she has a great recipe and some background about it.  Yes, you can buy it, but it wouldn't be true to myself if I did that, without some investigating.

OK, so what is boiled cider and what do you use boiled cider for? Well in the bakealong with King Arthur Flour, you add a quarter cup of this syrup to the batter for a more heightened pumpkin flavor, you can add this syrup to apple pie filling to bring about a stronger apple flavor.  Tasting it, I can see it as a syrup over pancakes, ice cream, and Rebecca at Foodie with Family, also suggests over ice with seltzer water.  It's a syrup, so use your imagination!

According to Ark of Taste in the USA they report about it and Cider jelly as a ..."relatively little known except as a cultural artifact, and certainly underappreciated."  I have to agree!  Yes, it takes a few hours to accomplish from boiling apple cider, but the results are dripping with flavor and benefits!   Give it a try!

Here's how:

In a stainless steel, non-reactive stew pot, stock pot, what ever, I used one gallon jug of apple cider.

1 gal Apple Cider
other ingredients to each is own:
Cinnamon, ginger, vanilla bean, allspice, etc.    I didn't do it this time.

Boil down to 1/7th of it's original amount.*

*My husband is a scientist and gave me the exact measurment in meters.......I with a glazed-over-face, I got a popsicle stick from my craft stash and measured the before amount in the pot and divided up the eights on the ruler and did it that way and made my mark there as well.  It took about 2 hours on medium heat on the stove for the total reduction, and OH how the house smelled!!

Some time later, you have a nice thickening apple syrup!