Chocolate syrup

For ice cream, milk, desserts, etc.

3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon light Karo syrup

Heat the water and sugar to a boil, whisk in the rest and continue whisking until the solids are dissolved. Continue cooking until reduced. Cool slightly and serve. The rest keeps for a long time in a jar in your refrigerator.

Cost: all these ingredients are pantry staples, so a batch will run MAYBE 50 cents, if you use the good cocoa. Considering a bottle of Hershey's syrup is running about $5 these days, and is full of crap, and this takes about three minutes to whip up, you can now have good homemade chocolate syrup all the time.