Italian Dressing

1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard (dry)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon
dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Shake all ingredients in tightly covered container.
Shake before serving.

PREP: 10 min
Makes about 1 1/4 cups dressing

Cook's notes: We always use olive oil in this recipe (instead of the suggested "or vegetable oil"); it makes for a much more satisfying dressing. You will need to pull it out of the refrigerator about 5 minutes before each use, as it becomes pretty solid since the oil is cold. This also works fabulously as a marinade for grilled chicken! I was definitely skeptical the first time I used it, but I cannot express to you enough just how wonderful it tastes! Just let it marinade over night if possible.

Source of recipe: Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

Maple Syrup

3 Cups light corn syrup
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1/4 C water
1 1/2 tsp maple flavor
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs butter, optional

Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, and water in 2 qt sauce pan; mix with wooden spoon. Stirring occasionally, bring to rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Turn off/remove from burner and stir in maple flavoring and vanilla extract. Stir in butter.

Cook's notes: Adding the optional butter helps to keep your syrup from developing a film on the surface; the butter will still create a film, but it breaks up more easily. I love this recipe because it is so much more cost effective than buying the syrup sold in the store, and it tastes better! The recipe will yield a little less than 1 qt syrup. It is very easy to reheat when it is stored in a mason jar. You can warm it in the microwave in increments of 30 seconds (on high). It is well worth it to invest in some maple flavoring. Click here for a link to the best deal we found online (at the time- we could NOT find maple flavoring in the stores; additional note, we got the 1 pint size and it has lasted us a couple years).

Adapted from McCormick's Maple Syrup recipe