Day Two/Seven – Monday, October 21, 2024

A quick disclaimer. I am under the weather pretty badly today. I was trying to decide if I would continue with my adventure into the world of prunes this week. I chose to forge forward, but given my low energy, I thought I would do a simple, quick recipe.

Stewed prunes do not sound good. Actually, they sound God awful. But, these were surprisingly fantastic! I cannot say how pleased I was at the outcome. I made this recipe up by riffing off instructions for stewed prunes I found in my Grandma’s old cookbook, “The American Woman’s Cook Book” from 1948.¹ The steps to make this snack are quite simple.

Pour 1/2 cup of water into a small saucepan. Add 6 prunes to the water and bring to a boil. Add a sprinkling of vanilla sugar and one whole star anise. After a hard boil is achieved, turn heat down to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Then remove from heat. Let stand for another 20 minutes to cool and blossom. Enjoy!

The star anise and vanilla sugar are optional. Technically, you can make stewed prunes with just prunes and water. I used the vanilla sugar and star anise to jazz it up.

I am especially fond of Nordic Sprinkle’s vanilla sugar. The sugar plus the anise makes the prunes taste very Scandinavian indeed!

These stewed prunes were simple and quick to make. They turned out plump, moist and delicious. I would make these again. They were hands down better than dried prunes.

What other additives would be good in stewed prunes? Maybe cinnamon and orange? If you have any ideas, please share them with me. I plan to make stewed prunes again this week.

Hopefully, I will have more energy tomorrow and can make something a bit more involved. Stay tuned dear reader!

1. Home, Delineator, and Ruth Berolzheimer. The American Woman’s Cook Book. Garden City Publishing, 1948.
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