Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Is it cold where you are? I woke up to 63 degrees in our little house this morning.  After adorning sweats and brewing the coffee, I made the decision to turn the heat on for a few minutes.  I had to!  It was 40 degrees outside with the wind howling, but I'm thankful to God for the little things like a cozy house and a hot cuppa joe.

On this chilly start to a new October week, I have quickly learned a valuable lesson.  Peanut butter crackers followed by pumpkin spiced coffee is horrid.  It made my coffee taste old.  Consider yourself warned.

This is going to be a big week at The Mason Jar.  There are some a-maz-ing recipes that I tried out this weekend that I can't wait to share with you.  OK, maybe it won't be that impressive, but I am excited to have new material to write about.  Some people have writer's block; I sometimes suffer from baker's block.  But, I pressed onward yesterday, bursting forth to the other side and have survived to bake another day. 

Last night I was charged with providing the food for a home Bible study that is had by some of the ladies in our church.  They take turns hosting each week and I did the food for them a couple weeks ago, so I kind of new who I was cooking for.  I think that knowing your eaters is the priority in determining what to prepare, especially when you are sweetly told, "Oh, just fix whatever sounds good, hon."  Everyone around here calls me, "Hon."  I'm learning to go with it.  Anyway, since I tend to live on the edge, I prepared a menu of foods that I hadn't cooked before.  I even baked a cake without a recipe...gasp!  If that ain't crazy, I don't know what is. 

Today I want to give you a quick recipe for pumpkin spice syrup.  In my last post I shared how to make homemade pumpkin spice lattes, but I wanted to share this syrup for when we have those busy mornings and don't have time to make a latte.  This is super easy, and I found the recipe over at Tasty Kitchen. 

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup
In a small pot, combine 1 1/4 cup water and 1 1/4 cup sugar. You are making simple syrup.  Let it come up to a boil and then turn it down to low, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Then whisk in 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cloves, nutmeg, and ground ginger.  Also, whisk in 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Once it turns kind of a brown color [about 2 minutes], take it off the heat.  Let it come to room temperature and store in the refrigerator. 

I put mine in a squeeze bottle, just keep it simple.  At first when I tasted the syrup I thought, whoa!--too much cinnamon!  But in my coffee it is just perfect.  It got me to thinking that making my own coffee syrup is pretty simple.  Once you get the simple syrup made, you could add vanilla, ginger, or anything you like!

Stay tuned for tomorrow...the mother of all spice cakes.  :)