American Club, Craisins and Aunt Paula's Famous Flapjacks!

Even though it's 7 hours away, the American Club is like a home away from home for me.  During this visit, I experienced periods of deep inner peace.  Granted, this was my first quiet period away from the kids since my trip to Utah last October (my trip to NYC this summer was awesome, but not exactly quiet), so that could explain the blissful feeling.  I've had a headache for about a month and when I was there I was "headache free."  Twelve hours of being home, and my headache is back, but it was nice to have a breather.

American Club, picture taken with my phone

And, I didn't leave the campus much, so instead enjoyed many of their different restaurants on site.  Here's just a little sample of the grounds (taken with my phone).  Keep in mind, we haven't had live plants or leaves on the trees since early September, so what a treat to see some live vegetation again.

American Club Grounds

 



My room-service meal was out of this world, but my outing to the Immigrant Room was by far the most amazing meal of the week (possibly best of my life).    Here's a sample of the what the table looked like:

First Round at the Immigrant Room

And, the food:

Course 2 - Sushi!

I could go on and on about this place.  If you know me, and see me, ask me for the details because I love to talk about this place.  The only other place that runs a close second (IMO), is Sundara in the Dells. 

But, onto my cooking in the moment!  When I got home Graham helped me make craisins with my remaining cranberries.

Craisin Making Graham

SUGAR-FREE CRAISINS

I boiled 2 cups of cranberries with 1 cup of sweetener (I used agave nectar, steevia and honey).  Barely cover the cranberries and sweetener with water and boil for about 7 minutes until the cranberries "pop".  You'll hear it / see it happen, it's kinda' cool.  After I popped them, I baked them for 8 hours on 170 degrees.  Yes that's right, 8 hours.  Easy - yes, takes a long time - yes, but we have wonderful CRAISINS.

With the craisins we made my Aunt Paula's famous pancakes and famous syrup.

Aunt Paula's Famous Cakes and Syrup

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

2 Eggs

2 Cups Buttermilk

4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 Cups Flour

2 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Soda

1 Tsp Salt

Mix all together. May need to add more buttermilk. Makes 8 large

pancakes. I add cranraisins or blueberries

And, here's the yummy syrup recipe:

SPECIAL SYRUP

1 Cup Butter

3 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup Maple Syrup

1 Cup Whipping Cream

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat, blend brown sugar until syrupy.

Simmer over low heat 5 minutes. Stir in maple syrup. Blend in whipping

cream until smooth. Best served warm.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Eeek, this next picture even scares me - and it was taken of me at the American Club.  Spooky......

Happy Spooking,

Kristin