No Milk, No Eggs? No Problem Pancakes

I want that blue ribbon maple syrup but don't have eggs and milk for pancakes. What to do?

Those darn carb cravings. I really wanted pancakes with yummy Caribou Cream maple syrup but fridge had no eggs or milk.

What I like to do best is making something without the standard components. Let's see what can be done with what is on hand.

I remember my mom often using apple cider vinegar to make the pancakes more sour than sweet. So, I thought I would use up the leftover Thanksgiving apple cider.

Here's what I had and used:

1 1/4 c flour

1 T sugar

1T baking powder

1T vegetable oil

1/2 c apple cider

3/4 c water

Mix all ingredients gently together. Don't over mix.

Let the batter sit a bit until you see the little bubbles.

To get 6 - 4" pancakes I used a 1/2 c measuring cup to scoop each cake.

Add vegetable oil and butter to the pan and heat. Scoop batter and pour into pan. Wait for those little bubbles again before flipping.

These were good size pancakes.

So good I couldn't wait to eat one. Those are crumbs from the first pancake. Yummm.

It tasted even better with the local cider and syrup.

How to Cut Glass Bottles

I searched "how to cut glass bottles" and found a few sites but none got me exactly what I needed. WHAT IS EASY & WORKS BEST FOR CUTTING?






Good, Fair or Poor Rating - based on my own research

Bottle cutter - fair; research suggested it is not worth the money especially if you are going to cut a lot of bottles.

Manual glass cutter (you know that old school metal cutter) - poor; what a mistake this was. I found it was impossible to score a bottle with what should be use for thin glass i.e. windows. And when I tried to fill the bottle with hot water then cold to break the line of course it did not work because the scoring was nonexistent.

Flaming Cloth soaked in Acetone - fair; if you only have 1 bottle, time and like fire, go for it.

Wet Tile Saw - good; cuts lots of bottles, easy to do and took under 20 seconds per bottle. I got the 7" table saw.


OK, I have the saw and am ready to begin. Right?

First, collect some cool bottles. Being a newbie to this I knew I had to have "test" bottles. So, I loaded up on Pellegrino. I was drinking good for a few weeks. Because I was eager to test out cutting I did not spend a lot of time collecting before the first cuts.

Next, you need to clean the bottles and remove the labels. Easiest method is HOT and sudsy water. I prefer Dawn for all things including spot removal and making bubbles.







Fill up the bottles and submerge them in the water. Poor yourself a glass of wine from an odd shaped bottle and enjoy the rest.

If you find that some of the labels are stubborn, either refill with HOT water or use a plastic, flexible scraper. The Pellegrino labels slid right off with no hassle.

Final step in bottle preparation is drying the bottles. I believe in low maintenance. So, I set the bottles in the sink upside down at first.

Give it a couple hours then turn them right side up to finish drying.






Easy.



Now you are ready for cutting. Let the FUN begin.

The wet saw gets a bit messy with the water. Next time I plan to set up a shunt for the water so it is not left to pool on the table.

It is slow rolling back towards you.












Don't forget the other equipment. I recommend the goggles for the water spray, gloves to handle the glass shards and mask for glass dust.

Right now I am using sheets of sandpaper for finishing. Next I will try sanding tools i.e. Dremel.







Soon to be using new drinking glasses and lighting candles in fun containers.