eclaire (what’s in a) name?

mmmm…waffles!  it’s hard for me to begin writing, because i placed all of the pictures in my post first, and instead of writing text around them, i keep drooling over the memory of the taste of these waffles and wishing that i had some leftover, waiting around in my fridge to be eaten. alas, they are long gone, so i’ll try to move on.

ok, so first things first:  have you noticed that my fabulously talented husband and i did some work on my blog this weekend?  i updated the header, added a recipe index so you can easily find recipes in their appropriate meal section (breakfast, entree, etc), or search through categories for ideas of what to make (including vegan, garlic and onion free, and sugar free), and mike provided a bunch of technical expertise, plus tweaked text formatting, and added some ads to the sidebar.  thanks, mike!

out of this work, i arrived at two conclusions: 1) my breakfast section is greatly lacking, although it’s one of my favorite meals (so hard to decide between the three options!), and 2) i wanted to thank mike for answering my endless questions and patiently editing font sizes until i decided things looked just right.  when i put these two conclusions together, i decided that the only logical response was to make mike a delicious breakfast – two birds with one stone, as they say (although i do not condone violence towards birds).

i immediately remembered that several weeks ago, mike casually mentioned that we hadn’t made waffles in a loooong time, so i knew exactly what to make.  i whipped out the joy of cooking, found the dog eared waffles page, and got to work separating the eggs, combining flour with baking powder, and beating the egg whites.  glancing around the kitchen as i was doing all this, i noticed a couple of apples that didn’t quite make it into our stomachs during the week. so i decided to grate them into the batter, along with several generous dashes of cinnamon to liven up the weekend breakfast treat.

although these waffles require three bowls, the recipe is quick and easy to put together, and i was ready to get the batter onto the grill in no time.  besides being pretty quick and simple, i think the other great thing about this recipe is that it provides an excellent base, and you can customize the batter as you wish – leaving it plain, or including apples and cinnamon like i did this time, or blueberries, or ollalliberries, or raisins and nuts, or even some chocolate chips if you’re in an especially sugary and decadent mood.

as the first waffles came off the grill and i divided them so mike and i would each get a fair share, i couldn’t help but flash back to childhood weekends when my sister and i would sit at the sun dappled kitchen table in our pjs, watching the waffle batter get poured onto the grill and agonizing over the minutes it took for them to cook.  my parents would pile a serving plate high with waffles in the oven to keep them warm, and as soon as the serving plate was full and placed on the table, my sister would quickly count the number of waffles, and inform us how many we could each eat.  as we chowed down on the delicious warm and crispy breakfast, drizzled with plenty of real maple syrup and fresh fruit, my sister would continue to check in and make sure i was eating on pace with her – i think she intuitively knew that i was eating fast to try to consume more than my share of the waffles (i love you, linn – i can’t help but laugh when i think about this and how we still count things like muffins when we’re eating together!).

so i hope all of you enjoy these waffles, and make sure that you only eat your fair share of these amazing waffles, no matter how good they taste or how much you want to eat every single last one on the plate. (and happy birthday, chuck – i’m glad i could share these waffles with you and barbara while you were visiting last weekend!)

waffles

adapted from the joy of cooking
yields 12 squares of waffles

• 1¾c all purpose or whole wheat flour
• 2t baking powder
• ½t salt
• 1T brown sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 4T melted butter or canola oil
• 1½c soy milk
• 1t vanilla
• 2 peeled and grated apples plus 2 large dashes cinnamon or ½c fresh or frozen berries (optional)
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1. pull out your waffle iron and turn it on, letting it warm up as you mix ingredients
2. combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium sized bowl
3. whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl, and add melted butter (slowly if the butter is warm) or oil, then whisk in the soy milk and vanilla
4. pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until the batter is just combined but not smooth
5. add fruit if desired and give a quick stir
6. in a third bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form
7. gently fold the egg whites into the batter
8. grease the waffle iron generously and pour the batter onto the grill
9. serve with more butter and maple syrup and enjoy!