Make it Yourself Syrup. Yay!

One of my first memories of my mother, is her making bread. She did this every day, and buying bread was unheard of. My sister and I would ask for it as if it were a treat. Take this idea for making things at home. Things that are used often, and can be easily made. Take small steps at first. My mother was able to make bread often for several reason. One she was a stay at home mom with time, two she was great at it and most importantly she loved doing it! Just by making bread instead of buying it, she saved our family bucket loads. Now, I don't have time to make bread every day or even everything day so that option isn't practical for me. Think of things that work in your life.
For instance, we make waffles, pancakes and french often and use lots of syrup. Pure maple syrup is CRAZY expensive! Yea it taste good, and there is a difference between it and Mrs. Butterworth's, but still I can't really justify spending at least 8 dollars on 16 ounces of syrup at is sloshed on bread products. Then again, I hate the way the fake stuff tastes. It ruins the work I put into making the meal in the first place. What is my solution, make my own syrup! It takes about twenty minutes, and a small amount of work, but the results are well worth it.
Here's the recipe I used with my comments
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. maple extract
(I also had half of a whole vanilla bean that I tossed in and remove but adding maple extract)
THAT'S IT!
In medium sauce on medium to medium low heat stir constantly the water and sugar until slow thick bubbles appear. (This took 20 minutes on my stove, and I adjusted the temperature slightly. If you see smoke rise from the pan turn the burner down. If you don't you will burn the sugar, and it sucks to clean off!)
Once mixture has thicken remove from heat and add maple extract. (I could only find imitation, but I was pleasantly surprised)
Note: The syrup will be thin at first. It does thicken further when you refrigerate it.
So there you have it, taste homemade syrup that cost about 50 cents for 2 cups worth. Incredible if I do say so myself!