OP would have to verify, but I'm thinking NOT "sweetened/comdemsed", since significant amount of sugar(s) added... but DON'T take my word on that. BUT I've made a pretty tasty caramel sauce from sweetened condensed... actually dulche de leche. UNopened can (remove paper wrapper) in pot deep enough to cover by an inch or so. Bring up to simmer and let go for... 1 hour will give you something about the color of posted picture... 2 hours darker and thicker. DO not attempt to open can till COOL. Makes for a nice cheese cake... layer on crust before base goes in, swirled thru base before baking or drizzled over finished/chilled cheese cake. A spoonful in your coffee is a nice change from sugar. It's addictive!

Oh, catmom, you have just brought back some great memories!! When I was a young girl, perhaps once or twice a year my grandma and her niece would come to our house to make pierogies. My mom and I would round out the foursome for this process. I was always given some easy job, like mix the filling, but I never got to work with the dough. They were always so wonderful to eat for supper those evenings. Fast forward about 15 years, and I am a new bride living across the continent from my family. I want to treat my husband to a special dinner, something he has never tried but I am sure he will love. I attempt to prepare pierogies myself, and the whole effort was a failure. I made them too big, the dough was tearing in the water, I had filling floating...I threw everything out and cried over my disaster. Can't quite remember what we did have for dinner, but I was sooo looking forward to the taste treat I had remembered. I never tried to make them again. Thanks to your luscious pictures, I will do so soon. After all, my cooking talents have undoubtedly improved in 25 years. Thank you, catmom!!

Did you add this to your blog? Hope so. Do enjoy and remembering some of my experiences with my grandparents. AND my mother in law. Right after we got married, 60 years ago, my MIL wanted to bake me a Angel Food Cake. She did not have the eggs, but she had a box. The box contained 2 packets and instructions.. MIL had baked cakes for years and did not need instructions. She just mixed both packages together and beat, and beat, and beat. She started to get up set because it would not form peaks. THEN she read the instructions. One was egg whites, and one was cake mix. She was so upset. But she poured everything into a pan. After cooking for awhile, she took it out. The cake didn't taste too bad, but the jelly mixture under the cake did not taste good at all. We laughed over that for years. The next one came from the bakery but she was a good cook.

Experiment. Spices are a bit of a passion/obsession of mine. I make all my own blends with whole spice. A greek blend is a good place to start. Just look out for spice blends that have salt as their first ingredient. Salt and pepper are cheap so it is used as a filler. Some also use corn starch and msg. Also cheap. Corn starch is great as it adds crisping-while-baking-texture especially for sweet potato fries. I prefer to add that on my own. Too much and it adds an odd flavor same with msg. I don't have issues really but don't use msg at all. I really like taking a 1/4 cup or less of avocado oil in a small bowl, as it does not mind high heat cooking, and add rosemary, dried or fresh, garlic, dried or fresh, and a pinch of sea salt. Overnight if possible or just a few hours to 'bloom' the flavor of the dried spice. Soak your potato wedges in cold water to remove starch for an hour, then dry and into the fridge, uncovered, for a hour or more. Easy to do if a protein or other parts of the meal need prepping. Skip it if you need to move on and bake right away. Toss in the seasoned oil and bake. The Greek blend as Ann_t mentioned has just about the whole kitchen sink. One recipe.... 2 tspsalt 2 tspbasil 2 tsporegano 1/2 tspthyme 2 tspgarlic powder 1 tspdill 1 tspmarjoram 1 tspcornstarch 1 tspblack pepper 1 tspparsley flakes 1 tsprosemary 1/2 tspground cinnamon 1/2 tspnutmeg Cavenders mentioned above... Salt, Black Pepper, Corn Starch, Garlic, Monosodium Glutamate, Oregano, Flavor Base Seasoning (Hydrolyzed Corn Soy Protein, Sugar, Onion Powder, Spice Extracts), Parsley And Five Other Spices.