Fried Spaghetti

At my last bookclub meeting, one of the ladies brought some “Homemade Bailey’s” (as she called it). I wasn’t sure if I had actually had Bailey’s before, to be honest. I’d had Kahlua, which I thought was similar. I’d always imagined Bailey’s to be minty. I don’t know if it is the whole Irish-green-mint association process that sparks off in my mind or what.

At any rate, I tried Kelly’s concoction and it was good. I told myself that I, too, would make some Irish Cream.

Today was the day.

In anticipation for New Year’s Eve tomorrow, I wanted to mix up something a bit festive. Normally I’m one who strays from the recipe card, finding ways to insert my own twist to cast of characters. This time, I was good, and followed the recipe. I figured if I was going to spend close to $30 on a bottle of liquor, I didn’t want to waste it with one of my haphazard “interpretations” of a recipe I had not even tested yet.

I found many variations for Irish Cream, but decided to go with this one from One Perfect Bite:

Irish Cream Liqueur

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups whiskey (i.e. Jameson’s Irish whiskey)
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

I mixed everything in a 4-cup glass measuring container that had a small spout, anticipating the pouring process from the container to my rinsed and empty cherry DaVinci syrup bottle. See, I’m an eager, impatient lady sometimes, when I’m bustling about the kitchen. I had to remind myself to be slow, stir careful and pour patiently. Good girl.

End result? Yummy. It’s a whiskey-tastin’ treat, yes it is. I filled my syrup bottle nearly to the top, and had about 1 cup of leftover. Frank and are sipping the extra right now over ice.

Saturday morning, a nice day for having a “lazy” morning breakfast (not truly “lazy” since that would mean, like breakfast in bed, or breakfast out – but “lazy” in the way that I don’t have to rush to get to work and can make something homemade and delicious). Pancakes the traditional way were out, because I just wasn’t feeling the whole standing over the skillet thing. But something warm and sweet was definitely on the menu.

I googled up some baked pancake recipes, even though I have some already. I found a few of them, but stuck with this one from Moms Who Think – Easy Breakfast Recipes, after finding a couple that were very similar, only with ingrediants listed differently and slightly different measurements. I figured thebase of the recipe must be good.

Baked Apple Pancake Breakfast Recipe

Ingredients:

3 large apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar (can use more)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (can use more)

PANCAKE MIXTURE

6 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2-3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350′F.
2. Grease a 9×13 baking pan.
3. Melt butter in baking pan in oven.
4. Place the apple slices evenly over bottom of pan.
5. Bake for about 10 min, or until apples soft.
6. Remove apples from oven, and dust with brown sugar and cinnamon.
7. In a blender, combine pancake ingredients, and spread over apples.
8. Return to oven, and bake about 30-40 minutes.
9. Sprinkle with sugar topping, serve immediately.

I found this recipe slightly confusing, and strayed from it a little bit. I did not use a blender, but hand-whisked. I wasn’t sure what the additional 2T. butter were for, so I omitted. I used regular milk instead of half and half. But the end result was good. It was very good, actually. The consistancy was a bit like custard. I topped mine with blueberries and a wee bit of Agave.